Joby Talbot facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Joby Talbot |
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Talbot in 2011
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| Background information | |
| Born | 25 August 1971 Wimbledon, London, England |
| Occupation(s) | Composer |
Joby Talbot (born 25 August 1971) is a British composer. He writes many different kinds of music. This includes music for concerts, movies, TV shows, and dance performances. People know him for his varied and interesting musical styles.
Some of his well-known works include Path of Miracles (2005), which is sung without instruments. He also wrote music for the TV show The League of Gentlemen (1999–2002). You might know his music from movies like The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005) and Son of Rambow (2007).
Joby Talbot has also created music for many ballets. These include Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (2011) and The Winter's Tale (2014). Both were created for The Royal Ballet. He also wrote an opera called Everest (2015).
Contents
About Joby Talbot
Early Life and Musical Journey
Joby Talbot was born in August 1971 in Wimbledon, London. He grew up in Mitcham, South London. He started playing piano and oboe at a young age. He also studied how to compose music.
He went to Royal Holloway University of London. Later, he studied at Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He learned a lot about creating music there.
Starting His Career
Even though he trained in classical music, Joby Talbot first worked on music for movies and TV. He also arranged pop songs. From 1993 to 2002, he worked with the band The Divine Comedy.
In 1999, he wrote the main music for the BBC Two comedy show The League of Gentlemen. He won an award for this music. He also wrote music for silent films like The Lodger (1999).
Music for Concerts
Joby Talbot has written many pieces for orchestras and choirs. In 2002, he wrote The Wishing Tree for The King's Singers. It was a short song sung without instruments.
His piece Path of Miracles (2005) is a long work for a choir without instruments. It tells the story of an old Christian journey in Spain. This piece has become very popular.
In 2012, he wrote Worlds, Stars, Systems, Infinity. This piece was an eighth movement for Holst's famous work The Planets. It was part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad.
Music for Dance
Working with Wayne McGregor
Joby Talbot started working with choreographer Wayne McGregor in 2005. Their first ballet together was Chroma. Talbot used some of his earlier music for this ballet. He also used songs from his album Aluminium, which featured his arrangements of songs by The White Stripes.
Chroma won several awards. Many ballet companies around the world still perform it today. Talbot and McGregor worked together on two more ballets: Genus (2007) and Entity (2008).
Collaborations with Christopher Wheeldon
Talbot also worked closely with choreographer Christopher Wheeldon. In 2007, they created Fool's Paradise.
Their biggest project was Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (2011). This was a brand new, full-length ballet for The Royal Ballet. It was a huge success. Critics praised Talbot's music, calling it "witty" and "lush."
In 2014, they created another full-length ballet, The Winter's Tale. This ballet was based on a play by William Shakespeare. Talbot spent two years thinking about the music for this challenging project. The ballet received excellent reviews.
In 2023, his ballet Like Water for Chocolate was nominated for an Ivor Novello Award. In September 2024, his ballet Oscar, about the life of Oscar Wilde, premiered in Melbourne, Australia.
Music for Movies and TV
Joby Talbot has written music for many films and TV shows. He composed the score for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005). He also wrote music for Penelope (2006) and Son of Rambow (2007).
For TV, he continued to work on shows like Psychoville (2011–12). He also wrote the theme music for the popular children's series Tracy Beaker Returns (2010–12).
In 2016, Talbot wrote the music for the animated movie Sing. He won an award for this work. He also composed music for Sing 2 (2021) and Wonka (2023).
Notable Works
- The League of Gentlemen (1999–2002), TV show music
- Path of Miracles (2005), a choral work sung without instruments
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005), movie music
- Chroma (2006), a ballet for The Royal Ballet
- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (2011), a ballet
- Worlds, Stars, Systems, Infinity (2012), an orchestral piece
- The Winter's Tale (2014), a ballet
- Everest (2015), an opera
- Sing (2016), movie music
- Sing 2 (2021), movie music
- Wonka (2023), movie music
- Oscar (2024), a ballet
Recordings
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005), movie soundtrack
- Once Around the Sun (2005), a collection of short musical pieces
- Path of Miracles (2005), a choral work
- Aluminium (2006), his arrangements of songs by The White Stripes
- Son of Rambow (2008), movie soundtrack
- Penelope (2008), movie soundtrack
- Tide Harmonic (2011), a chamber music piece
- Suite from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (2012), ballet music
