William Alwyn was born in Northampton on 7 November 1905, and died in Southwold, Suffolk, on 11 September 1985, two months short of what would have been his eightieth birthday. In 1920, aged just fifteen he successfully auditioned for a place at London’s Royal Academy of Music, where he studied flute, piano and composition; six years later, at the age of twenty-one, he was appointed Professor of Composition there, a position that he was to retain for almost thirty years.
During his long and prolific career Alwyn produced close to three hundred compositions that include music in most genres: opera, ballet, orchestral, chamber, instrumental and song. His major orchestral works include five symphonies, concertos for flute, oboe, violin, harp and piano (two), a Sinfonietta for string orchestra, and three concerti grossi. In addition to this he contributed approximately two hundred scores for the cinema, seventy of which are feature films, the remainder being documentaries.
He began his film career in the documentary movement in 1936 and, along with Benjamin Britten (1913-1976), became somewhat of a pioneer in this medium. In 1941 he wrote his first feature-length score for Penn of Pennsylvania; other notable film scores include Desert Victory, The Way Ahead, The True Glory, Odd Man Out, The History of Mr Polly, The Rake’s Progress, The Fallen Idol, The Rocking Horse Winner, The Crimson Pirate, The Million Pound Note, The Winslow Boy, The Card, A Night to Remember, and Carve Her Name with Pride. This dedication to the art of writing film music was recognized in 1951 when Alwyn was made a Fellow of the British Film Academy, the only composer until more recent years to receive this honour. He also provided much incidental music for both radio and television.
Alwyn was active in many administrative posts, including Chairman for the Composer’s Guild of Great Britain (which he was instrumental in forming) for three terms in 1949, 1950 and 1954, a Director of the Mechanical Copyright Protection Society, a Vice-President of the Society for the Promotion of New Music, and Director of the Performing Right Society, as well as serving for many years on the panel reading new scores for the BBC. In 1948 Alwyn was elected to membership of the Savile Club, joining a number of other British Savilian composers who include Richard Arnell, Malcolm Arnold, Arthur Bliss and William Walton. During the 1950s his music was championed by the conductor John Barbirolli (1899-1970), who gave many first performances of Alwyn’s works, amongst which are Symphonies Nos 1 (dedicated to Barbirolli), 2 and 4.
Alwyn spent the last twenty-four years of his life in the Suffolk village of Blythburgh where, in those tranquil surroundings, he found the necessary inspiration to compose two operas, Juan, or the Libertine in four acts to his own libretto and Miss Julie in two acts after the play by August Strindberg. In addition to chamber and vocal music, he composed his last major orchestral works there: The Concerto Grosso No. 3 (commissioned as a tribute to Sir Henry Wood to mark the twentieth anniversary of his death in 1964 and first performed at the Proms that year by the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by the composer), the Sinfonietta for string orchestra (1970) and the Symphony No. 5 ‘Hydriotaphia’ (1972-73). In 1978 Alwyn was awarded a CBE in recognition of his services to music.
Such was his desire always to be creative that when not composing music he spent his time painting and writing literature. Amongst his writings is a short autobiography entitled' Winged Chariot', some poetry and prose, and perhaps most fascinating of all, a diary that he kept between September 1955 and August 1956, whilst composing his Third Symphony, entitled Ariel to Miranda, which documents his daily routine, composing for the cinema and concert hall.
© Andrew Knowles