Carl Davis facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Carl Davis
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| Born | October 28, 1936 Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
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| Died | August 3, 2023 (aged 86) Oxford, England
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| Alma mater | Bard College |
| Occupation | Conductor and composer |
| Years active | 1960–2023 |
| Spouse(s) | Jean Boht (1970–2023) |
| Children | 2 |
Carl Davis CBE (October 28, 1936 – August 3, 2023) was an American-born British conductor and composer. He wrote music for more than 100 television programs (notably the BBC's Pride and Prejudice, 1995), created new scores for the concert performance of 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. Davis's publisher was Faber Music.
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Early life and career
Carl Davis was born in Brooklyn, New York City, to Jewish parents, Sara (née Perlmutter) and Isadore Davis. He studied composition with Paul Nordoff and Hugo Kauder, and subsequently with Per Nørgard in Copenhagen. He attended Bard College, in New York. His early work in the US provided valuable conducting experience with organizations 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 traveled 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.
Television
Davis achieved early prominence with the title music for the BBC's anthology play series The Wednesday Play and later for Play for Today. Other television scores included Shades of Greene (1975), The Kiss of Death (1977), Langrishe, Go Down (1978), Prince Regent (1979), Private Schulz (1980), Oppenheimer (1980), Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years (1981), The Hound of the Baskervilles (1982), The Far Pavilions (1984), The Day the Universe Changed (1985), The Pickwick Papers (1985), Hotel du Lac (1986), Ashenden (1991), Pride and Prejudice (1995), Anne Frank Remembered (1995), Seesaw (1998), Coming Home (1998), Upstairs Downstairs (2010), and Brexicuted (2018).
Davis also worked for television producer Jeremy Isaacs in providing the original music for the documentary history series The World at War (1973) for Thames Television and Cold War (1998). He conducted the BBC's theme song for their coverage of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, adapted from George Frideric Handel's "See the Conquering Hero Comes".
Silent film music
In the late 1970s, Davis was commissioned by documentarians Kevin Brownlow and David Gill to create music for Thames Television's Hollywood: A Celebration of the American Silent Film (1980). His association with them continued the same year with Abel Gance's epic silent film Napoléon (1927), which was restored and Davis' music was used in its cinematic re-release and television screenings. There was a similar treatment for D. W. Griffith's Intolerance: Love's Struggle Through The Ages (1916). This had orchestral music originally, but Davis's new score was used instead in 1989. In March 2012, Davis conducted the Oakland East Bay Symphony performing his score for Napoleon in the complete Brownlow restoration in a presentation by the San Francisco Silent Film Festival at the Paramount Theatre Oakland.
The Hollywood documentary series was followed by the documentaries Unknown Chaplin (1983), Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow (1987) and Harold Lloyd: The Third Genius (1989, see Harold Lloyd). In the 1980s and 1990s, Davis wrote and conducted the scores for numerous Thames Silents releases and television screenings.
By 1993, his reputation made him the number one choice for new scores to silent films. Many DVD releases, including Ben-Hur (1925), The Phantom of the Opera (1925), Safety Last (1923), DeMille's The Godless Girl (1928), Chaplin's City Lights (1931) (re-orchestrated by Davis based on Chaplin's and Padilla's original written score) and Erich von Stroheim's Greed (1924), use Davis's music. Davis also created an entire re-scoring of Clarence Brown's Flesh and the Devil (1927). In many of these recordings, he was the conductor as well the composer. On several occasions he conducted these scores live in the cinema, as well as in concert halls as the film was being screened.
Film music
Davis composed a number of film scores, including the BAFTA winning The French Lieutenant's Woman in 1981. His other film scores included The Bofors Gun (1968), The Only Way (1970), I, Monster (1971), Up Pompeii (1971), Up the Chastity Belt (1971), Rentadick (1972), What Became of Jack and Jill? (1972), Catholics (1973), Man Friday (1975), The Sailor's Return (1978), Champions (1983), King David (1985), The Girl in a Swing (1988), Scandal (1989), The Rainbow (1989), Frankenstein Unbound (1990), The Trial (1993), Widows' Peak (1994), The Great Gatsby (2000), Mothers & Daughters (2004) and The Understudy (2008).
Stage and concert works
- 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.
- Cyrano - a Birmingham Royal Ballet commission. It was premiered at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, (one excerpt), by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Carl Davis himself in 2006.
- Alice in Wonderland is Davis's 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.
- The Mermaid is a musical set to Hiawyn Oram's text and is based upon the fairytale by Hans Christian Andersen. It received its debut performance at Fairfield Preparatory School: Loughborough Endowed Schools.
- Aladdin, commissioned by Scottish Ballet, is a Ballet in 3 acts. It received its first performance at the Edinburgh Festival Theatre by Scottish Ballet, with choreography by Robert Cohan.
- Lipizzaner is a ballet for chamber orchestra commissioned by the Northern Ballet Theatre. It premiered in November 1989 at the Manchester Palace by Northern Ballet Theatre.
- The Clarinet Concerto was commissioned by the Greenwich Festival in 1984, where it was performed by the English Chamber Orchestra with soloist David Campbell.
- The Fantasy for Flute, Strings and Harpsichord was first performed at the Chichister Music Festival in 1985 by the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, soloist Susan Milan.
- 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.
- A Circle of Stones, four symphonic pictures for orchestra, was written for broadcast on S4C in 1997.
- 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.
Personal life
Davis married the British actress Jean Boht on December 28, 1970. They had two daughters, Hannah Louise (born 1972) and Jessie Jo (born 1974). 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 Davidovitzes.
Davis died from a brain hemorrhage in Oxford, on August 3, 2023, at the age of 86.
See also
In Spanish: Carl Davis para niños
