Carlo Martelli (born 12 December 1935) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

composer and viola player of Italian extraction who saw early success and high profile performances with his orchestral and chamber music concert works, but later turned to light music and film scores. He is particularly known for his idiomatic arrangements of music for strings.

Biography

He was born on 12 December 1935 in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, UK to an Italian father and an English mother, and brought up in

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

, Surrey. From 1949, aged 13, he attended 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 ...

as a Junior Exhibitioner, studying with

William Lloyd Webber William Southcombe Lloyd Webber (11 March 1914 – 29 October 1982) was an English organist and composer, who achieved some fame as a part of the modern classical music movement whilst commercially facing mixed opportunities. Besides his long ...

. He joined full-time in 1952, studying composition with

Bernard Stevens Bernard (George) Stevens (2 March 1916 – 6 January 1983) was a British composer. Life Born in London, Stevens studied English and Music at St John's College, Cambridge with E. J. Dent and Cyril Rootham, then at the Royal College of Music ...

. Early works from this period scored for large forces include the ''Festival Overture'' and the Symphony No 1 (both scores now lost). But the composer considered his "Opus 1" to be the String Quartet of 1953. Further pieces followed during the 1950s, including the String Quartet No 2 (1954) and the Symphony No 2 (1955-6), which was premiered by the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

at a

Society for the Promotion of New Music The Society for the Promotion of New Music (SPNM), originally named The Committee for the Promotion of New Music, was founded in January 1943 in London by the émigré composer Francis Chagrin, to promote the creation and performance of new music in ...

concert on 26 October 1957 at the

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a Grade I l ...

, conducted by

Norman Del Mar Norman René Del Mar CBE (31 July 19196 February 1994) was a British conductor, horn player, and biographer. As a conductor, he specialised in the music of late romantic composers; including Edward Elgar, Gustav Mahler, and Richard Strauss. H ...

.Conway, Paul. 'Carlo Martelli: A Gifted Musician' at ''MusicWeb International''
/ref> The ''Serenade for Strings'' was premiered at the

Cheltenham Festival The Cheltenham Festival is a horse racing-based meeting in the National Hunt racing calendar in the United Kingdom, with race prize money second only to the Grand National. The four-day festival takes place annually in March at Cheltenham Rac ...

in 1958.

Career

After leaving the RCM, Martelli became a professional viola player, performing with the

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, that performs and produces primarily classic works. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable ...

under

Thomas Beecham Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet, Order of the Companions of Honour, CH (29 April 18798 March 1961) was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic and the Roya ...

and with the London Symphony Orchestra. Through his friendship with the Dutch-born British composer and conductor

Gerard Schurmann Gerard Schurmann (19 January 1924 – 24 March 2020) was a Dutch-born British composer and conductor. He lived in the United States from 1981 until his death. He composed music for many film soundtracks. Schurmann was also the orchestrator for th ...

he entered the world of film music with a series of scores during the 1960, the early examples in the horror genre for the

Hammer A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nails into wood, to shape metal (as w ...

film company. The change in Martelli's fortunes came in the early 1960s. Policy changes at the BBC's 'Third Programme' resulted in his music, melodious and tonal as it was, being sidelined in favour of serial and avant-garde experimentation, and Martelli rapidly vanished from the schedules. In addition, he had taken on a demanding workload as a film composer, including working as an uncredited assistant and 'ghost writer' for several other film composers. Martelli sometimes found himself working on two or three films at the same time. In the early 1970s council workers unexpectedly emptied his storage space and mistakenly burnt all of his manuscripts, resulting in the only extant scores being those that were already in print by the late 1950s. This led to Martelli giving up composing for many years, making a living instead as a freelance viola player. He could often be seen playing in a string quartet which entertained diners at the original Pizza Express restaurant in London's

Soho Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develop ...

, and also at Kettner's in Soho on Sunday evenings. This work led to work arranging popular songs for string quartet and then to over 250 string arrangements from all areas of the musical canon. As these became more intricate they eventually heralded a return to original composition in the 1980s. ''Persiflage'' (1983), which means "banter", is a showcase of string technique. This, and other original pieces such as ''Aubade'' (1984) and ''Promenade'' (1985), shifted the focus of his composition towards light music and received broadcasts and performances by the BBC Concert Orchestra. More recent works include two operas: ''A Monkey's Paw'' (1990), based on a short story by

W.W. Jacobs William Wymark Jacobs (8 September 1863 – 1 September 1943) was an English author of short fiction and drama. His best remembered story is "The Monkey's Paw". He was born in Wapping, London, on 8 September 1863, the son of William Gage Jacobs ...

, and the children's opera, ''The Curse of Christopher Columbus'' (1992). There is also the ''Prelude and Fugue for 18 Violas'' (1993), written for the

National Youth Orchestra A youth orchestra is an orchestra made of young musicians, typically ranging from pre-teens or teenagers to those of conservatory age. Depending on the age range and selectiveness, they may serve different purposes. Orchestras for young studen ...

and later rescored for string sextet. His ''Jubilee March'', a pastiche of English march tunes, was composed for the Queen's Golden Jubilee and premiered at Glamis Castle during 2002. There are several recordings, including ''The Curse of Christopher Columbus'', the Symphony No 2, ''Persiflage'', ''Jubilee March'', and the String Quartets 1 and 2.Discardia DISCA002 (2013)
/ref>

Concert works

Film music

References

External links

*

* ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dV9pYmToRk ''Cock Linnet'', arr. Martelli, played by the Ulster String Quartet {{DEFAULTSORT:Martelli, Carlo 1935 births Living people English classical violists English composers English people of Italian descent Light music composers Composers from London