Kenneth Alwyn facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Kenneth Alwyn
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Alwyn in 1985
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Kenneth Alwyn Wetherell
28 July 1925 Croydon, London, England
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| Died | 10 December 2020 (aged 95) |
| Education | John Ruskin Boys' Central School |
| Occupation | Conductor • composer • writer |
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Notable work
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Friday Night Is Music Night 1812 Overture |
Kenneth Alwyn (born Kenneth Alwyn Wetherell) (28 July 1925 – 10 December 2020) was a famous British conductor, composer, and writer. He was called "one of the great British musical directors" by BBC Radio 3.
Alwyn was well-known for his many music recordings. One of his most famous was with the London Symphony Orchestra. This was Decca's first stereo recording of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture. He also worked for thirty years as a conductor and presenter on BBC Radio 2's live music show, Friday Night is Music Night. He helped a lot with British musical theatre in the 1950s and 1960s.
Kenneth Alwyn was a special member of the Royal Academy of Music. He married the actress Mary Law in 1960. He also wrote two books about his life: A Baton in the Ballet and Other Places (2015) and Is Anyone Watching? (2017).
Contents
Early Life and Training
Kenneth Alwyn was born in Croydon, England. He went to the John Ruskin Boys' Central School. After serving in the Royal Air Force during World War II, he studied music.
From 1947 to 1951, Alwyn attended the Royal Academy of Music. There, he learned singing, viola, and organ. He won a special prize for conducting in 1952. He also helped teach organ and opera, and he started a choir there.
After his studies, Alwyn worked as a conductor in other countries. He worked for Radio Malaya in Singapore. He also conducted for the Royal Wellington Choral Union in New Zealand in 1952. Then, he returned to England.
Working with Ballet
In 1952, Alwyn joined the Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet as a conductor. This group is now called the Birmingham Royal Ballet. In 1957, he moved to The Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
At the Royal Opera House, he worked with many famous conductors. These included Malcolm Sargent and Benjamin Britten. Alwyn even took over Britten's show, The Prince of the Pagodas, which first showed in 1957. From 1967 to 1969, Alwyn was also the musical director for the Western Theatre Ballet. This group is now known as the Scottish Ballet.
Music Tours Around the World
Kenneth Alwyn traveled a lot for his music. He conducted orchestras in Europe, North America, South Africa, and the Far East.
In the 1960s, he was the main conductor for the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra in Japan. He led the first performance in Japan of Gustav Holst's famous piece, The Planets. He also introduced other British music to Japanese audiences.
BBC Radio and TV Work
In 1958, the BBC asked Alwyn to conduct the BBC Concert Orchestra. This started his long career with the BBC. He became a conductor and presenter for many shows, including Friday Night is Music Night.
Alwyn worked with all of the BBC's orchestras. He was an Associate conductor for the BBC Concert Orchestra. From 1969, he was the main conductor for the BBC Northern Ireland Orchestra.
He also presented a BBC TV show called The Orchestra. In this show, he conducted the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. The series ended with a performance of Benjamin Britten's Let's Make an Opera. This show helped teach music in schools using television. Alwyn also presented a BBC Omnibus documentary about Tchaikovsky's music.
Alwyn was friends with the comedian Dudley Moore. They worked together for Moore's last UK concert tour in 1992. Alwyn conducted the BBC Concert Orchestra for these shows. Some of these performances were released on a CD called Live from an Aircraft Hangar. Alwyn also performed with another popular British comedian, Bob Monkhouse.
Musical Theatre Career
Kenneth Alwyn had a big impact on British musical theatre after World War II. He often worked with Gordon Langford, who arranged the music. Alwyn was the musical director for the first shows of many musicals.
Some of the musicals he worked on include:
- The Crooked Mile (1959)
- The Most Happy Fella (1959)
- Half a Sixpence (1963) starring Tommy Steele
- Camelot (1964)
- Charlie Girl (1965)
Alwyn made recordings of the original casts for all these shows. He also made studio recordings of other musicals. These include Oliver! (1960), West Side Story (1962), and Guys and Dolls (1962).
In 1955, Alwyn was the musical director for a pantomime called Dick Whittington. This show starred Peter O'Toole. Alwyn was also asked to perform at the memorial service for Noël Coward in 1984. This special event was held in Westminster Abbey.
Famous Music Recordings
Alwyn's career in orchestral recordings started in 1958. He recorded Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture for Decca Records. He worked with the London Symphony Orchestra. This recording was very popular and praised by Gramophone magazine. It was famous for using slowed-down gunshots to sound like cannon fire. This recording is still very popular today.
Other important recordings include Lord Berners' Wedding Bouquet.
Some of his selected recordings are:
- Richard Addinsell: Warsaw Concerto with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (1980)
- Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Hiawatha's Wedding Feast with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (1984)
- George Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue with the Sinfonia of London Orchestra (1966)
- Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture with the London Symphony Orchestra (1958)
Film Music Recordings
Kenneth Alwyn also recorded a lot of music from movies. His recording of The Ladykillers: Music from Those Glorious Ealing Films won an award in 1998. Another recording of Richard Addinsell's film music was chosen as a top record by Gramophone magazine in 1995.
He re-recorded many popular film scores. He received special praise for The Bride of Frankenstein. People said his recording sounded almost like the original movie soundtrack.
Some of his selected film music recordings include:
- Addinsell: British Light Music with the BBC Concert Orchestra (1995)
- Auric and others: The Ladykillers: Music from Those Glorious Ealing Films (1997)
- Rozsa: Ben-Hur: The Essential Miklos Rozsa (1996)
- Morricone: Once Upon a Time: The Essential Ennio Morricone Film Music Collection (2004)
- Steiner: Gone with the Wind: The Classic Max Steiner (1994)
- Waxman: The Bride of Frankenstein (1993)
His Own Music
Alwyn also wrote his own music. He composed music and words for the BBC's Battle of Britain tour in North America in 1990. This tour celebrated 50 years since the battle. His piece Fighter Command 1940 is on the album A Tribute to the Few. This piece is now a standard march for the Royal Air Force.
In 1993, Alwyn created and conducted a special concert. He wrote much of the music for this event. It featured the BBC Concert Orchestra and other groups. It was broadcast from the Royal Albert Hall.
In 1994, Alwyn created and conducted a BBC concert for the 50th anniversary of D-Day. He wrote a musical piece called Echoes for this event. It was broadcast live from Portsmouth.
Other music he composed includes:
- Concert March: The Young Grenadier: He dedicated this to Queen Elizabeth II. It is played by the Massed Bands of the Brigade of Guards.
- A song for Queen Elizabeth I's poem Youth and Cupid. This was for the Queen's Silver Jubilee in 1977.
- Comic songs for singer Ian Wallace's album Wallace's New Zoo (1965).
- The song Liverpool for Gerry Marsden (1968).
- The theme tune for the LWT TV series Affairs of the Heart (1974-1975).
- Music for the TV show A Choice of Kings, which celebrated 900 years since the Battle of Hastings.
Promoting Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's Music
Kenneth Alwyn was very interested in the music of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. He found out they had gone to the same school and lived on the same street.
Alwyn often included Coleridge-Taylor's music in his BBC shows. In 1975, he broadcast the first full performance of Coleridge-Taylor's The Song of Hiawatha since the 1930s. In 1991, Alwyn recorded the entire Song trilogy.
In 2013, Alwyn was asked to unveil a special plaque at Coleridge-Taylor's home in Croydon. This was to honor his work in bringing Coleridge-Taylor's music to more people.
See also
In Spanish: Kenneth Alwyn para niños
