# Do you have any favourite British film composers?



## Prodromides

British films, especially from the 1950s, had many of their scores written by U.K. composers who've had careers in both the concert world and the film industry.
The likes of Alwyn, Arnold and Frankel vacillated between commissions for film productions and the concert hall. 

Select your favorite British composers, if any, in the multiple choice above.

Please be aware that the entries are not comprehensive. I've limited this poll to those names who've had at least 35 film scores to their credit and have had compilation albums/re-recordings of their film scores surface on labels such as Chandos, Naxos or CPO, etc.

Higher profile names such as Ralph Vaughan Williams and William Walton have been intentionally omitted because they scored about a dozen films each (significantly less than 35). While John Barry had scored around 95 titles, he is also absent from the poll because Barry is much more the tunesmith than the symphonist.

My favourites are 1) Richard Rodney Bennett, 2) Benjamin Frankel & 3) Malcolm Arnold. I voted for "other" as well because I think the soundtracks by John Scott are consistently orchestral in conception and Scott deserves a special mention for this even though he doesn't have a body of "absolute" music (not any that I'm aware of, anyway).

While Michael Nyman could be a satisfactory "other" for some TC members, guys such as George Fenton or Stephen Warbeck, for example, I consider to be ineligible overall since either one doesn't have a "dual" career (as such) and neither impresses as being a contemporary composer like a James MacMillan or a George Benjamin or Mark-Anthony Turnage...


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## Guest

Difficult to choose, since few of them composed scores which are particularly memorable - only Ron Goodwin's spring to mind. It could be argued that if you remember the score, it's overwhelmed the movie: a good score should work at the time of watching the movie, but not afterwards. I wouldn't agree.

On the grounds that he composed the score to _The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp_ I'd nominate Allan Gray, http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0336434/#Composer but he doesn't fit the rules (no compliations).

So, I'll plump for Malcolm Arnold

A special mention surely to Muir Mathieson. He composed little, but was seen on many film credits as the musical director.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0558826/#Composer


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde

I wouldn't call Nyman specifically a "film composer" because a lot of the time (particularly in his music for Greenaway films) the music was written without him knowing that it was to become a film score. Most of his music at the time it was being composed was never intended to be for film even though it later became music for the film BUT since he is most famous for the music that he wrote which was later used as film scores I would vote for him as an "other" because of all the British film composers and composers whose music has had a strong association with films he is my favourite.


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## Prodromides

MacLeod said:


> Difficult to choose, since few of them composed scores which are particularly memorable - only Ron Goodwin's spring to mind. It could be argued that if you remember the score, it's overwhelmed the movie: a good score should work at the time of watching the movie, but not afterwards. I wouldn't agree.


That's interesting you consider some of Goodwin's scores as the most memorable.

Myself, I'm not a fan of Goodwin. Whether the picture be *VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED* or 1966's *THE TRAP*, a Goodwin soundtrack typically does not resonate with me. Perhaps this is because I prefer more idiosyncratic musical traits, and Goodwin comes across to me as quite conventional as a result.


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## Prodromides

MacLeod said:


> On the grounds that he composed the score to _The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp_ I'd nominate Allan Gray, but he doesn't fit the rules (no compliations).


Mr. Gray could be another "other". 

Gray did between 45 and 50 films, so he can join this party if a label such as Chandos would ever re-record suites of his scores...


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## Prodromides

MacLeod said:


> A special mention surely to Muir Mathieson. He composed little, but was seen on many film credits as the musical director.


Yes, certainly a special mention for Muir Mathieson (who was also credited as conductor "Doc" Mathieson on a number of Ealing productions)...


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## Prodromides

MacLeod said:


> So, I'll plump for Malcolm Arnold


Good - that makes two of us.

1958 was a sort of banner year for Malcolm Arnold. After winning an Academy Award for *THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI*, Arnold received increases in film scoring assignments and vinyl soundtrack LPs of his soundtracks became a little more frequent:



















... and here's another Fox production ...



















[I read that Mr. Arnold had used his Oscar statue as a door-stopper!  ]


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## Prodromides

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> I wouldn't call Nyman specifically a "film composer" because a lot of the time (particularly in his music for Greenaway films) the music was written without him knowing that it was to become a film score ... BUT since he is most famous for the music that he wrote which was later used as film scores I would vote for him as an "other" ...


Precisely.

Nyman has written films scores, though, for items such as GATTACA.

Nyman's music's attachment to the films of Peter Greenaway is such that (from a soundtrack collector's perspective) this qualifies Greenaway and Nyman as cinematic collaborators, not unlike the more celebrated and mainstream collaborations of Hitchcock & Herrmann or David Lean & Maurice Jarre, etc.


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## Guest

Prodromides said:


> That's interesting you consider some of Goodwin's scores as the most memorable.


Well, I wouldn't take 'memorable' to mean anything more than 'I can remember it'! The themes from _633 Squadron_ and _Battle of Britain_ are the ones I had in mind, the former often played on the radio when I was a child, and the latter which I've seen so many times and I compare and contrast with the snatch of Walton which occurs near the end.

I'm trying to think of great films where the score is not 'memorable', but where I can recall that it added to my enjoyment of the film - but I can only bring American movies to mind, like _Silence of the Lambs._


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde

Prodromides said:


> Precisely.
> 
> Nyman has written films scores, though, for items such as GATTACA.
> 
> Nyman's music's attachment to the films of Peter Greenaway is such that (from a soundtrack collector's perspective) this qualifies Greenaway and Nyman as cinematic collaborators, not unlike the more celebrated and mainstream collaborations of Hitchcock & Herrmann or David Lean & Maurice Jarre, etc.


I don't like to think of Nyman as mainly a "film composer" though because of all the other works he has written such as the string quartets, operas, concerti, MGV, works for his band (And Do They Do, After Extra Time, In Re Don Giovanni, Water Dances etc.) and I think that it's mainly these works and his music in the Peter Greenaway films that really show Nyman at his best. Those works for the Michael Nyman band were originally intended to be for concert performance anyway (apart from And Do They Do which was written to accompany a dance). I don't think his film scores that he wrote specifically as film scores say much about his style.


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## elgar's ghost

Alan Rawsthorne wrote some good stuff for the silver screen, especially his music for The Cruel Sea and Uncle Silas.


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## Mesa

Replace the word 'Zoidberg' with 'Barry'.





A mere tunesmith? Do you also consider Henry Mancini a tunesmith?


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## Sieglinde

Murray Gold not on the list? The man who composed this haunting piece and used a countertenor?


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## drpraetorus

you left off Patrick Doyle


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## clavichorder

I already know Alwyn to be a fantastic composer of non-cinematic music. Arnold as well.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde

Sieglinde said:


> Murray Gold not on the list? The man who composed this haunting piece and used a countertenor?


Love Murray Gold!


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## Prodromides

Sieglinde said:


> Murray Gold not on the list? The man who composed this haunting piece and used a countertenor?


If you think Murray Gold belongs in this category, then please inform us that Gold has scored over 35 feature films (excluding TV programs) and that he has a dual career writing concert music and that labels like Chandos offer compilation albums of Gold's scores.

You can select "other" and name Murray Gold if you wish, but Gold doesn't really fit the criteria here.


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## Prodromides

drpraetorus said:


> you left off Patrick Doyle


Yes ... and I left off many other composers as well (both ones whose music I like and those whose music I don't care for).

I'm a follower of Stanley Myers, but he didn't have a dual career as a concert composer that I'm aware of.
I love the music of Humphrey Searle (who did produce concert music), but Searle didn't score over 35 films (he did about a dozen).

Patrick Doyle has scored upwards of 50 films by now, so he could qualify on this basis - however, does Doyle also write absolute music and are there compilation albums on his music?


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## Vaneyes

Arnold and Walton (other).


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## drpraetorus

wikipedia on Patrick Doyle

He has composed a series of classical works outside of films that include "The Thistle and the Rose", commissioned in 1990 by Prince Charles in honor of the 90th Birthday of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother (the mother of the current Queen Elizabeth II); the violin romance "Corarsik", written for Emma Thompson's birthday; the album "Impressions of America: A Suite for Orchestra"; and the symphonic tone poem "Tam O Shanter", commissioned by the Scottish Schools Orchestra Trust.

Now, where are the recordings of the works?


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## nikola

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> I wouldn't call Nyman specifically a "film composer" because a lot of the time (particularly in his music for Greenaway films) the music was written without him knowing that it was to become a film score. Most of his music at the time it was being composed was never intended to be for film even though it later became music for the film BUT since he is most famous for the music that he wrote which was later used as film scores I would vote for him as an "other" because of all the British film composers and composers whose music has had a strong association with films he is my favourite.


wow... this sounds great... I should give Michael a listen...
I really don't know many if any british movie composers.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde

nikola said:


> wow... this sounds great... I should give Michael a listen...
> I really don't know many if any british movie composers.


I would highly recommend his album Nyman/Greenaway Revisited as a good starting point from here. It has selections from his music from Greenaway's films (including _Miranda_ from _Prospero's Books_) but more recent recordings not from the original film soundtrack CDs. I find the _Miranda_ shown here to be a little laid-back compared to the more recent recording.


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## Prodromides

Sir Richard Rodney Bennett has passed away at age 76 on December 24th, 2012.










Images of Bennett's soundtrack LPs will follow as commemoration...


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## Prodromides

Bennett's initial two soundtrack albums from 1967/1968:


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## Prodromides

The early 1970s:

NICHOLAS AND ALEXANDRA (1971)









LADY CAROLINE LAMB (1972)









MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS (1974)


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## Prodromides

The late 1970s:

L'IMPRECATEUR (1977)









EQUUS (1977)









YANKS (1979)


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## Prodromides

Bennett's last regular film score was THE RETURN OF THE SOLDIER (1982), after which he scored a number of made-for-TV movies during the mid-to-late 1980s. Only sporadically did Bennett return to write music for film over the past 20 years.










This was Bennett's final soundtrack on vinyl LP.


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## Schubussy

Sieglinde said:


> Murray Gold not on the list? The man who composed this haunting piece and used a countertenor?


I really don't like his arrangement of the Dr. Who main theme though. Bring back the original Delia Derbyshire one.


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## Celesta

Brian Easdale's music for "The Red Shoes" is wonderful. I voted for Carl Davis and his superb soundtracks for such silent classics as "Flesh and the Devil" and his Liszt Sonata del Petrarca adaptation and original music for "A Woman of Affairs". The way he captures the aura of Greta Garbo blows me away. Davis's score for the milestone documentary "World at War" is also noteworthy.


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## TrevBus

William Alwyn for the 'Odd Man Out' alone would be enough for me. 
He is not British(it's a British Flim however)but Anton Karas for 'The Third Man' is memoriable.
These three didn't compose a lot for Films but what they did was excellent.
Malcolm Williamson 'Our man in Havana'
RV Wiiliams '49th Parallel'
Arthur Bliss 'Things to Come'


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese

William Alwyn- as he is the one that I can recall for brit flicks.


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## Selby

Zbigniew Preisner for his work with Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Kieślowski including the Three Colors trilogy and especially The Double Life of Véronique.


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## Op.123

Addinsell, I must say, I adore the Warsaw concerto.


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## Selby

Mitchell said:


> Zbigniew Preisner for his work with Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Kieślowski including the Three Colors trilogy and especially The Double Life of Véronique.


I just now saw the 'British' part of this poll. Sorry for posting a Pole


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## Celloman

Brian Easdale for me...


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