Carl DavisCBE (October 28, 1936 – August 3, 2023) was an American-born British conductor and composer. He wrote music for more than 100 television programmes (notably the landmark ITV series World At War (1973) and BBC's Pride and Prejudice (1995), created new scores for concert and cinema performances of vintage silent movies and composed many film, ballet and concert scores that were performed worldwide, including (in collaboration with Paul McCartney) the Liverpool Oratorio in 1991.[1] Davis's publisher was Faber Music.[2]
Carl Davis was born in Brooklyn, New York, on October 28, 1936,[3][4] to Jewish parents,[5] Sara (née Perlmutter) and Isadore Davis.[6] He studied composition with Paul Nordoff and Hugo Kauder, and subsequently with Per Nørgard in Copenhagen. He attended Bard College, in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York.[7] His early work in the US provided valuable conducting experience with organisations such as the New York City Opera and the Robert Shaw Chorale. In 1959, the revue Diversions, of which he was co-author, won an off-Broadway award and subsequently travelled to the Edinburgh Festival in 1961. As a direct result of its success there, Davis was commissioned by Ned Sherrin to compose music for the original British version of That Was the Week That Was. Other radio and TV commissions followed and Davis's UK career was launched.[3]
Davis achieved early prominence with the title music for the BBC's anthology play series The Wednesday Play and later for Play for Today.[8] For the critically acclaimed and popular success Pride and Prejudice (1995) Davis used period classical music as his inspiration, in particular Beethoven's Septet E flat major, Op. 20 and a theme strongly reminiscent of the finale of his Emperor Concerto.[9]
Although Carl Davis wrote several substantial orchestral and concertante pieces – including the symphonic A Circle of Stones for full orchestra in 1997 – the core of his work outside of film and television was drama and dance, particularly musicals and ballet. He continued to actively compose over the last decade of his life,[17] during which he produced four large scale dance works: Nijinsky (2016) and Chaplin, the Tramp (2019), both for the Slovak National Ballet in Bratislava; The Great Gatsby for the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre (2019); and most recently the two-act Le Fantôme et Christine, from Gaston Leroux's 1911 novel, which develops themes he first composed for the 1925 silent movie Phantom of the Opera. This received its premiere by the Shanghai Ballet on May 11, 2023.[34] Other works include:
Alice in Wonderland is a musical set to the text of Lewis Carroll, adapted by John Wells. The first performance took place in 2005 at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds under the direction of Ian Brown.[35]
The Lady of the Camellias – La Dame Aux Camelias is a ballet in two acts and was first performed at the Croatian National Theatre, Zagreb by the Croatian National Theatre Ballet in 2008.[41]
The Last Train to Tomorrow for children's choir, actors and orchestra, based on the wartime Kindertransport rescue effort of children from Nazi-controlled territory, was premiered by the Hallé Orchestra and Children's Choir in 2012.[42]
Lipizzaner is a ballet for chamber orchestra commissioned by Northern Ballet Theatre. It premiered in November 1989 at the Manchester Palace.[43]
The Liverpool Oratorio. In 1991, Davis and Paul McCartney collaborated on an eight-movement choral work, recorded to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. Loosely based on McCartney's own life, the Liverpool Oratorio was jointly composed by Davis and McCartney and conducted by Davis.[17]
The Mermaid is a musical set to text by Hiawyn Oram, based on the fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen. Composed in 2003, it received its debut performance at Fairfield Preparatory School: Loughborough Endowed Schools in 2011.[44]
Davis married the British actress Jean Boht on December 28, 1970.[45] They had two daughters, filmmakers Hannah Louise (born 1972) and Jessie Jo (born 1974).[45] Davis also composed music for his daughter Hannah's films Mothers & Daughters (2004) and The Understudy (2008). Davis and his wife were executive producers on the latter, and they appeared in the film as a married couple, the Davidovitches.[46][47]
Davis died from a brain haemorrhage in Oxford on August 3, 2023, aged 86.[2] His wife Jean Boht died a month later on September 12, 2023, aged 91, having battled vascular dementia and Alzheimer's disease.[48]
^Miller, Mark A.; Johnson, Tom (2009). The Christopher Lee Filmography: All Theatrical Releases, 1948–2003. McFarland & Company. p. 226. ISBN978-0786446919.
