Arthur Wilkinson (3 September 1919 – 1968) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

orchestral composer and arranger. He began composing while serving in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and made many contributions to film, stage shows and television.

Notable works

* The ''Three Rivers Fantasy'', a

pastiche A pastiche is a work of visual art, literature, theatre, music, or architecture that imitates the style or character of the work of one or more other artists. Unlike parody, pastiche pays homage to the work it imitates, rather than mocking it ...

of popular folk tunes of

North-East England North East England is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. The region has three current administrative levels below the region level in the region; combined authority, unitary authority ...

commissioned by

Tyne Tees Television ITV Tyne Tees, previously known as Tyne Tees, Channel 3 North East and Tyne Tees Television, is the ITV (TV network), ITV television franchise for North East England and parts of North Yorkshire. Tyne Tees launched on 15 January 1959 from stud ...

. It ran every day at the opening of transmission until May 1983. * Arrangements for the original London production of the musical ''

Charlie Girl ''Charlie Girl'' is a musical comedy which premiered in the West End of London at the Adelphi Theatre on December 15, 1965 and became one of the most successful theatre shows of the day running for 2,202 performances. It closed on 27 March 1971. ...

''. * The ''Beatlecracker Suite'', an arrangement of songs by

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

into movements of

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...

's ''

The Nutcracker Suite ''The Nutcracker'' ( rus, Щелкунчик, Shchelkunchik, links=no ) is an 1892 two-act ballet (""; russian: балет-феерия, link=no, ), originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaiko ...

''.

Selected filmography

* ''

Trouble in the Air ''Trouble in the Air'' is a 1948 British comedy film directed by Charles Saunders and starring Freddie Frinton, Jimmy Edwards and Bill Owen.Chibnall & MacFarlane p. It was made at Highbury Studios as a second feature. The film's sets were desig ...

'' (1948) * '' A Piece of Cake'' (1948) : music * '' It's Not Cricket'' (1949) : music * '' The Golden Year'' (1951) : special orchestrations * '' Come Back Peter'' (1952)

External links

Tribute
by composer Gavin Sutherland, includes link to

MP3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...

of the "Three Rivers Fantasy". * 1968 deaths 1919 births 20th-century classical musicians 20th-century British composers {{UK-composer-stub