Carl Davis

Amazingly prolific, Carl Davis – born in Brooklyn, New York on October 28, 1936 - was one of the world's most admired conductors and a great composer, who wrote numerous film scores, orchestrated Paul McCartney's classical scores, and composed the music for a huge array of television shows (from Play for Today and The Naked Civil Servant to the 2006 FIFA World Cup music). Carl Davis first acquired his love of music from his mother, a pianist, and quickly became proficient on piano, mastering a range of different musical styles. His first professional engagements were as a teenager with the Robert Shaw Chorale and the New York City Opera. A move to London, England led to a significant breakthrough in 1969 with Alan Bennett's Forty Years On. He also collaborated with John Wells on the stage musicals Alice in Wonderland and Peace and the Projector and for Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop. This was where he met his wife, the actress Jean Boht, after which he began composing for television with The World at War series. In 1980, Carl Davis created the music for Thames TV's Hollywood: A Celebration of the American Silent Film, followed by acclaimed scores for documentaries on the lives of Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd and original music for various classic silent movies, from Ben Hur to The Godless Girl. Among his greatest film scores were The French Lieutenant's Woman, Scandal, King David, Topsy Turvy, and The Book of Eve. He worked with Paul McCartney on his Liverpool Oratorio and conducted some of the world's finest orchestras. Carl Davis died on August 3, 2023, from a brain hemorrhage at the age of 86.

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