Christopher Bochmann

Bochmann aged around eight years old, playing the cello

Bochmann was born in 1950 in Chipping Norton, West Oxfordshire, United Kingdom.[7] As a child, he sang in the choir of St.George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle.

Aged 16, he studied with French musician and teacher Nadia Boulanger in Paris before attending the University of Oxford, New College, where he studied with conductor and choirmaster David Lumsden, composer and pianist Kenneth Leighton, and composer, pianist and music scholar Robert Sherlaw Johnson. He also had private lessons with composer, jazz pianist and sometime vocalist Richard Rodney Bennett.[7] As a student, Bochmann says he came under the influence of composers as diverse as Peter Maxwell Davies, Boulez, Berio, Ligeti and Penderecki.

He holds the degrees of B.A.(Hons.), B.Mus, M.A. and D.Mus, all from the University of Oxford.

Bochmann's official biography states he began composing aged 14,[8] and between 1975 and 1985 worked in "post-serial modernism of considerable complexity with frequent aleatoric elements". Since then, an intention to 'close the gap' between compositional technique and aural perception has resulted in a simplification of style without recourse to neo-tonalities.[8] Bochmann has made a particular study of contemporary vocal technique, especially through the use of phonetics.

His works cross multiple genres, with a detailed list provided on his website.[9] Compositions[10] (see also Awards and recognition below) include:

• 4 String Quartets
• 4 Wind Quintets
• 21 essays for solo instruments
• 8 Canzonas for various ensembles
• 8 Letters to composer friends for piano
• Lament (2001)
• Symphony (2005)
• Cicero Dixit (2006)
• Opera: Corpo e Alma (2008)
• Um leve tremor (2019)
• Concerto for orchestra (2019)
• Opera: Astrolabe (2022)
• Essay VIII - recording here
• Tertúlia - recording here

Rehearsing for his opera, 2008

His work and approach were described in 2022 by Ana Telles (Universidadede Évora/Centre for Studies of Musical Sociology and Aesthetics CESEM):

"[his] pianistic language is based on a fairly conventional instrumental technique, inherited from the 19th century pianistic tradition, yet encompassing characteristic features developed by authors associated with the 2nd Viennese School and post-serialism, as well as significant experiences in the fields of free forms and aleatoric music."[11]

Examples of his work on YouTube include: Em Homenagem (1984), Sinfonia (2005), Canzona III (2010), Talking of Jasmine (2018), and Essay XXI (2021).

Many of Bochmann's scores are published by and are available for download from the Portuguese Music Research & Information Centre (MIC.PT).[12]

The Portuguese Music Research & Information Centre reported[13] that Wandering from clime to clime (2023) is a new work by Bochmann for accordion and chamber orchestra. Its world premiere[14] was on 3 June 2023 at the Teatro das Figuras in Faro, Portugal, with the concert performed by the Algarve Orchestra conducted by Bochmann, and with the participation of accordionist Gonçalo Pescada. Bochmann orchestrations included music by Francisco de Lacerda and Carlos Seixas. Bochmann writes in the programme notes:

"The work’s title is a quotation from Homer’s Odyssey, translated by Alexander Pope. It reflects on the music’s journey to integrate an instrument often associated with popular music, dance, or even the Paris Metro! – into the world of classical, contemporary music."

As a conductor, Bochmann has been active in contemporary music, and particularly youth orchestras and choirs.

Bochmann conducting in 2021

Since 1984 he has been resident conductor of the Orquestra Sinfónica Juvenil - OSJ (Lisbon Youth Orchestra, Portugal)[15] with whom he has recorded a number of CDs of his own music. Examples of his work with the OSJ published on YouTube include Four Fragments (2017). He has also founded various groups, including the choir of the Instituto Gregoriano de Lisboa, the choir and orchestra of the Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa, the Ensemble Vocal Manuel Mendes, and the Contemporary Music Group of the University of Évora.

He has frequently conducted the Grupo de Música Contemporânea de Lisboa/Contemporary Music Group of Lisbon (GMCL) with whom he has recorded various works on CD. In 2010, the GMCL dedicated a concert to his music as a 60th birthday tribute.[16]

In February 2023, Portuguese national public radio Antena 2 broadcast the 2021 Homenagem a Christopher Bochmann tribute concert that he conducted to mark his long association with the Orquestra Sinfónica Juvenil.[17] The concert, recorded in the Sala Luis Miguel Cintra at Teatro São Luiz on 31 October 2021, included his work Aphorisms (eleven miniatures for small orchestra).

Bochmann teaching circa 2013

Bochmann has taught in various schools in Britain including Cranborne Chase School and Yehudi Menuhin School, and in Brazil (Escola de Música de Brasília). He has also taught in music schools in Lisbon including the Instituto Gregoriano de Lisboa and the Conservatório Nacional. From 1984 to 2006, he worked at the Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa, of which he was Director for six years and Head of Composition for sixteen. From 2006, he was Head of the Music Department of the University of Évora, and Dean of the School of the Arts.[10]

As a composer, Bochmann has won prizes including:[7]

• Lili Boulanger Memorial Fund, Boston, Massachusetts (1968, 1976)
• John Osgood Memorial Prize, University of Oxford (1970)
• First prize in the competition Trio in Fontainebleau (1970, for De Profundis)
• First prize in the competition of the Stroud Festival, UK (1974, for Complainte de la Lune en Province)
• Second prize in the competition in Vienna (1977, for Snakes of Silver Throat)
• Clements Memorial Prize (1978, for String Quartet No. 2)
• Third prize in the competition G. B. Viotti in Vercelli (1980, for Partita No. 2)
• First prize in the competition for choral music Basque (1988, for O magnum Mysterium from Motets for Christmas)

In 2004 he was awarded the Medal of Cultural Merit by the Portuguese Ministry of Culture. In 2005, he received an OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) from HM Queen Elizabeth II for his contribution to cultural relations between the United Kingdom and Portugal.[2][10]

In 2009 he was elected as an Associate Member of the Academia Nacional de Belas Artes.

When Bochmann received the Commander of the Order of Prince Henry from the Portuguese President in January 2023,[3] comments from colleagues and associates included: Lagos Academy/Portimão Conservatory professor of piano, Luís Lopo - “It has been an enormous privilege to work with you for the last 10 years”; former composer-in-residence at Royal Holloway, University of London, Miguel Diniz - “It is a privilege to be part of the enormous group of musicians that passed through your teachings"; together with recognition by the University of Évora that he is among the “unavoidable names in the recent history of the university, influencing, with his dedication, commitment and vision, a new generation of musicians”.[5]

Bochmann's books include A Linguagem Harmónica do Tonalismo (2003, Juventude Musical Portuguesa)[18] and A Linguagem Harmónica do Tonalismo – Análises e Exercícios (2006, Juventude Musical Portuguesa).[19][7]

A book of essays about his music titled “Christopher Bochmann” by Pedro Rocha, Armando Possante, Ana Telles, Benoît Gibson and Carlos Marecos was published in 2018.[20]

A PDF dossier on Bochmann is available from the Portuguese Music Research & Information Centre Dossier n.º 6. Compositores Portugueses dos séculos XX e XXI . Christopher Bochmann

Bochmann with his wife, the actress Celia Williams, in 2020

Bochmann is the son of cellists Martin and Beatrice Bochmann, and brother to the violinist Michael Bochmann. As a child, he lived in Germany and Turkey before moving to England in 1960. 

He has been married to the actress Celia Williams[21] since 1977 and has two daughters, Alexandra (born 1985) and Elizabeth (born 1989).

• Home - Christopher Bochmann
• Christopher Bochmann – The Living Composers Project
• Christopher Bochmann
• Christopher Bochmann – Codax Music
• Christopher Bochmann
• Centro de Investigação & Informação da Música Portuguesa
• Christopher Bochmann – Meloteca
• Christopher Bochmann – Arte no Tempo