- Born: March 16, 1920, West Chobham, Surrey, England
- Died: December 07, 1998, Bennington, VT
- Active: '70s
- Genres: Soundtrack
- Instrument: Arranger, Producer, Conductor
- Representative Albums: "Torn Curtain," "Swashbuckler," "Honey Pot"
John Addison
| Artist: John Addison |
| Discography: John Addison |
| Writer: John Addison |
- Born: Mar 16, 1920 in Cobham, Surrey, England
- Died: Dec 07, 1998 in Bennington, Vermont
- Occupation: Writer
- Active: '50s-'80s
- Major Genres: Drama, Comedy
- Career Highlights: Tom Jones, The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, A Taste of Honey
- First Major Screen Credit: The Guinea Pig (1948)
Biography
Best known for writing the Oscar-winning score to Tom Jones (1963), John Addison ranked as one of Great Britain's most prolific and diverse film composers, with diverse musical genres ranging from light classical to brooding jazz. Following service in the British Armed Forces during WWII, Addison became a popular concert hall composer. He entered the film industry in the late '40s and would score more than 70 films in his career. In 1972, Addison received an Oscar nomination for Sleuth. In 1976, Addison moved to the United States and started writing music for such television series as Murder, She Wrote and Nero Wolfe. In addition to scoring movies and television shows, Addison composed pieces for theatrical productions and concerts. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide| Filmography: John Addison |
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| Wikipedia: John Addison |
This article is about the 20th-century British composer. For other people named John Addison, see John Addison (disambiguation).
| John Addison | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | John Mervyn Addison |
| Born | 16 March 1920 Chobham, Surrey, England |
| Died | 7 December 1998 (aged 78) Bennington, Vermont |
| Occupation(s) | composer |
John Mervyn Addison (16 March 1920 – 7 December 1998) was a British composer best known for his film scores.
Contents |
Biography
Addison was trained at Wellington College, Berkshire and at the age of sixteen entered the Royal College of Music.[1] He studied composition with Gordon Jacob, oboe with Léon Goossens, and clarinet with Frederick Thurston. This education ended in 1939 with service in World War II. Addison served with the British XXX Corps in the 23rd Hussars. He was a tank officer in the Battle of Normandy and wounded at Caen. At the end of the war, he returned to London to teach composition at the Royal College of Music.
Addison is best known for his film scores. He won an Academy Award for the music to the 1963 film, Tom Jones,[1] BAFTA Award for A Bridge Too Far (1977) and Grammy Award in the Best Original Score from a Motion Picture or Television Show category for Tom Jones. He also composed the music for A Taste of Honey (1961), Torn Curtain (1966), Smashing Time (1967), Sleuth (1972), Swashbuckler (1976) and the television series Centennial (1978) among others. He had a personal connection to Reach for the Sky (1956) which he scored, since Douglas Bader (the subject of the movie) was his brother-in-law. He also composed the theme music for Murder, She Wrote, for which he won an Emmy. Addison will also be remembered as the composer Alfred Hitchcock turned to when the director ended his long relationship with Bernard Herrmann over the score to his 1966 film Torn Curtain.[1]
For the theatre, Addison wrote the music for John Osborne's plays The Entertainer (1957)[2] and Luther. (1961)[3] He collaborated with John Cranko on a revue, "Cranks" in 1956.[4]
Although he wrote numerous classical compositions, Addison explained that "If you find you're good at something, as I was as a film composer, it's stupid to do anything else." His classical works included a trumpet concerto, described by The Times as "buoyant" and "Gershwinesque";[5] a trio for oboe, clarinet and bassoon;[6] Carte Blanche, a ballet for Sadler's Wells [7] from which an orchestral suite of "sophisticated high spirits" was performed at the Proms;[8] a septet for wind and harp [9] a concertante for oboe, clarinet, horn and orchestra;[10] and a partita for strings, which was warmly praised[11]
Marlene Dietrich recorded If He Swing By the String and Such Trying Times from the music in Tom Jones.
Addison's collection of correspondence, scores, and studio recordings were donated to the Film Music Archives at Brigham Young University in 1994. He was survived by his wife Pamela; two sons Jonathan and Daniel; daughter Lucinda; stepson Rex Birchenough, and stepdaughter Sandra Stapleton.
Notes
- ^ a b c The Guardian obituary, 15 December 1998
- ^ Tynan, Kenneth. Tynan on Theatre, Penguin Books, London, 1964, p. 50
- ^ The Times, 7 July 1961, p. 15
- ^ The Times, 24 May 1956, p. 3
- ^ The Times, 18 July 1950, p. 8 and 18 June 1951, p. 2
- ^ The Times, 18 April 1952, p. 2
- ^ The Times, 19 August 1953, p. 4
- ^ The Times, 13 August 1956, p. 3 and 9 November, 1956, p. 3
- ^ The Times, 27 February 1957, p. 3
- ^ The Times, 14 July 1959, p. 8
- ^ The Times, 1 May 1961, p. 16
References
- Obituary, The Guardian, December 15, 1998 [1]
External links
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