Lieutenant-Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

Sir Francis Vivian Dunn (24 December 1908 – 3 April 1995) was a British conductor who was Director of Music of the Portsmouth Division of the

Royal Marines The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...

from 1931 to 1953 and Principal Director of Music of the Royal Marines from 1953 to 1968. He was the first

British Armed Forces The British Armed Forces, also known as His Majesty's Armed Forces, are the military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, s ...

musician to be

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

ed.

Early life

Francis Vivian Dunn was born in

Jabalpur Jabalpur is a city situated on the banks of Narmada River in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. According to the 2011 census, it is the third-largest urban agglomeration in Madhya Pradesh and the country's 38th-largest urban agglomeration. J ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. His father, William James Dunn, was bandmaster of the Second Battalion

King's Royal Rifle Corps The King's Royal Rifle Corps was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army that was originally raised in British North America as the Royal American Regiment during the phase of the Seven Years' War in North America known in the United St ...

and later director of music of the

Royal Horse Guards The Royal Regiment of Horse Guards (The Blues) (RHG) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, part of the Household Cavalry. Raised in August 1650 at Newcastle upon Tyne and County Durham by Sir Arthur Haselrigge on the orders of Oliver Cr ...

. Dunn studied piano with his mother, Beatrice Maud, and undertook choral studies in

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

. He attended the

Hochschule für Musik Köln ' (, plural: ') is the generic term in German for institutions of higher education, corresponding to ''universities'' and ''colleges'' in English. The term ''Universität'' (plural: ''Universitäten'') is reserved for institutions with the right to ...

in 1923 and, two years later, the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke of ...

. He studied conducting with

Henry Wood Sir Henry Joseph Wood (3 March 186919 August 1944) was an English conductor best known for his association with London's annual series of promenade concerts, known as the Proms. He conducted them for nearly half a century, introducing hund ...

and composition with Walton O'Donnell. As a violinist, he performed in the

Queen's Hall The Queen's Hall was a concert hall in Langham Place, London, opened in 1893. Designed by the architect Thomas Knightley, it had room for an audience of about 2,500 people. It became London's principal concert venue. From 1895 until 1941, it ...

Promenade Orchestra (under Wood), and in 1930 was a founding member of the

BBC Symphony Orchestra The BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC SO) is a British orchestra based in London. Founded in 1930, it was the first permanent salaried orchestra in London, and is the only one of the city's five major symphony orchestras not to be self-governing. T ...

(under several conductors).

Career

Dunn was released from his contract with the BBC and on 3 September 1931 commissioned as a lieutenant in the

to be director of music for the Portsmouth Division of the Corps. His duties included directing the Royal Marines Band on the Royal Yacht, where he encountered the Royal Family.

Princess Margaret Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, (Margaret Rose; 21 August 1930 – 9 February 2002) was the younger daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, and the younger sister and only sibling of Queen Elizabeth ...

later recalled that Dunn was her childhood hero. Dunn participated in the royal tour of South Africa on board in 1947 and a Royal Marines band tour of the United States and Canada in 1949. His promotion to

lieutenant-colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

and principal director of music of the Royal Marines followed in 1953. Dunn and the Royal Marines Band accompanied

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

and

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from El ...

on the for the post-

coronation A coronation is the act of placement or bestowal of a coronation crown, crown upon a monarch's head. The term also generally refers not only to the physical crowning but to the whole ceremony wherein the act of crowning occurs, along with the ...

Commonwealth Tour. Upon its completion, the Queen appointed Dunn

CVO CVO may refer to: Science and technology * Cascades Volcano Observatory, Vancouver, Washington, US * Chief veterinary officer, the head of a veterinary authority * Circumventricular organs, positioned around the ventricular system of the brain * Co ...

, and in 1960

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

. In 1955, Dunn was asked by

Euan Lloyd Euan Lloyd (6 December 1923 – 2 July 2016) was a British film producer. Biography He began his career directing short travelogue documentaries, starting with '' April in Portugal'' in 1954 (not released until 1956). He worked in publicity, ...

Warwick Films Warwick Films was a film company founded by film producers Irving Allen and Albert R. Broccoli in London in 1951. The name was taken from the Warwick Hotel in London.Broccoli, Albert R., Zec Donald. ''When the Snow Melts''. Boxtree. 1998 Their fi ...

to compose the theme music for ''

The Cockleshell Heroes ''The Cockleshell Heroes'' is a 1955 British Technicolor war film with Trevor Howard, Anthony Newley, Christopher Lee, David Lodge and José Ferrer, who also directed. The film depicts a heavily fictionalised version of Operation Frankton, the ...

'' (which was otherwise scored by

John Addison John Mervyn Addison (16 March 19207 December 1998) was a British composer best known for his film scores. Early life Addison was born in Chobham, Surrey to a father who was a colonel in the Royal Field Artillery, and this influenced the de ...

). He appears as himself, conducting the Royal Marines, in the end titles of the 1966 film '' Thunderbirds Are Go''. For the latter, a cherry picker was used for filming, and Dunn insisted on being on the crane itself. But every time he started, the camera rocked. And as Dunn got more excited with the music, the camera rocked more and more to the point where the crew thought they were going to come off the crane, hence director David Lane had to ask Dunn if he could conduct from the floor instead.''Thunderbirds Are Go'' DVD commentary Upon retiring from the military in December 1968, Dunn became a guest conductor with the

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) is a British orchestra based in Birmingham, England. It is the resident orchestra at Symphony Hall: a B:Music Venue in Birmingham, which has been its principal performance venue since 1991. Its a ...

. He also recorded with the Light Music Society Orchestra. In 1969, he received an

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

Golden Disc for sales of more than one million Royal Marines Band records. In the same year, he was also elected an honorary member of the

American Bandmasters Association The American Bandmasters Association (ABA) was formed in 1929 by Edwin Franko Goldman to promote concert band music.Raoul F. Camus. "American Bandmasters Association." In Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/sub ...

. In 1987, he received the Sudler Medal of the Order of Merit from the

John Philip Sousa Foundation The John Philip Sousa Foundation is a non-profit foundation dedicated to the promotion of band music internationally. The foundation administers a number of projects and awards supporting high quality band performance, conducting, and composition ...

. He became the Founder President of the International Military Music Society in 1976, a position which he held until his death. In 1988, after serving as the Senior Warden, Dunn became the first military musician to be installed as the Master of the

Worshipful Company of Musicians The Worshipful Company of Musicians is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. Its history dates back to at least 1350. Originally a specialist guild for musicians, its role became an anachronism in the 18th century, when the centre of ...

Compositions

Dunn composed and arranged over 60 pieces of music. Several are marches, many with connections to the Royal Marines. These include ''The Globe and Laurel'' (1935, revised 1945), ''The Captain General'' (1949), ''Cockleshell Heroes'' (1955) and ''Mountbatten March'' (1972). He arranged many others, including Russian '' Preobrajensky March'' (author unknown); later to become the official slow march of the Royal Marines) and ''

A Life on the Ocean Wave "A Life on the Ocean Wave" is a poem-turned-song by Epes Sargent published in 1838 and set to music by Henry Russell. It is the iconic Regimental March of His Majesty's Royal Marines. Origin of the poem and song One day Sargent was walking on T ...

'' (the official quick march).

Personal life

Dunn married Margery 'Mike' Halliday in 1938. They had one son (Patrick) and two daughters (Leonie and Rosemary). He died of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissue (biology), tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from tran ...

Haywards Heath Haywards Heath is a town in West Sussex, England, south of London, north of Brighton, south of Gatwick Airport and northeast of the county town, Chichester. Nearby towns include Burgess Hill to the southwest, Horsham to the northwest, Crawl ...

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

on 3 April 1995, aged 86. He is buried at Cemetery Chapel, Great Walstead,

East Sussex East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East Su ...

. A memorial service was held at St Martin-in-the-Fields in London on Friday, 7 July 1995. Margery, Lady Dunn, died on 26 June 1998.

Recording

*"The Martial Music of Sir Vivian Dunn". The Band of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, Plymouth, Captain J. R. Perkins. Clovelly CL CD10394, recorded 1994.

References

*Oakley, Derek. ''Fiddler on the March: A Biography of Lieutenant Colonel Sir Vivian Dunn''. London: Royal Marines Historical Society, 2000. *Rehrig, William H. ''The Heritage Encyclopedia of Band Music''. Waterville, Ohio: Integrity Press, 1991 and 1996. *Richards, Jeffrey. ''Imperialism and Music: Britain 1876-1953''. Manchester University Press, 2001.
Trendell, John. "Obituary: Lt-Col Sir Vivian Dunn", ''The Independent'', 18 April 1995.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunn, Vivian 1908 births 1995 deaths 20th-century English musicians Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music BBC people British male conductors (music) British male pianists British military musicians British people in colonial India Composers awarded knighthoods Conductors (music) awarded knighthoods Deaths from lung cancer in England English composers English conductors (music) English pianists English violinists British male violinists Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln alumni Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Military music composers Musicians awarded knighthoods Officers of the Order of the British Empire People from Jabalpur Royal Marines Band Service Royal Marines officers 20th-century British conductors (music) 20th-century violinists 20th-century British pianists 20th-century British composers 20th-century British male musicians