Doreen Carwithen

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Doreen Carwithen (born November 15, 1922 in Haddenham , Buckinghamshire as Doreen Mary Carwithen , † January 5, 2003 in Forncett , Norfolk ) was a British composer . She created a number of musical works for British cinema in the 1950s, including compositions for films such as Dangerous Curves , Murder Without a Murderer or the Hamburg Spy Network .

life and work

Doreen Mary Carwithen was born in Haddenham, Buckinghamshire in 1922 to a music teacher. Her musical talent was encouraged early on. At the age of four she began playing the violin and the piano. At 16 she studied harmony at the Royal Academy of Music . At university she also met her future husband, William Alwyn . In 1941 she won a scholarship. She received cello lessons from Peers Coetmore and was soon playing regularly in a string quartet and in local orchestras. At this time she wrote her first own compositions.

In 1946 the young composer was given the opportunity to write film music by British film producer J. Arthur Rank , initially for short and documentary films such as This Modern Age and To the Public Danger . Finally she made her film debut in 1949 with the composition for Montgomery Tully's drama Boys in Brown with Jack Warner , Richard Attenborough and Dirk Bogarde . In the early 1950s she worked for directors such as Peter Bradford and Terence Fisher . She wrote the two film scores for Robin Hood, The Red Avenger (1954) and Spionagenetz Hamburg (1955) for the director Val Guest . In the same year she composed the music for the crime drama Murder Without a Murderer with Orson Welles , John Gregson and Elizabeth Sellars in the leading roles.

In addition to her film music career, she also composed classical works, such as the 1947 overture ODTAA, which was premiered at Covent Garden in March 1947 under the direction of Sir Adrian Boult . This was followed by a concerto for piano and strings, which premiered at the 1952 Henry Wood Promenade Concerts . For her two string quartets she was honored with the AJ Clements Prize in 1948 and the Cobbett Award in 1952.

Despite the initial success of these works and the film compositions, the publishers had little interest in publishing a woman's classical compositions, and so from the mid-1950s Doreen Carwithen was forced to limit himself to promoting the music and career of her future husband, William Alwyn and to accompany. From 1961 she officially ran his retrospective and archive. After her husband's death in 1985, she established the William Alwyn Archive of music, poetry and art and established the William Alwyn Foundation to promote and manage her husband's work in public. She also worked as a teacher at the Royal Academy of Music and as a lecturer gave readings and lectures on music at the Furzedown College of Education.

Doreen Carwithen died on January 5, 2003 at the age of 80 in Forncett St Peter, Norfolk.

Awards

  • 1948: AJ Clements Prize for string quartet
  • 1952: Cobbett Award for string quartet

Filmography (selection)

Feature films

  • 1949: Boys in Brown
  • 1953: Heights of Danger
  • 1953: Love in Pawn
  • 1953: Mantrap
  • 1954: Robin Hood, the red avenger (The Men of Sherwood Forest)
  • 1955: Three Cases of Murder
  • 1955: Spy Network Hamburg (Break in the Circle)

Short films or documentaries

  • 1946: This Modern Age (short documentary)
  • 1948: To the Public Danger (short film)
  • 1953: Teeth of the Wind (short documentary)
  • 1955: On the Twelfth Day (short film)

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Biographical data from Doreen Carwithen in: International Who's Who in Music and Musician's Directory: Classical and Light Classical Music , by David M. Cummings, International Biographical Center, 2000, page 104
  2. ↑ Biographical data from Doreen Carwithen in: The innumerable Dance: The Life and Work of William Alwyn , Adrian Wright, Boydell & Brewer Inc, 2008, page 276
personal data
SURNAME Carwithen, Doreen
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Carwithen, Doreen Mary (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English composer
DATE OF BIRTH November 15, 1922
PLACE OF BIRTH Haddenham , Buckinghamshire , England
DATE OF DEATH January 5, 2003
Place of death Forncett , Norfolk , England