John Addison

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John Mervyn Addison (born March 16, 1920 in West Chobham in Surrey , † December 7, 1998 in Bennington (Vermont) ) was a British composer who was particularly noted for his film music .

Life

John Addison studied composition at the Royal College of Music in London. However, his studies were interrupted by the outbreak of World War II in 1939. During his military service, Addison got to know the later English director Roy Boulting , for whose film productions he wrote several scores after the war, for example for A City Holds Your Breath (1950), The Hour X ( Seven Days to Noon ) or Carlton- Browne of the FO .

From an early age, Addison became a specialist in light-footed neoclassical music, which is particularly suitable for background music to comedies. It was no coincidence that he wrote scores for Ealing comedies such as The Maggie (1953, Alexander Mackendrick ) and The Other Half Of Me (1955, Michael Truman ).

In 1963 he received an Oscar for the music to Tom Jones - Between Bed and Gallows by Tony Richardson, for which he also set The Attack of the Light Brigade (1968) and The Adventures of Joseph Andrews to music. In 1966 Addison's name achieved a certain “fame” due to the scandal surrounding the rejection of Bernard Herrmann's music for the Alfred Hitchcock thriller The Torn Curtain . Addison took on the music assignment, but continued to complain in later years about how disinterested Hitchcock was in his work.

In 1977 his music for Die Brücke von Arnhem received a BAFTA Award . The film depicts a large allied company in World War II, Operation Market Garden . Addison himself had been in command of a Sherman tank of the British XXX. Corps took part in the invasion of Normandy - but not, as sometimes falsely claimed, in the attempt to storm the bridge at Arnhem .

In 1975 Addison moved to the USA, where he increasingly worked for television. The cover story from the then extremely popular crime series Murder Is Her Hobby ( Murder She Wrote , 1984-1996), which is reminiscent of Ron Goodwin's Rococo theme for the Miss Marple film adaptations with Margaret Rutherford , became one of Addison's greatest successes.

In addition to his film music , John Addison also wrote concert works such as solo concertos for trumpet and bassoon .

Filmography

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Addison, John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Addison, John Mervyn (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British composer
DATE OF BIRTH March 16, 1920
PLACE OF BIRTH West Chobham
DATE OF DEATH December 7, 1998
Place of death Bennington (Vermont)