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Neil Brand (born 18 March 1958) is an English dramatist, composer and author. In addition to being a regular silent film
accompanist Accompaniment is the musical part which provides the rhythmic and/or harmonic support for the melody or main themes of a song or instrumental piece. There are many different styles and types of accompaniment in different genres and styles of ...
at London's
National Film Theatre BFI Southbank (from 1951 to 2007, known as the National Film Theatre) is the leading repertory cinema in the UK, specialising in seasons of classic, independent and non-English language films. It is operated by the British Film Institute. His ...
, Brand has composed new scores for two restored films from the 1920s, '' The Wrecker'' and
Anthony Asquith Anthony William Landon Asquith (; 9 November 1902 – 20 February 1968) was an English film director. He collaborated successfully with playwright Terence Rattigan on ''The Winslow Boy'' (1948) and '' The Browning Version'' (1951), among oth ...
's ''
Underground Underground most commonly refers to: * Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth Underground may also refer to: Places * The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston * The Underground ...
''. Brand has also acted and written plays for the BBC. His book, ''Dramatic Notes'', focuses on the art of composing narrative music for the cinema, theatre, radio and television. For his contribution to music, in 2016, Brand was awarded with a
BASCA The Ivors Academy (formerly the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors – BASCA) is one of the largest professional associations for music writers in Europe. The academy exists to support, protect, and campaign for the interests ...
Gold Badge Award.


Background and education

Brand was born in Burgess Hill, Sussex, England, and attended Junction Road Primary School in Burgess Hill, then Brighton and Hove County Grammar School for Boys (now Brighton Hove & Sussex Sixth Form College). At the age of 18, he went to the
University College of Wales, Aberystwyth , mottoeng = A world without knowledge is no world at all , established = 1872 (as ''The University College of Wales'') , former_names = University of Wales, Aberystwyth , type = Public , endowment = ...
, to study Drama under John Edmunds. However, he had a talent for music, and it was at Aberystwyth that he began writing and playing music seriously for the first time. In 2013 he was made a Fellow of Aberystwyth University.


Television and radio

On television, Brand has appeared in ''
Switch In electrical engineering, a switch is an electrical component that can disconnect or connect the conducting path in an electrical circuit, interrupting the electric current or diverting it from one conductor to another. The most common type of ...
'', a
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
drama for the hearing impaired, as Ted, a bullying businessman. In 2004 he appeared as an expert on cinema accompaniment in '' Who Do You Think You Are?'' which investigated the musical background of soprano
Lesley Garrett Lesley Garrett, CBE (born 10 April 1955) is an English soprano singer, musician, broadcaster and media personality. She is noted for being at home in opera and "crossover music". Early life Garrett was born in the town of Thorne, near Donc ...
. Other work for the BBC has included musical compositions and radio plays. He also composed the score for
Channel Four Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service in ...
's three-part documentary series on the
Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...
in 1997. One of his plays, ''Stan'', was broadcast on radio in 2004 on
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
and then adapted as a television play, first broadcast on BBC Four. It documents Stan Laurel's touching last moments with best friend and comedy partner Oliver Hardy, who lies bedridden after a stroke. Another play broadcast on Radio 4, in 2007 ''Seeing It Through'', dealt with Charles Masterman and his efforts to coordinate writers and journalists for the British propaganda effort in
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. In September 2013, Neil Brand presented the BBC Four programme ''Sound of Cinema: The Music that Made the Movies]''. In the first episode in the series, he looked at the impact of classic orchestral film scores via the work of European-born composers (such as
Max Steiner Maximilian Raoul Steiner (May 10, 1888 – December 28, 1971) was an Austrian composer and conductor who emigrated to America and went on to become one of Hollywood's greatest musical composers. Steiner was a child prodigy who conducted ...
and
Erich Wolfgang Korngold Erich Wolfgang Korngold (May 29, 1897November 29, 1957) was an Austrian-born American composer and conductor. A child prodigy, he became one of the most important and influential composers in Hollywood history. He was a noted pianist and compo ...
) and their influence on contemporary film composers such as
Bernard Herrmann Bernard Herrmann (born Maximillian Herman; June 29, 1911December 24, 1975) was an American composer and conductor best known for his work in composing for films. As a conductor, he championed the music of lesser-known composers. He is widely r ...
,
Hans Zimmer Hans Florian Zimmer (; born 12 September 1957) is a German film score composer and music producer. He has won two Oscars and four Grammys, and has been nominated for two Emmys and a Tony. Zimmer was also named on the list of Top 100 Living G ...
and John Williams. He was also a guest presenter in the BBC Radio 3 programme ''Sound of Cinema: Live from the BFI'' presented by
Sean Rafferty Sean Rafferty MBE is a Belfast-born, Northern Irish broadcaster, now best known for his work on BBC Radio 3. Early life Rafferty was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland and spent his childhood in Newcastle, County Down. He went on to study law a ...
where he demonstrated on piano some of the intricate motifs from
Franz Waxman Franz Waxman (né Wachsmann; December 24, 1906February 24, 1967) was a German-born composer and conductor of Jewish descent, known primarily for his work in the film music genre. His film scores include ''Bride of Frankenstein'', ''Rebecca'', ' ...
as well as some of his own music. On 20 December 2014,
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
broadcast Brand's new version of '' A Christmas Carol'', adapted by him for actors, the BBC Singers and the BBC Symphony Orchestra, which was recorded before an audience in the BBC Maida Vale Studios. Other Christmas broadcasts included the ghost stories of M.R. James (BBC Woman's Hour Drama, 2018) and an original radio play, ''The Haunting of M.R. James''. In January and February 2015, Brand presented the BBC Four programme ''Sound of Song'' in which he looked at the history of popular song and its relationship to technology in the twentieth century. In January 2017, also on BBC Four, he presented ''Sound of Musicals'', exploring how musical theatre has evolved over 100 years. a further series ''Sound of Movie Musicals'', was broadcast in 2018. One critic said: "Brand was an enthusiastic compère throughout, combining formidable knowledge and terrific piano playing on his Steinway". His 2020 series ''The Sound of TV'' was called "refreshing" and "insightful" by the '' i''.


Music for films

Brand has been accompanying silent films for over 17 years, regularly at the
National Film Theatre BFI Southbank (from 1951 to 2007, known as the National Film Theatre) is the leading repertory cinema in the UK, specialising in seasons of classic, independent and non-English language films. It is operated by the British Film Institute. His ...
on London's South Bank and throughout the UK and increasingly at film festivals and special events throughout the world. He wrote a new score for the restored 1929 film '' The Wrecker'', released on DVD in November 2009. He followed this up in 2011 with a score for another recently restored film,
Anthony Asquith Anthony William Landon Asquith (; 9 November 1902 – 20 February 1968) was an English film director. He collaborated successfully with playwright Terence Rattigan on ''The Winslow Boy'' (1948) and '' The Browning Version'' (1951), among oth ...
's 1928 drama ''
Underground Underground most commonly refers to: * Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth Underground may also refer to: Places * The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston * The Underground ...
'': the new composition was premiered by 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 ...
at the Barbican Centre in London. Brand regularly accompanies silent films with the
skiffle Skiffle is a genre of folk music with influences from American folk music, blues, country, bluegrass, and jazz, generally performed with a mixture of manufactured and homemade or improvised instruments. Originating as a form in the United State ...
band
The Dodge Brothers The Dodge Brothers are a British skiffle band from Southampton playing Americana, rockabilly, bluegrass, folk, country and blues music. The band includes film critic and BBC television presenter Mark Kermode, along with Mike and Alex Hammo ...
(which includes Mark Kermode on
double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar i ...
). Together they have played to
White Oak The genus ''Quercus'' contains about 500 species, some of which are listed here. The genus, as is the case with many large genera, is divided into subgenera and sections. Traditionally, the genus ''Quercus'' was divided into the two subgenera ''C ...
,
Beggars of Life ''Beggars of Life'' is an American film directed by William Wellman and starring Wallace Beery and Richard Arlen as hobos, and Louise Brooks as a young woman who dresses as a young man and flees the law. The film is regarded as Brooks's best Ame ...
, The Ghost That Never Returns, Hell's Hinges and City Girl. Brand also composed a score for ''The Lodger''. This is the score that is available on the Criterion Collection's release of the DVD. According to Brand, he looked to film noir motifs from composers such as Miklos Rosza when making this score. He has also written a book titled ''Dramatic Notes'' (1998) discussing the art of composing narrative music for the cinema, theatre, radio or television, and including interviews with various composers and directors.Brand, Neil; Arts Council of England (1998)
''Dramatic notes: foregrounding music in the dramatic experience''
University of Luton Press. . Retrieved 26 October 2011. He has an occasional slot on
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
's ''The Film Programme'', analysing and deconstructing film music of various genres, illustrating his points with excerpts on the piano.


References


External links

*
Music Theatre International biography''Switch'' character page

''Sound of Cinema: The Music that Made the Movies''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brand, Neil 1958 births English composers English male television actors English dramatists and playwrights Alumni of the University of Wales Alumni of Aberystwyth University Living people People educated at Brighton, Hove and Sussex Grammar School People from Burgess Hill English male dramatists and playwrights