Sir Colin Rex Davis

Sir Colin Davis (born 1927) is considered by critics as one of Britain's greatest conductors. His illustrious career has been marked by extended relationships with the Symphony Orchestra of the British Broadcasting Corporation and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. He is well known for his interpretations of Mozart, Berlioz, and Stravinsky.

Obsession with Music

Sir Colin Davis was born on September 25, 1927, in Weybridge, Surrey, England. He was the fifth of seven children born to Reginald George, a bank clerk, and Lillian Constance (Colbran) Davis. The large family lived in a flat above a shop. Although his mother played the piano occasionally and his father was known to have a soothing tenor voice, neither of his parents were musicians, but rather simply music lovers. From a very early age, Davis showed a tremendous interest in music. His father had a large collection of classical music, and Davis spent hours listening to composers such as Elgar, Delius, Debussy, Sibelius, and Wagner. By the age of nine, Davis had become something of a loner, spending a great deal of time reading and listening to music. Davis applied for a scholarship to attend King's School in Wimbledon, where the family had since moved. After he failed the scholarship exam, his mother convinced the authorities at the boarding school to allow Davis to take it again. He did and, much to his mother's delight, passed. However, by that time, one of his brothers had graduated from Christ's Hospital Boys School, thereby leaving a space for Davis to enroll, which he did in 1938.

Upon entering the boarding school, Davis began studying the clarinet. He had already set his sights on becoming a musician, a career path generally discouraged by his instructors who wanted rather to push him toward the fields of biology or chemistry, subjects at which Davis also excelled. At the age of 13, music turned from a deep love to a strong obsession after listening to Beethoven's Eighth Symphony on a record his brothers had given him. His family did not exactly understand Davis's musical obsession, but nonetheless remained supportive. One of his two older sisters, Yvonne, told Davis's biographer Alan Blyth about Davis's visits to the family over school holidays. "He thought we were half-baked, probably because we didn't appreciate his music enough. We tried to tell him that there were other things besides music. Not that we were against his interest in it; in fact we always gave him miniature scores for his birthday." By the age of fourteen, Davis had still not been dissuaded from pursuing music. He also had a new, as yet undisclosed, desire: He wanted to become a conductor.

The Road to Conducting

Despite the lack of enthusiasm expressed by his instructors at Christ's Hospital, Davis won a clarinet scholarship to the Royal College of Music. There he expressed his wish to be a conductor. The school, however, found him lacking in piano, an instrument not to his liking, and music theory, prerequisites for conducting classes. Davis told The Economist in 1991: "I was given a clarinet at the age of 11. You can never make up for the earliest years that a child spends practicing the piano. I don't like the sound of a piano. Conducting has more to do with singing and breathing than with piano-playing. I studied singing, and breathing has lots to do with the length of a musical phrase. The difference between something alive and something dead is that the living thing breathes." Forbidden to study conducting, Davis began to doubt his ability to fulfill his dream, yet he also believed that musicians were confronted by challenges that tested their resolve. With no formal training, Davis learned his conducting skills by independent study, memorizing musical scores and developing his baton technique by "conducting" classical records.

In 1946 Davis was called into military service. He joined the Household Calvary and played clarinet in His Majesty's Life Guards Band. A rather easy assignment, the band played at parades and events for George VI. Stationed in Windsor, Davis was conveniently close to London and often found time to attend concerts. During his two years of military duty, he was able to experience the talents of important conductors such as Beecham, Bruno Walter, and Eduard van Beinum. After his discharge in 1948 Davis began his apprenticeship as a conductor.

In 1949 when a group of musicians from the Royal College who regularly played together to hone their skills and learn new music decided to delve into orchestral arrangements, they needed a conductor, and Davis was asked to fill the job. Forming themselves as the Kalmar Orchestra, the group practiced every Wednesday in the basement of the Ethical Church in Bayswater. The following year he was tapped to conduct the semi-professional Chelsea Opera Group, a small orchestra that attracted attention for its performances of Mozart operas in London, Oxford, and Cambridge. He made his professional debut in 1952 at the Royal Festival Hall in London, where he conducted ballet performances. He also gained experience working with the Ballet Russe and the Ipswich Orchestral Society.