Editing Adrian Boult (section)

===Early life===
[[File:Christ Church Oxford Hall 2007.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.2|alt=interior of large mediaeval building with tables and benches|[[Christ Church, Oxford]], where Boult was an undergraduate 1908–12]] 
Boult was born in [[Chester]], [[Cheshire]], the second child and only son of Cedric Randal Boult (1853–1950), and his wife, Katharine Florence ({{nee}} Barman; d. 1927).<ref name=dnb>Kennedy, Michael.  [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/30835, "Boult, Sir Adrian Cedric (1889–1983)"], ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 1 March 2010. (subscription required)</ref> 

Cedric Boult was a [[Justice of the Peace]] and a successful businessman connected with [[Liverpool]] shipping and the oil trade; Cedric and his family had "a Liberal Unitarian outlook on public affairs" with a history of philanthropy.<ref name=times>''[[The Times]]'' obituary of Adrian Boult, 24 February 1983, p. 12</ref> 

When Boult was two years old the family moved to [[Blundellsands]], where he was given a musical upbringing. From an early age he attended concerts in Liverpool, conducted mostly by [[Hans Richter (conductor)|Hans Richter]].<ref name=mt69/> He was educated at [[Westminster School]] in London, where in his free time he attended concerts conducted by, among others, [[Henry Wood|Sir Henry Wood]], [[Claude Debussy]], [[Arthur Nikisch]], [[Fritz Steinbach]], and [[Richard Strauss]].<ref>Kennedy, pp. 12–16 and 32</ref> His biographer, [[Michael Kennedy (music critic)|Michael Kennedy]], writes, "Few schoolboys can have attended as many performances by great artists as Boult heard between 1901 and October 1908, when he went up to Christ Church, Oxford."<ref name=dnb/> While still a schoolboy, Boult met the composer [[Edward Elgar]] through [[Leo Frank Schuster|Frank Schuster]], a family friend.<ref name=mt69/>

At [[Christ Church, Oxford|Christ Church]] college at [[University of Oxford|Oxford]], where he was an undergraduate from 1908 to 1912, Boult studied history but later switched to music, in which his mentor was the musical academic and conductor [[Hugh Allen (conductor)|Hugh Allen]].<ref name=mt69>Sadie, Stanley. "Sir Adrian Boult at 80", ''[[The Musical Times]]'', Vol. 110, No. 1514 (April 1969), pp. 367–68</ref><ref name=grove>Crichton, Ronald and José A. Bowen. [http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com:80/subscriber/article/grove/music/03709 "Boult, Sir Adrian (Cedric)"], ''Grove Music Online'', Oxford University Press, accessed 1 March 2010 (subscription required)</ref> Among the musical friends he made at Oxford was [[Ralph Vaughan Williams]], who became a lifelong friend.<ref name=mt69/> 

In 1909, Boult presented a paper to an Oxford musical group, the Oriana Society, entitled ''Some Notes on Performance'', in which he laid down three precepts for an ideal performance: observance of the composer's wishes, clarity through emphasis on balance and structure, and the effect of music made without apparent effort. These guiding principles lasted throughout his career.<ref>Northrop Moore, Jerrold. "Sir Adrian Boult at 90". ''[[Gramophone (magazine)|The Gramophone]]'', April 1979, p. 1682. The full text of Boult's paper is reproduced in Moore, pp. 1–14</ref> He was president of the University Musical Club for the year 1910, but his interests were not wholly confined to music: he was a keen rower, stroking his college boat at [[Henley Royal Regatta|Henley]], and all his life he remained a member of the [[Leander Club]].<ref name=dnb/><ref name=who>[http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whowaswho/U162200 "Boult, Sir Adrian (Cedric)'"]. ''Who Was Who'', A & C Black, 1920–2008; online edition, Oxford University Press, December 2007, accessed 1 March 2010 (subscription required)</ref>

Boult graduated in 1912, with a basic "pass" degree.<ref name=osborne>Osborne, Charles. [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/olddnb/30835 "Boult, Sir Adrian (Cedric)"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160815094445/http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/olddnb/30835 |date=15 August 2016 }}. ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' archive material, accessed 1 March 2010 (subscription required) (Article predating the Kennedy ODNB entry, available in the ODNB's online archive)</ref>{{refn|Boult later took an honours degree in music in 1914|group=n}} He continued his musical education at the [[University of Music and Theatre Leipzig|Leipzig Conservatory]] in 1912–13. Musician [[Hans Sitt]] was in charge of the conducting class, but Boult's main influence was Nikisch. He later recalled, "I went to all his [Nikisch's] rehearsals and concerts in the Gewandhaus.&nbsp;... He had an astonishing baton technique and great command of the orchestra: everything was indicated with absolute precision. But there were others who were greater interpreters."<ref name=mt69/> 

Boult admired Nikisch "not so much for his musicianship but his amazing power of saying what he wanted with a bit of wood. He spoke very little". This style was in accord with Boult's opinion that "all conductors should be clad in an invisible [[Tarnhelm]] which makes it possible to enjoy the music without seeing any of the antics that go on".<ref>Chesterman, p. 29</ref> He sang in choral festivals and at the [[Leeds Festival (classical music)|Leeds Festival]] of 1913, where he watched Nikisch conduct. There he made the acquaintance of [[George Butterworth]], and other British composers.<ref>Kennedy, p. 56</ref> Later that year Boult joined the musical staff of the [[Royal Opera House|Royal Opera House, Covent Garden]], where his most important work was to assist with the first British production of [[Richard Wagner|Wagner]]'s ''[[Parsifal]]'', and do "odd jobs with lighting cues" while Nikisch conducted the ''[[Der Ring des Nibelungen|Ring]]'' cycle.<ref>Boult, p. 46</ref>