Christopher Gunning conducting a recording session
CHRISTOPHER
GUNNING
Composer of music for film, television, and the concert hall
FIND OUT MORE

Composer

CHRISTOPHER

GUNNING

Christopher Gunning was a British composer of music for films, television and the concert hall. He composed 13 symphonies, numerous concertos and other concert works, and a large number of scores for films and television dramas, including Agatha Christie’s ‘Poirot,’ La Vie en Rose, Middlemarch, Cold Lazarus, Rebecca, Under Suspicion, Firelight, The Big Battalions, Wild Africa, When the Whales Came and Porterhouse Blue. He won 4 BAFTA and 3 Ivor Novello Awards, and BASCA’s prestigious Gold Badge Award.

In his concert music he developed an individual yet approachable, colourful, and highly expressive language which frequently gives his music a strongly dramatic and emotional flavour. In film, he worked on a wide variety of productions, ranging from period to contemporary dramas and wildlife films. In a career spanning some 50 yeas he worked in just about every musical area; he loved working with orchestras, both as composer and conductor, and was equally at home with computers.

Christopher Gunning at the piano

Announcement: Christopher Gunning

(5th August 1944 – 25th March 2023)

Christopher Gunning with Bafta

It is with great sadness we announce the death of Christopher Gunning, who passed away on the 25th of March 2023 at the age of 78 after a long and courageous battle with kidney cancer. He died peacefully in his bed at his Hertfordshire house surrounded by everything Christopher adored – his wife, his children, his dog, his beloved Bechstein piano and a garden full of plants and trees, flowers and birds, all bursting with Spring song. Christopher nurtured his love of both music and nature throughout his life. He passed on his passions ardently, inspiring and delighting all who knew him through his quirky humour and, most of all, astounding creativity that seemed endless. While Christopher is gone, and the sorrow of his passing is immeasurable, his music remains – unfading and full of life.

Best Selling CDs

item showcase image

Symphonies Nos. 6 & 7 | Night Voyage now available via Signum Classics

Signum presents the recording of Symphonies Nos. 6 & 7 along with ‘Night Voyage’, performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

  • “Poirot says of his secretary, Miss Felicity Lemon, that 'Anything that she mentioned as worth consideration usually was worth consideration.' I can concur that anything Gunning has written is worthy of consideration. My little grey cells tell me that this is a disk not to be missed.”

    Music Web International

  • “The piquant Concerto for oboe and strings, for me, takes the palm. Light on its feet, with some lovely moments for individual players in the first movement, it acquires a more ruminative, melancholy feel in the second where the soloist appears to be lost in her own thoughts. The quasi motto perpetuo finale brings out the youthful and spirited character of its dedicatee. This is a charming composition, winningly played.”

    Gramophone Magazine

  • "Cast in three movements, it is a model of lucidity, beautifully scored by a master orchestrator, and possessed of a natural flow and innate logic... this is a disc I have been playing again and again (and will continue to return to). Strongly recommended."

    Musical Opinion Quarterly