Eric Ball

Eric Walter John Ball (born October 31, 1903 in Kingswood near Bristol , † October 1, 1989 in Dorset ) was an English composer and conductor .

He was the eldest of three sons in the Jack and Lily Ball family. His mother grew up in a Baptist family and was very involved in the Salvation Army , of which she was captain when she married Jack Ball, and a member of the Salvation Army.

Eric Ball's childhood dream was to become an organist in one of the great English cathedrals. Due to the roots of the whole family, Eric got his first contact with music through the Salvation Army brass band. At the same time he got private piano lessons. He later took private lessons from an organist in an Anglican church, who also taught him harmony and counter-function. He then got a position as organist at Holy Trinity Church in Dartford .

In 1919 he took over a position in the central music and instrument department of the Salvation Army in London. He quickly switched to the Musical Editorial Department , where he was able to create alongside other well-known composers and arrangers ( Philip Catelinet , Bramwell Coles , Albert Jakeway and George Marshall , as well as Henry Hall ) who were also active there. His first published composition was a March Hoist The Flag in 1922. From then on he composed primarily choral works and religious music.

In addition to this activity, he was the conductor of various brass bands of the Salvation Army and in 1926 he set up his own brass band, The Salvation Army Publishing & Supplies Band . At the end of his work for the Salvation Army, he was the conductor of the International Staff Band . Outside of the Salvation Army, he did not work as a conductor until after the Second World War. In 1946 he became conductor of the Brighouse & Rastrick Brass Band and won the National Championships with this ensemble in 1946 and the British Open Championships two years later with the CWS Brass Band Manchester .

His pedagogical skills must have been great, as all brass bands in which he was active developed a significant improvement in level and some magazines even reported on the miracle of his conducting staff . Overall, the activity turned out to be a kind of fountain of youth for the entire development of the brass band being in Great Britain , so that the well-known conductor Roy Newsome the composer Eric Ball as a kind of Mozart of the brass band music (The Mozart of the Brass Band Movement ) titled. He has been a guest conductor with brass bands in Australia , Canada , the United States and New Zealand .

Works

Works for brass band

• 1946 Pride of Race
• 1950 Resurgam (I will arise again) Symphonic poetry
• 1951 The Conquerors
• 1954 Tournament For Brass
• 1955 First Rhapsody on Negro-Spirituals
  1. Go down, Moses
  2. Peter, go ring them belles
  3. Ev'ry time I feel the spirit
  4. I'm rollin-through an unfriedly world
• 1958 Sunset Rhapsody
• 1959 The Undaunted Concert-Overture
• 1961 Main Street Variations for Brass Band
• 1967 Journey into Freedom Rhapsody for Brass Band
• 1971 Festival Music - Symphonic Suite
  • 1. Overture
  • 2. Romance
  • 3. Impromptu
• 1972 Christchurch Cantata for choir and brass band for the opening of the Town Hall in Christchurch , New Zealand
• 1973 For All Mankind cantata for soloists, choir and brass band
• Exodus
• High peak
• Hold Thou My Hand
• A Holiday Suite
  1. The open road
  2. A village idyll
  3. Country Fair
• Indian summer
• A Kensington Concerto
• Morning Rhapsody
• Oasis, suite
• Overture St Michael's Mount
• Petite Suite de Ballet
• Peniel based on a text from the Old Testament Genesis, chap. 32
• Rhapsody on American Gospel Songs
• Scottish Festival Overture
• Second Rhapsody on Negro Spirituals
• Sinfonietta "The Wayfarer"
• Song of Courage
• Song of Faith
• Songs of the Morning - Suite
• Sunrise
• Swiss Festival Overture
• Thanksgiving symphonic poem
• The Ancient Temple Fantasy
• The Cornish Festival Overture
• The Fowey River Suite
• The Kingdom Triumphant
• The Princess and the Poet
• The Triumph of Peace Symphonic Poetry
• The Young in Heart Suite
• Youth Salutes a Master