Eric Ball (composer)

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Eric Walter John Ball, OBE (1903–1989), was a British composer, arranger, and conductor known for his work with brass bands and choirs. He came from a Salvation Army family in Kingswood, Gloucestershire, and learned piano and organ as a child.

In 1919 he began work in the Salvation Army’s music department in London, later becoming a composer. He rose to officer rank and in 1928 re-established the Salvationist Publishing and Supplies Band, which he led. The 18-member group performed at Salvation Army meetings and made recordings. In 1935 he became conductor of the Salvation Army National Orchestra and also directed the Salvation Singers and trained brass players.

In 1942 Ball became bandmaster of the International Staff Band, the Army’s leading group, with the rank of major. He left the Salvation Army in 1944, after turning to spiritualism following his sister-in-law’s death. He then worked as a brass band judge and, in 1945, became conductor of the Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band, winning the national championship with them in 1946. He also edited The British Bandsman magazine.

In 1948 he conducted the CWS (Manchester) Band and won the British Open Championship. He played with other bands such as Ransome & Marles and the City of Coventry Band. By the mid-1950s he stopped competitive conducting to focus on teaching and composing. He taught brass band courses in Cornwall and wrote many test pieces, including Resurgam (1950), Tournament for Brass (1954), Main Street (1961), Journey Into Freedom (1967), and The Wayfarer (1976). He also wrote cantatas for chorus and band.

Ball was honoured with the OBE in 1969. In 1972 he formed the Virtuosi Brass Band of Great Britain, a small, top-level recording ensemble. It made nine LPs for RCA Records, with Ball as musical director for the first four.

He died in Bournemouth in 1989, aged 85. Many of his pieces have been used as test pieces in national brass band championships, and a few were chosen for youth contest tests, such as The Young in Heart (1965), Petite Suite de Ballet (1975), and Rhapsody on Negro Spirituals (1983).