Christopher Steel

Charles Christopher Steel (31 December 1938 – 31 December 1991) was a British composer of classical music. Steel was born in London, and educated at Shrewsbury School. In 1957 he enrolled at the Royal Academy of Music, studying under John Gardner with the aid of a scholarship, and four years later in Munich with Harald Genzmer, who was a protégé of Hindemith. He then returned to England, where he taught and composed for the remainder of his life. Early works include the Sonatinas for piano and clarinet. Steel considerably broadened his output and range, as his compositions were published by Novello & Co. He became music master at Cheltenham College in 1963, subsequently moving to Bradfield College where he wrote a number of scores for the triennial Greek plays, including The Bacchae (1973) and Agamemnon (1976). In 1977/78 during a brief period in Minnesota, United States, he wrote what he considered to be his most important work, the Passion and Resurrection according to St Mark for chorus and orchestra. During the 1980s he devoted more time to composing, sustained by freelance teaching. During this period he lived in Nettlebed Oxfordshire, where between 1981 and 1988 where he was organist at St Bartholomew's Church. In 1988 he moved with his wife Anthea to Cheltenham where he continued to compose and teach until his death, late in 1991, on his 53rd birthday. Steel's catalogue contains seven symphonies, numerous choral works, organ music, concerti, and orchestral pieces for large and chamber orchestra. He was described in the New Grove Dictionary of Music as a "fluent and resourceful composer".