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Peter Cropper

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Peter Cropper (19 November 1945 – 29 May 2015) was a British violinist, leader of the Lindsay Quartet, and founding artistic director of Music in the Round, a charitable organisation he founded in the 1980s to promote chamber music concerts.

Biography

Cropper was born in Southport, Lancashire, on 19 November 1945. His father Alfred Cropper was a chartered accountant and his mother was Edith Kathleen (Kate), née Hale. He gained a scholarship to Uppingham School in 1959 based on his musical ability. In 1963 he studied at the Royal Academy of Music.[1]

He was married at Thornham Parva, Suffolk, on 19 December 1972 to violinist Nina Esmé Martin. He died, as a result of a heart attack, on 29 May 2015 in Sheffield.[1]

Career

While at the Royal Academy, Cropper formed the Cropper Quartet with Michael Adamson, Roger Bigley and Bernard Gregor-Smith. Then when they moved to Keele University, they renamed themselves the Lindsay Quartet after Alexander Lindsay who was its first principal. In 1984, Cropper founded Music in the Round, which would promote chamber music around the UK.[1] The Lindsays formed the core of Music in the Round's activity for over twenty years, until their retirement in 2005.[2][3][4][5][6] By the time of their retirement, Music in the Round was the largest promoter of chamber music in the UK outside London.[1]

A frequently told story about Cropper dates to 1981 when London's Royal Academy of Music lent him a 258 year old Stradivarius for a series of concerts. On the first night of the concert, Cropper tripped and broke the precious violin. Fortunately, a master craftsman was able to repair the violin which reportedly sounded even better after the repair.[7][8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Keefe, Simon P. (10 January 2019). Cropper, Peter John (1945–2015). doi:10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.110478. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  2. ^ Peter Cropper obituary in The Guardian, 4 June 2015, retrieved 5 May 2015.
  3. ^ Peter Cropper obituary in The Daily Telegraph, 2 June 2015, retrieved 7 Mar 2016.
  4. ^ Peter Cropper obituary in The Independent, 10 June 2015, retrieved 9 Mar 2016.
  5. ^ Peter Cropper obituary in The Gramophone, 1 June 2015, retrieved 9 Mar 2016.
  6. ^ Tribute to Peter Cropper from Music in the Round, 2 June 2015, retrieved 9 Mar 2016
  7. ^ Krebs, Albin; Thomas, Robert McG. (3 October 1981). "Notes On People; Music to His Ears". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  8. ^ "A Broken Stradivarius | Stories for Preaching". Archived from the original on 3 September 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
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