Ron Goodwin
Ronald Alfred "Ron" Goodwin (born February 17, 1925 in Plymouth ; † January 8, 2003 in Brimpton Common , Reading , Great Britain ) was a British composer who became famous primarily for his film music .
Life
Goodwin spent his school years at Willesden County Grammar School in north-west London . At a young age he learned to play the piano and trumpet . At the age of 14 (1939) he formed a dance band, The Woodchoppers , whose opening melody was the swinging At the Woodchoppers Ball by Woody Herman . The orchestra soon achieved semi-professional status and took part in various competitions. As a composer, Goodwin was self-taught , who learned the craftsmanship as an arranger in his early work as a copyist at the music publisher Campbell Connelly .
At the age of 24 (1949) Goodwin recorded his first two records as a conductor for the singer Petula Clark , which became a huge success in Australia. A surprising success in 1950 was a cover version of Goodwin's Nat King Cole song "Too Young" for the relatively unknown singer Jimmy Young , for whom he was to conduct another fifteen records. From then on, the name Ron Goodwin was established in the British music world and his records appeared under the name "Ron Goodwin and his Orchestra". The orchestra sometimes consisted of up to 42 musicians whom he had personally selected.
In 1951 he began to record some records for producer George Martin . The biggest success was the adaptation of the theme song from Charlie Chaplin's " Limelight ". The title reached number 3 in the British singles chart in 1953 and stayed in the top ten for 18 weeks.
Goodwin composed his first film music for the 1958 film Die Schwarze Lorelei in Germany .
One of his own early film compositions is the rococo- like main theme from the four Miss Marple films starring Margaret Rutherford . Goodwin's composition became particularly well known in Germany and the Scandinavian countries and even made it into the pop charts there.
- 4:50 p.m. from Paddington ( Murder She Said ) (1961)
- The Gallop ( Murder at the Gallop ) (1963)
- Four Women and One Murder ( Murder Most Foul ) (1964)
- Killer ahoy! ( Murder Ahoy ) (1964)
However, Goodwin's final international breakthrough came with the lively music of The Daring Men in Their Flying Chests from 1965; the main theme from it became a popular classic of British light music . In Great Britain, Goodwin celebrated great successes in the sixties, especially with his scores for war films . B. with Kampfgeschwader 633 ( 633 Squadron , 1964), Secret Operation Crossbow ( Operation Crossbow , 1965) and agents die lonely ( Where Eagles Dare , 1969). In 1969 he replaced William Walton as a composer with Guy Hamilton's ornate war epic Battle of Britain ( Battle of Britain ).
Other film credits Goodwin are Day of the Triffids ( The Day of the Triffids , 1962), Lancelot and Guinevere, 1963, Of Human Bondage ( Of Human Bondage , 1964), as a cry in the wind ( The Trap , 1966) (which was the title theme Used for years by the BBC in broadcasting the London marathon), Monte Carlo Rally ( Monte Carlo or Bust , 1969), The Executioner ( The Executioner , 1970) and Alfred Hitchcock's Frenzy (1972). In the Hitchcock film, Goodwin again replaced an existing score, this time by Henry Mancini .
In the 1970s, Goodwin also wrote the music for a number of Disney films, of which the one for The Little Horse Thieves ( Escape from the Dark , 1976) was stylistically the most interesting because of the use of an all-brass band (the famous Grimethorpe Colliery Band ). He also composed the music for Who stole our dinosaur? in 1975. He also composed and directed the score for the Canadian animated films The Selfish Giant and The Happy Prince .
The last film production Ron Goodwin was involved in was the Danish cartoon Walhalla (1986). In addition to his film music , Goodwin also wrote numerous works for the concert hall, mostly in the form of miniatures in a lighter tone. However, he also composed some longer suites, including Drake 400 on behalf of the City of Plymouth .
Goodwin, who had been suffering from severe asthma for years , returned home on January 7, 2003 from his (32nd) annual Christmas and end of year concert tour through southern England with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and died just one day later at the age of nearly 78.
Goodwin had a son with his wife, Heather. He received the Ivor Novello Award three times, most recently in 1994 for his life's work.
Works (excerpt)
Works for wind orchestra
-
Armada 400 suite
- Opening fanfare
- Overture
- Interlude
- Ships leaving Harbor
- The Warclouds Gather
- The Battle & Finale
- City of Lincoln March
- Escape from the Dark for Brass Band
- Force ten from Navarone
- Free Fall for concert band
- Frenzy Main Theme from the Alfred Hitchcock Film
- Headless Horseman
- Magnificent Men in their flying Machines - Selection of Themes including Main Theme
- Monte Carlo or Bust - Selection of Themes including Main Theme
- New Zealand Police March - for Brass-Band and Pipe Band
- Prisoners of War March (The Kriegie)
- September 15th, 1940
- Suite: The Time Traveler - for concert band
- Tall Ships for concert band
- The Eanslaw Steam Theme from the New Zealand Suite
- The trap
- Where Eagles Dare
Individual evidence
- ↑ Ehnert, Günter (Ed.): Hit Records. British Chart Singles 1950-1965 . Hamburg: Taurus Press, 1988, p. 53
Web links
- Ron Goodwin at the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Ron Goodwin homepage
- Discography
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Goodwin, Ron |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Goodwin, Ronald Alfred (full name) |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | English film composer |
DATE OF BIRTH | February 17, 1925 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Plymouth , England, UK |
DATE OF DEATH | January 8, 2003 |
Place of death | Brimpton Common , Reading , England, United Kingdom |