Howard Goodall facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Howard Goodall CBE
Goodall at the Church of St John the Baptist in Barnstaple, Devon, May 2009
Background information
Birth name	Howard Lindsay Goodall
Born	(1958-05-26) 26 May 1958 (age 67) Bromley, Kent, England
Occupation(s)	Composer, presenter for television and radio (Classic FM - "Composer-in-Residence")
Years active	1979–present

Howard Lindsay Goodall is a famous English composer and TV presenter. He writes music for musicals, choral music (music for choirs), and many popular TV shows. He also presents music-based programmes on television and radio, and he has won many awards for his work. In 2008, he became the "Composer-in-Residence" for Classic FM, a UK radio station. In 2009, he was named "Composer of the Year" at the Classic BRIT Awards.

About Howard Goodall

Howard Goodall was born in Bromley, Kent, England, on May 26, 1958. He went to New College School and sang in the choir there. Later, he studied music at Christ Church, Oxford, where he earned a top degree.

He is married to Val Fancourt, who works with classical musicians. They have two daughters.

Howard Goodall's Music and Shows

Popular Music Beginnings

In the late 1970s, Howard Goodall was part of a band called Half Brother. They released an album called Half Brother in 1978.

Musicals for the Stage

Howard Goodall has written many musicals. A musical is a play that tells a story through songs, spoken words, and often dancing.

His 1984 musical, The Hired Man, is based on a book by Melvyn Bragg. This musical won an Ivor Novello award in 1985 and a TMA Award in 2006 for Best Musical. It has been performed many times since then.

A Winter's Tale, which is now known as A Summer's Tale, was first performed in 2005. In 2011, its London premiere won an award for Best New Musical.

Love Story, based on a book by Erich Segal, first opened in 2010.

Bend It Like Beckham: The Musical was written with Gurinder Chadha, Paul Mayeda Berges, and Charles Hart. It started showing in London in May 2015.

Other musicals he has written include Girlfriends (1986), Days of Hope (1991), Silas Marner (1993), The Kissing-Dance (1998), The Dreaming (2001), A Winter's Tale (2005), and Two Cities (2006).

Music for Television

Goodall has composed the main theme songs and background music for many popular UK comedy shows. These include Red Dwarf, Blackadder, Mr. Bean, The Thin Blue Line, The Vicar of Dibley, The Catherine Tate Show, 2point4 Children, Words and Pictures, and QI. He has also appeared on QI as a guest twice. A song from Red Dwarf called "Tongue Tied" reached number 17 on the UK music charts.

When he was at Oxford University, Goodall met actor Rowan Atkinson and writer Richard Curtis. They worked together on many projects, including his first TV show, Not the Nine O'Clock News.

Choral Music and Other Works

Howard Goodall has written a lot of choral music, which is music for choirs to sing. Some of his pieces include "In Memoriam Anne Frank" (2001) and "O Lord God of Time and Eternity" (2003). He also set Psalm 23 to music, which became the theme song for The Vicar of Dibley.

In 2008, his work Eternal Light: A Requiem was first performed. A requiem is a special type of musical piece often performed to remember people who have passed away. This piece has been performed over 700 times around the world.

In 2009, Classic FM released Howard Goodall's Enchanted Voices. This album explored old chant music in a modern way. It became the best-selling choral CD of 2009 and was nominated for a Classical Brit Album of the Year award. He also released Howard Goodall's Enchanted Carols (2009) and Pelican in the Wilderness (2010).

Goodall also wrote music for Tonbridge School and Truro Cathedral. For Truro Cathedral, he wrote A New Heart, A New Spirit, which uses words from the Bible in four languages.

In 2011, his 45-minute musical story, Every Purpose Under the Heaven, was first performed in Westminster Abbey. This piece celebrated the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible.

He also wrote music for Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee Regatta in 2012. He was also in charge of the music for Rowan Atkinson's performance at the Opening Ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics.

In 2012, his piece I am Christmas Day was performed at Southwark Cathedral. In 2014, he released Steadfast to help a charity for disadvantaged children in the UK. Many famous singers helped perform this song.

More Tomorrows was commissioned by Classic FM for Cancer Research UK and was first performed in 2013.

Invictus: A Passion, a 55-minute work for singers and orchestra, was first performed in Houston, Texas, in 2018.

Unconditional Love: A Cantata of Gratitude and Remembrance was written during the Covid-19 pandemic and premiered in Houston in 2021. He also wrote a Christmas Cantata which premiered in Houston in 2019.

Howard Goodall as a Presenter

Howard Goodall has presented many TV and radio shows. He hosted Saturday Night at the Movies for six years on Classic FM. He has also presented six award-winning TV series about music history and theory for Channel 4:

• Howard Goodall's Organworks (1996) – about the history of the organ.
• Howard Goodall's Choirworks (1998) – about the history of choral music.
• Howard Goodall's Big Bangs (2000) – about important moments in music history. This show won a BAFTA award.
• Howard Goodall's Great Dates (2002) – about important dates in music history.
• Howard Goodall's 20th Century Greats (2004) – explored how classical and popular music changed in the 20th century.
• Howard Goodall's How Music Works (2006) – explained the basic parts of music.
• The Truth About Christmas Carols (2008) – a documentary about the history of Christmas carols.
• Hallelujah! The Story of Handel's Messiah (2010) – celebrated Handel's famous "Messiah" piece.

He also presented shows on BBC2:

• Howard Goodall's The Story of Music (2013) – traced music history from ancient times to today.
• Sgt. Pepper's Musical Revolution (2017) – looked back at the making of the Beatles' famous album, 50 years later.

Goodall was also a music expert for exhibitions like David Bowie Is (2013) and Pink Floyd: Their Mortal Remains (2017).

Howard Goodall's Discography

Television Music

Film Music

Awards and Recognition

Howard Goodall has received special degrees from several universities. The British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA) gave him an award for his great support of other British composers. In 2007, he won the Making Music/Sir Charles Groves Prize for his amazing contribution to British Music.

The UK Government also appointed him as England's first National Ambassador for Singing. In this role, he led a four-year program called Sing Up to help improve group singing for all primary school children.

In April 2009, Goodall was nominated for "Composer of the Year" at The Classical BRITs for Eternal Light: A Requiem. He won this award in May 2009. In July 2009, he was nominated for an Emmy Award for his music in the film Into the Storm, which he won in September.

In 2009, he also received the Karl Haas Prize for Music Education. Other awards include the Naomi Sergeant Memorial Award for Outstanding contribution to British Music and the MIA/Classic FM award for Outstanding contribution to Music Education.

In January 2011, Howard Goodall was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). This is a special honor given for his services to music education.