Editing Colin Davis (section)

==Early years==
Davis was born in [[Weybridge]], Surrey, the fifth of seven children, to Reginald George Davis (a bank clerk) and Lillian Constance (Colbran) Davis.<ref>Blyth, p. 4</ref><ref name=who>[https://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U13161 "Davis, Sir Colin (Rex)"], ''Who's Who, 2010'', A & C Black, 2010; online edition, Oxford University Press, December 2009. Retrieved 9 January 2010</ref> The family was musical, and he was exposed to music from an early age. He recalled:

"I can still see [[Malcolm Sargent|Sargent]] conducting the first concert I ever attended. I can still hear [[Lauritz Melchior|Melchior]] in the final scene of ''[[Siegfried (opera)|Siegfried]]'' – an old [[78rpm|78]] playing on my father's gramophone. … I can also remember the moment I decided to make music my life. I was 13 or 14 at the time and the performance was of [[Symphony No. 8 (Beethoven)|Beethoven's Eighth]]. Doors were suddenly opened. I became totally involved, even obsessed by music, although I was frightfully enclosed by my likes and dislikes. Today I'm game for anything."<ref>''[[Gramophone (magazine)|Gramophone]]'', December 1967, p. 39</ref>

[[File:Real Colegio de Música, Londres, Inglaterra, 2022-11-25, DD 34.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Royal College of Music]], where Davis studied]]
With financial assistance from his great-uncle, Davis was educated at [[Christ's Hospital]] in Sussex<ref name=Grdn0413>{{cite news|last=Nice|first=David|title=Sir Colin Davis obituary|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/apr/14/sir-colin-davis-obituary|access-date=16 April 2013|newspaper=The Guardian|date=14 April 2013}}</ref> and then won a scholarship to the [[Royal College of Music]] in London, where he studied the [[clarinet]] with [[Frederick Thurston]].<ref>Blyth, pp. 6–8</ref> His fellow-students included [[Gervase de Peyer]], but Davis developed a greater interest in conducting. He was, however, not eligible for the conducting class at the college, because he could not play the piano.<ref>Blyth, p. 8</ref>

Following compulsory [[national service|military service]] and completing his studies at college, Davis served as a clarinettist in the band of the [[Life Guards (United Kingdom)|Life Guards]]. Stationed at [[Windsor, Berkshire|Windsor]], he had continual opportunities to attend concerts in London under conductors including [[Thomas Beecham|Sir Thomas Beecham]] and [[Bruno Walter]]. In 1949, he began his career as a freelance musician (the "freelance wilderness", in his own phrase) where he remained until 1957.<ref name=who /> His first conducting work was with the Kalmar Orchestra, which he co-founded with other former students of the Royal College. He was subsequently invited to conduct the recently founded [[Chelsea Opera Group]] in ''[[Don Giovanni]]''. In the early years of his career, he also took some engagements as an orchestral clarinettist.<ref>Blyth, pp. 9–10</ref> What seemed at first to be a full-time conducting appointment, for the [[Original Ballet Russe]] in 1952, ended abruptly after three months, when the company collapsed. In between sparse conducting engagements, Davis worked as a coach and lecturer, including spells at the [[Cambridge University Musical Society]] and the [[Bryanston School|Bryanston]] Summer School, where a performance of ''[[L'enfance du Christ]]'' awakened his love of [[Hector Berlioz|Berlioz]]'s music.<ref>Blyth, p. 10</ref>