This book is the first full-scale biography of William Alwyn since his death in 1985. Alwyn's early life as a flautist was altered when he became a leading composer of the Documentary Film Movement in the 1930s, going on to a prolific career in writing for feature films, including commissions for Walt Disney and Carol Reed. By the mid 1950s his reputation was established by the beginning of his four-symphony cycle, his many tone poems, concertos, chamber and piano pieces. An habitué of the London film studios and concert halls, and a prominent professor at the Royal Academy of Music, a major crisis in Alwyn's life precipitated an escape to the Suffolk coast in 1960, where he turned his back on film music and immersed himself in the writing of operas [including Miss Julie], poetry, essays, fiction and painting.
Adrian Wright's book balances detailed analysis of Alwyn's work with a vivid account of his marriages to the musician Olive Pull and the composer Doreen Carwithen, relationships that profoundly affected the course of his career. Using a mass of hitherto unpublished material [including an unexpurgated version of his noted Ariel to Miranda] and interviews with prominent figures in Alwyn's life, the volume places his achievements in the musical context of his time, along the way dealing with his relationship with Benjamin Britten, and such hitherto almost unknown works as Don Juan, The Fairy Fiddler and the radio opera Farewell, Companions.
ADRIAN WRIGHT is the author of the acclaimed Foreign Country: The Life of L.P. Hartley (1996) and John Lehmann: A Pagan Adventure (1998), and is a contributor to The New Dictionary of National Biography.
Reviews
Within these pages is an amazing story about a remarkable man... his major contribution to the new medium of film music, and his ability to write serious art music as well... [the author] grabs and holds the reader's attention. NOTES [U.S.]
Wright provides a direct, detailed chronicle of Alwyn's life...[which] fills in many gaps...the book is an engaging read and should encourage people to explore Alwyn's music. GRAMOPHONE
An intriguing overview of one of England's important composers. FILM SCORE MONTHLY
Within these pages is an amazing story about a remarkable man...his major contribution to the new medium of film music, and his ability to write serious art music as well...[the author] grabs and holds the reader's attention. NOTES [U.S.]
Details
First Published: 18 Sep 2008
13 Digit ISBN: 9781843834120
Pages: 364
Size: 23.4 x 15.6
Binding: Hardback
Imprint: Boydell Press
Subject:
MusicBIC Class: AV
Details updated on 21 May 2013
Contents
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Early Closing
- 3 The Music of Northampton
- 4 A Number of Scotsmen
- 5 Olive
- 6 Union and Exile
- 7 A Purpose for Cinema
- 8 A War of His Own
- 9 Is Your Journey Really Necessary
- 10 A Coming British Woman Composer
- 11 Towards a Festival
- 12 Questions of Inspiration
- 13 Ariel to Miranda
- 14 The Late Romantic
- 15 E-Day
- 16 Symphonic Reflections
- 17 Soundless Music
- 18 The Other Suffolk Composer
- 19 The Blythburgh Operas
- 20 The Stillness
- 21 Living and Learning
- 22 Precious Toy
- 23 Epilogue
- 24 Bibliography
- 25 List of Works
