Brian Easdale (10 August 1909 – 30 October 1995) was a British composer of operatic, orchestral, choral and film music, best known for his ballet film score ''The Red Shoes'' of 1948.

Life

Easdale was born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, and was educated at Westminster Abbey School and the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...

. At the latter institution he was a pupil of

Armstrong Gibbs Cecil Armstrong Gibbs (10 August 1889 – 12 May 1960) was a prolific and versatile English composer. Though best known for his choral music and, in particular, songs, Gibbs also devoted much of his career to the amateur choral and festival mov ...

(composition) and

Gordon Jacob Gordon Percival Septimus Jacob CBE (5 July 18958 June 1984) was an English composer and teacher. He was a professor at the Royal College of Music in London from 1924 until his retirement in 1966, and published four books and many articles about m ...

(orchestration). His London introduction as a composer came through a concert of his own music he organised (shared with

Herbert Murrill Herbert Henry John Murrill (11 May 1909 – 25 July 1952) was an English musician, composer, and organist. Education and early career Herbert Henry John (later just Herbert) Murrill was born in London, at 19, Fircroft Road in Upper Tooting, th ...

) at the

Wigmore Hall Wigmore Hall is a concert hall located at 36 Wigmore Street, London. Originally called Bechstein Hall, it specialises in performances of chamber music, early music, vocal music and song recitals. It is widely regarded as one of the world's leadin ...

on 1 July 1931, which attracted press notices. The concert included the Piano Sonata (1929), String Trio (1931) and five pieces accompanying recited texts by his sister, the poet

Joan Adeney Easdale Joan Adeney Easdale (23 January 1913 – 10 June 1998) was an English poet from Sevenoaks, Kent. Her mother was the author Gladys Ellen Easdale, née Adeney (1875-1970). Her father, Robert Carse Easdale, left her mother during the First World War ...

. By the 1930s Easdale was living in London, in a Hampstead bed-sit. His downstairs neighbour, the poet

Louis MacNeice Frederick Louis MacNeice (12 September 1907 – 3 September 1963) was an Irish poet and playwright, and a member of the Auden Group, which also included W. H. Auden, Stephen Spender and Cecil Day-Lewis. MacNeice's body of work was widely a ...

, suggested to him that he should work for

John Grierson John Grierson (26 April 1898 – 19 February 1972) was a pioneering Scottish documentary maker, often considered the father of British and Canadian documentary film. In 1926, Grierson coined the term "documentary" in a review of Robert J. Fla ...

GPO Film Unit The GPO Film Unit was a subdivision of the UK General Post Office. The unit was established in 1933, taking on responsibilities of the Empire Marketing Board Film Unit. Headed by John Grierson, it was set up to produce sponsored documentary films ...

, where MacNeice's fellow poet

W. H. Auden Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in ...

was already working alongside the young composer

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

.'Music with a touch of magic: Obituary of Brian Easdale', in ''The Guardian'', 31 October, 1995 Easdale also worked with Britten at the Group Theatre just before the war. Called up early in the war, he was assigned to the

Crown Film Unit The Crown Film Unit was an organisation within the British Government's Ministry of Information during the Second World War. Formerly the GPO Film Unit it became the Crown Film Unit in 1940. Its remit was to make films for the general public in ...

and sent on special assignment to Information Films of India. While there he became interested in Indian music (in particular the music of Nepal) and its instruments, and also formed a friendship with

Rumer Godden Margaret Rumer Godden (10 December 1907 – 8 November 1998) was an English author of more than 60 fiction and non-fiction books. Nine of her works have been made into films, most notably ''Black Narcissus'' in 1947 and '' The River'' in ...

, author of ''Black Narcissus''. On his return to the UK this connection helped win him the task of composing the score for the film of the novel in 1947. Percussion instruments he brought back from India were utilised in the music, and enormous bellowing Himalayan trumpets call out at the very beginning of the film. There followed a decade of successful work as a film composer. When this came to an end in the early 1960s, Easdale returned to writing concert music. But aside from a high profile choral commission for the consecration of the new

Coventry Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Saint Michael, commonly known as Coventry Cathedral, is the seat of the Bishop of Coventry and the Diocese of Coventry within the Church of England. The cathedral is located in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The curren ...

in 1962 – where his ''Missa Conventrensis'' was inevitably overshadowed by his friend Benjamin Britten's ''

War Requiem The ''War Requiem'', Op. 66, is a large-scale setting of the Requiem composed by Benjamin Britten mostly in 1961 and completed in January 1962. The ''War Requiem'' was performed for the consecration of the new Coventry Cathedral, which was b ...

'' – his concert work gained little attention. Following an alcoholic phase in the 1960s, Easdale continued to live in a private room at the Carlton Dene residential care home in Kilburn. He was actively involved in the live performance of his ''Red Shoes Suite'' at 1994's Kenwood Music Festival, conducted by Iain Sutherland.

Christopher Palmer Christopher Francis Palmer (9 September 194622 January 1995) was an English composer, arranger and orchestrator; biographer of composers, champion of lesser-known composers and writer on film music and other musical subjects; record producer; and ...

described Easdale's musical style as "an eclectic English idiom that owes something to Britten as well as to the Bax-Bridge generations". In general his combination of lush late Romanticism mixed with "ethnic" colour and more austere Modernism suited the world of film music more than the concert hall. He was twice married, and died at the age of 86, survived by three daughters and two sons.

Works

For the opera house he composed ''

Rapunzel "Rapunzel" ( , ) is a German fairy tale recorded by the Brothers Grimm and first published in 1812 as part of ''Children's and Household Tales'' (KHM 12). The Brothers Grimm's story developed from the French literary fairy tale of ''Persinette ...

'' (1927), ''The Corn King'' (1935, not performed until November 1950) with a libretto by his friend the Scottish poet and novelist

Naomi Mitchison Naomi Mary Margaret Mitchison, Baroness Mitchison (; 1 November 1897 – 11 January 1999) was a Scottish novelist and poet. Often called a doyenne of Scottish literature, she wrote over 90 books of historical and science fiction, travel writin ...

, and ''The Sleeping Children'' (1951), which was the first opera to be commissioned by

English Opera Group The English Opera Group was a small company of British musicians formed in 1947 by the composer Benjamin Britten (along with John Piper, Eric Crozier and Anne Wood) for the purpose of presenting his and other, primarily British, composers' opera ...

. However, the latter's expressionist/surrealist libretto, by

Tyrone Guthrie Sir William Tyrone Guthrie (2 July 1900 – 15 May 1971) was an English theatrical director instrumental in the founding of the Stratford Festival of Canada, the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the Tyrone Guthrie Centre at his ...

, "full of dissolving dream images of sex and sadism" alienated the majority of the critics.'Brian Easdale', obituary, ''The Times'', 18 November, 1995 His orchestral works included a ''Death March'', conducted by

Malcolm Sargent Sir Harold Malcolm Watts Sargent (29 April 1895 – 3 October 1967) was an English conductor, organist and composer widely regarded as Britain's leading conductor of choral works. The musical ensembles with which he was associated include ...

in 1928, ''Five pieces for orchestra'', ''Six Poems'', first given in Vienna in 1936, and ''Tone Poem'' (1939). The ''Concerto Lirico'' for piano and orchestra was performed at the Cheltenham Festival in 1955. Other works include some chamber music, the ''Evening Prelude'' (1951) for organ, a "lyric drama" ''Seelkie'' (1954) for chorus and small orchestra, and a song cycle ''Leaves of Grass'', setting Whitman. Easdale was best known for his film music. His documentary film scores for the

include ''Big Money'' (1937), ''Job in a Million'' (1937) and ''Men in Danger'' (1939). With a few exceptions (including ''

Outcast of the Islands ''Outcast of the Islands'' is a 1951 British adventure drama film directed by Carol Reed based on Joseph Conrad's 1896 novel ''An Outcast of the Islands''. The film features Trevor Howard, Ralph Richardson, Robert Morley and Wendy Hiller. Pl ...

'' for

Carol Reed Sir Carol Reed (30 December 1906 – 25 April 1976) was an English film director and producer, best known for ''Odd Man Out'' (1947), '' The Fallen Idol'' (1948), ''The Third Man'' (1949), and '' Oliver!'' (1968), for which he was awarded the ...

in 1951) his mainstream film scores were mostly written for

Michael Powell Michael Latham Powell (30 September 1905 – 19 February 1990) was an English filmmaker, celebrated for his partnership with Emeric Pressburger. Through their production company The Archers, they together wrote, produced and directed a serie ...

and

Emeric Pressburger Emeric Pressburger (born Imre József Pressburger; 5 December 19025 February 1988) was a Hungarian-British screenwriter, film director, and producer. He is best known for his series of film collaborations with Michael Powell, in a collaborat ...

, including ''

Black Narcissus ''Black Narcissus'' is a 1947 British Psychological fiction, psychological drama film written, produced, and directed by Powell and Pressburger, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, and starring Deborah Kerr, Kathleen Byron, Sabu Dastagir, S ...

'' (1947), '' The Red Shoes'' (1948), ''

The Small Back Room ''The Small Back Room'', released in the United States as ''Hour of Glory'', is a 1949 film by the British producer-writer-director team of Powell and Pressburger, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger starring David Farrar (actor), David Farrar ...

'' (1949), '' The Elusive Pimpernel'' (1950), ''

The Battle of the River Plate The Battle of the River Plate was fought in the South Atlantic on 13 December 1939 as the first naval battle of the Second World War. The Kriegsmarine heavy cruiser , commanded by Captain Hans Langsdorff, engaged a Royal Navy squadron, command ...

'' (1956), Pressburger's ''

Miracle in Soho ''Miracle in Soho'' is a 1957 British drama film directed by Julian Amyes and starring John Gregson, Belinda Lee and Cyril Cusack. The film depicts the lives of the inhabitants of a small street in Soho and the romance between a local road-b ...

'' (1957), and Powell's ''

The Queen's Guards ''The Queen's Guards'' is a 1961 military drama film directed by Michael Powell from a script by Simon Harcourt-Smith and Roger Milner. It stars Daniel Massey, Raymond Massey, Robert Stephens, and Ursula Jeans. ''The Queen's Guards'' was made ...

'' (1961) and ''

Peeping Tom Lady Godiva (; died between 1066 and 1086), in Old English , was a late Anglo-Saxon noblewoman who is relatively well documented as the wife of Leofric, Earl of Mercia, and a patron of various churches and monasteries. Today, she is mainly reme ...

'' (1960). He was the first British composer to win an

Academy Award for Best Original Music Score The Academy Award for Best Original Score is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by t ...

, for his music for ''The Red Shoes'',Lane, Philip. Notes t
''The Film Music of Brian Easdale''
Chandos CD 10636 (2011) and also won the music award at the Venice Film Festival for ''Gone To Earth'' in 1950.

Recording

A CD of some of Easdale's film music was released in January 2011.''The Film Music of Brian Easdale''
Chandos 10636 (2011) Recorded in 2010 by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales with the BBC National Chorus of Wales. It includes the full ballet sequence from ''The Red Shoes'' (from the original score, complete with

Ondes Martenot The ondes Martenot ( ; , "Martenot waves") or ondes musicales ("musical waves") is an early electronic musical instrument. It is played with a keyboard or by moving a ring along a wire, creating "wavering" sounds similar to a theremin. A player o ...

), and extracts from ''

'' and '' Gone to Earth''.

References

External links

* * * * *
Brian Easdale biography
on MusicWeb
Brian Easdale
in

Ausstage AusStage: The Australian Live Performance Database is an online database which records information about live performances in Australia, providing records of productions from the first recorded performance in Australia (1789, by convicts) up unt ...

Brian Easdale-review of Film Music at The Land of Lost Content
1909 births 1995 deaths 20th-century British male musicians 20th-century English composers 20th-century classical composers Alumni of the Royal College of Music Best Original Music Score Academy Award winners British classical composers British film score composers British male classical composers British opera composers Golden Globe Award-winning musicians British male film score composers Male opera composers Musicians from Manchester People educated at Westminster Abbey Choir School {{UK-composer-stub