Biography
Barbirolli was the second of three children born to Louise Marie Ribeyrol and Lorenzo Barbirolli, a notable violinist who taught his son how to play the violin at a young age; Barbirolli's grandfather taught him how to play the cello. Barbirolli attended St Clement Danes Grammar School, and starting in 1910, he attended Trinity College of Music on a scholarship. He won another scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music in 1912, where he learned harmony, counterpoint, and music theory. He graduated from the Academy in 1916, and became a freelance cellist throughout London.
Barbirolli enlisted in the British Army in 1918. As a lance corporal in the Suffolk Regiment, he was stationed on the Isle of Grain in Kent, where he and other soldiers formed a makeshift orchestra and Barbirolli learned to conduct music. When World War I ended, he returned to his career as a cellist, making several appearances in orchestras and musical organizations. In 1924, he helped establish the Guild of Singers and Players Chamber Orchestra, and in 1926, he conducted a small orchestra at the Chenil Gallery in Chelsea; the orchestra was renamed "John Barbirolli's Chamber Orchestra". He was invited to serve as conductor for the British National Opera Company, which he served for two years. In 1929, he became musical director and conductor for a touring company in Covent Garden, and in 1932, he became one of four guest conductors for the Hallé Orchestra, alongside Edward Elgar, Thomas Beecham, and Pierre Monteux; during this time, he also conducted for the Scottish National Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, which he served as permanent conductor from 1937 to 1942. After this, returned to the Hallé Orchestra, where he became head conductor in 1944.
In 1960, Barbirolli became conductor for the Houston Symphony, which he held until 1967. At the same time, he also became conductor for the student orchestra at the Royal Academy of Music in 1961, and that same year, he formed a connection with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Barbirolli retired from conducting the Hallé in 1968, and became the Conductor Laureate for the Hallé. He died at home from a heart attack in 1970, at the age of 70.
