Francis Chagrin (born Alexander Paucker, 15 November 1905 – 10 November 1972),Francis Chagrin at Chester Novello
/ref> was a composer of film scores and popular orchestral music, as well as a conductor. He was also the "organizer and chief moving spirit" who founded the Society for the Promotion of New Music.

Career

He was born in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north o ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

to Jewish parents and at their insistence studied for an engineering degree in Zurich while secretly studying at that city's music

conservatoire A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger ins ...

. He graduated in 1928 but when his family failed to support his musical ambitions, left home and moved to Paris where he adopted his new, French-sounding name.Cole Hugo. 'Francis Chagrin' in ''Grove Music Online"
/ref> By playing in nightclubs and cafes and writing popular songs, he funded himself for two years, from 1933, at the Ecole Normale, where his teachers included

Paul Dukas Paul Abraham Dukas ( or ; 1 October 1865 – 17 May 1935) was a French composer, critic, scholar and teacher. A studious man of retiring personality, he was intensely self-critical, having abandoned and destroyed many of his compositions. His b ...

and

Nadia Boulanger Juliette Nadia Boulanger (; 16 September 188722 October 1979) was a French music teacher and conductor. She taught many of the leading composers and musicians of the 20th century, and also performed occasionally as a pianist and organist. From a ...

, and settled in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

in 1936. At the outbreak of

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, he was appointed musical adviser and composer-in-chief to the BBC French Service and the programme '. For this, he was decorated by the French government in 1948. He spoke French fluently, as well as perfect English (with a French accent), Romanian and German, and good Italian and Spanish. For a trip to the USSR in October 1966, he studied Russian. In January 1943 Chagrin founded The Committee for the Promotion of New Music (later renamed Society for the Promotion of New Music) with the intention of promoting the creation, performance and appreciation of new music by young and unestablished composers.

Ralph Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams, (; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...

agreed to be its president, with

Arthur Bliss Sir Arthur Edward Drummond Bliss (2 August 189127 March 1975) was an English composer and conductor. Bliss's musical training was cut short by the First World War, in which he served with distinction in the army. In the post-war years he qu ...

the committee's vice-president.Payne, Anthony
"Society for the Promotion of New Music"
Grove Music Online, Oxford University Press, retrieved 15 June 2014. In his obituary of Chagrin, fellow composer

Benjamin Frankel Benjamin Frankel (31 January 190612 February 1973) was a British composer. His best known pieces include a cycle of five string quartets, eight symphonies, and concertos for violin and viola. He was also notable for writing over 100 film scores ...

said that through the Society Chagrin "gave many composers (not only the young ones) their first opportunity of a hearing: he had travelled abroad as our representative, had battled with publishers and spoken passionately on the question of performing rights. He had, in fact, become the first person to whom we turned when composer's problems arose". In 1951 Chagrin formed his own chamber group, the Francis Chagrin Ensemble which performed and broadcast regularly over the next two decades, including many first performances.

Family

Chagrin married his second wife Eileen during the Second World War and they lived in London, at 48 Fellows Road,

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the London Borough o ...

. His sons are the actors Nicolas and

Julian Chagrin Julian Chagrin (born 22 February 1940) is a British-Israeli comedy actor. He is the husband of actress and comedian Rolanda Chagrin. Biography Chagrin was born in London. His father was the composer and conductor Francis Chagrin, who was born ...

, husband of actress and comedian

Rolanda Chagrin Rolanda Chagrin (born 7 February 1957) is an Israeli actress and comedian. Biography Rolanda Chagrin was born in Bucharest and immigrated to Israel on 1961. Her childhood days she spent in Tel Aviv. Between 1977 and 1981, she studied acting at ...

. There was also a stepson, the poet Gerald Benson. Chagrin died in Hampstead after several heart attacks. The Francis Chagrin Fund for Young Composers was established in his memory in 1973 and continues today.

Music

Chagrin's compositions include orchestral concert works, light music, chamber music and over 200 film scores, television and commercials. His Prelude and Fugue for orchestra was given its world premiere at

The Proms The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hal ...

in 1947 by the

London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is one of five permanent symphony orchestras based in London. It was founded by the conductors Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a rival to the existing London Symphony and BBC Symp ...

, conducted by

Basil Cameron Basil Cameron, CBE (18 August 1884 – 26 June 1975) was an English conductor. Early career He was born Basil George Cameron HindenbergW.L. Jacob, "Hindenburg v. Cameron" (Letter to the Editor) (1991). ''The Musical Times'', 132 (1782), p. ...

. He composed the score for the 1955 film about

Colditz Colditz () is a small town in the district of Leipzig, in Saxony, Germany. It is best known for Colditz Castle, the site of the Oflag IV-C POW camp for officers in World War II. Geography Colditz is situated in the Leipzig Bay, southeast of th ...

, ''

The Colditz Story ''The Colditz Story'' is a 1955 British prisoner of war film starring John Mills and Eric Portman and directed by Guy Hamilton. It is based on the 1952 memoir written by Pat Reid, a British army officer who was imprisoned in Oflag IV-C, Coldit ...

''. His harmonica work ''Roumanian Fantasy'' was composed in 1956 for Larry Adler. In 1959 he composed the theme and incidental music for the

Sapphire Films Sapphire Films Ltd. was a British television production company, active in the 1950s. Amongst their best-known series are ''The Adventures of Robin Hood,'' ''The Adventures of Sir Lancelot'', ''The Buccaneers'', and '' The Four Just Men'' produc ...

TV series '' The Four Just Men'' for ITV. In 1963, he won the

Harriet Cohen International Music Award The Harriet Cohen International Music Award was founded in 1951 by Sir Arnold Bax and others, in honour of the British pianist Harriet Cohen. It is to be distinguished from the Harriet Cohen Bach Prize, established in 1994, for the most deserv ...

as "film composer of the year". The following year, he composed music for the ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the ...

'' television episodes ''

The Dalek Invasion of Earth ''The Dalek Invasion of Earth'' is the second Serial (radio and television), serial of the Doctor Who (season 2), second season in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Written by Terry Nation and directed by Richard Ma ...

''. He left a third symphony incomplete at his death. Chagrin had also been commissioned to write a new piece for performance at the SPNM's 30th-anniversary concert at the

Queen Elizabeth Hall The Queen Elizabeth Hall (QEH) is a music venue on the South Bank in London, England, that hosts classical, jazz, and avant-garde music, talks and dance performances. It was opened in 1967, with a concert conducted by Benjamin Britten. The Q ...

on 5 February 1973 - one of the few times his own work was ever performed at an SPNM event - but was unable to complete the work. At his request, the ''Lamento appassionato'' for string orchestra was played instead.''Music in Our Time'', BBC Radio 3, 1 May 1973
/ref>

Concert music

Including:

Film scores

References

External links

**
Concert Programmes: The Francis Chagrin Collection

The Francis Chagrin Award
* List of émigré composers in Britain {{DEFAULTSORT:Chagrin, Francis Musicians from Bucharest Romanian Jews 20th-century classical composers Romanian classical composers BBC people 1905 births Jewish classical composers 1972 deaths Male classical composers Romanian emigrants to the United Kingdom Romanian expatriates in France British classical composers British people of Romanian-Jewish descent Classical musicians associated with the BBC 20th-century British male musicians