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 music for many different things. This includes music for concerts, films, TV shows, and even ballets. He is known for his wide range of styles.
Some of his famous works include the a cappella (singing without instruments) pieces Path of Miracles (2005) and The Wishing Tree (2002). He also wrote music for the popular BBC Two comedy show The League of Gentlemen (1999–2002).
You might know his music from films like The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005) and Sing (2016). He has also created scores for silent films.
Joby Talbot has written many ballets. These include Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (2011) and The Winter's Tale (2014). These were made for famous ballet companies like The Royal Ballet.
Contents
Early Life and Musical Start
Joby Talbot was born in August 1971 in Wimbledon, London. He grew up in Mitcham, South London. From age eight, he went to King's College School on a music scholarship.
He played the piano and oboe. He studied music at Royal Holloway University of London and Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Music for TV, Film, and Concerts
Even though Joby Talbot trained in classical music, he started his career writing for film, TV, and pop music. From 1993 to 2002, he worked with the band The Divine Comedy. He was an arranger and keyboard player for them.
In 1999, he wrote the main music for the BBC Two comedy series The League of Gentlemen. He won an award for this music. He also wrote music for the show's film, The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse (2005).
The British Film Institute asked Talbot to write new music for old silent films. He scored Alfred Hitchcock's 1927 film The Lodger in 1999. In 2002, he wrote music for Evgenii Bauer's 1917 film The Dying Swan.
Concert Music Highlights
In 2002, Talbot wrote The Wishing Tree. This was a short piece for a singing group called The King's Singers.
Later, he created Path of Miracles. This is an hour-long piece for a choir, sung without instruments. It tells the story of an old Christian journey across Spain to Santiago de Compostela. This piece has become very popular.
In 2004, he wrote Sneaker Wave for the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. He was also named Classic FM's first Composer-in-Residence. This meant he wrote a short piece of music each month. These pieces were collected on his album Once Around the Sun (2005).
In 2012, the Philharmonia Orchestra asked Talbot to write a new movement for Holst's famous piece The Planets. His new part was called Worlds, Stars, Systems, Infinity. It was played at Royal Festival Hall in London.
Music for Dance
Joby Talbot has written a lot of music for ballets and dance shows.
Working with Wayne McGregor
Talbot's first dance work was Chroma (2005) for The Royal Ballet. He worked with choreographer Wayne McGregor. Chroma used some of Talbot's existing music, including tracks from his album Aluminium. This album featured his orchestral versions of songs by The White Stripes.
Chroma won awards and is performed by many dance companies around the world. Talbot and McGregor worked together on two more ballets: Genus (2007) and Entity (2008).
Working with Christopher Wheeldon
After Chroma, Talbot worked more on dance projects. He adapted his music from the silent film The Dying Swan for a ballet called Fool's Paradise (2007). This was with choreographer Christopher Wheeldon.
Wheeldon then asked Talbot to write music for The Royal Ballet's first new full-length story ballet in nearly 20 years. This ballet was Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (2011). It was a big success and has been performed many times. Critics praised Talbot's "witty score" that matched the action on stage.
In 2014, Talbot and Wheeldon created another full-length ballet. This was The Winter's Tale, based on Shakespeare's play. Talbot spent two years thinking about the music for this ballet. It was challenging because each act felt like starting a new piece. The ballet received excellent reviews.
In 2023, Talbot's ballet Like Water for Chocolate was nominated for a special award. His ballet Oscar, about the life of Oscar Wilde, premiered in Australia in 2024.
Other Dance Works
Talbot has also created music for other choreographers. He wrote Tide Harmonic (2011) for Carolyn Carlson's dance show Eau. He also composed Chamber Symphony (2012) for Medhi Walerski's ballet Chamber.
Film and TV Music
Joby Talbot has continued to write music for films and television shows.
His film scores include:
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
- Penelope (2006)
- Son of Rambow (2007)
- Sing (2016)
- Sing 2 (2021)
- Wonka (2023)
For TV, he worked on Psychoville (2011–12) and the children's series Tracy Beaker Returns (2010–12). He also wrote the theme music for the BBC One drama Frankie.
As an arranger, Talbot has worked with many pop musicians. These include Paul McCartney, Tom Jones, and Charlotte Gainsbourg. He also produced the album Aluminium, which featured his arrangements of The White Stripes songs.
In 2016, he won an Annie Award for his music in the animated movie Sing.
Notable Works
- The League of Gentlemen (1999–2002), TV music
- The Dying Swan (2002), new music for a 1917 silent film
- Path of Miracles (2005), a choral work
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005), film music
- Chroma (2006), a ballet
- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (2011), a ballet
- Worlds, Stars, Systems, Infinity (2012), for orchestra
- The Winter's Tale (2014), a ballet
- Everest, a one-act opera
- Sing (2016), film music
- Sing 2 (2021), film music
- Wonka (2023), film music
Recordings
- The Dying Swan, Music for 1 to 7 Players (2002)
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005), film music
- Once Around the Sun (2005)
- Path of Miracles (2005)
- Aluminium (2006), arrangements of The White Stripes songs
- Arctic Tale (2007), film music
- Genus (2007), dance music
- Son of Rambow (2008), film music
- Penelope (2008), film music
- Franklyn (2009), film music
- Tide Harmonic (2011)
- Hunky Dory (2012), film music
- Suite from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (2012), ballet music
