Gordon Langford (11 May 1930 – 18 April 2017) was an English composer, arranger and performer.Obituary in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', May 01, 2017Passing of Gordon Langford
''British Bandsman'', 19 April 2017 He is well known for his

brass band A brass band is a musical ensemble generally consisting primarily of brass instruments, most often with a percussion section. Ensembles that include brass and woodwind instruments can in certain traditions also be termed brass bands (particularl ...

compositions and arrangements. He was also a composer of choral and orchestral music, winning an

Ivor Novello award The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the Welsh entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and Musical composition, composing. They have been presented annually in London by the The Ivors Academy, Ivors Academy, formerly called the Britis ...

for best light music composition for his ''March from the Colour Suite'' in 1971.David Ades
Biography
at the Robert Farnon Society. Retrieved 22 April 2017The Ivors 1971
. Retrieved 22 April 2017

Biography

Langford was born in

Edgware Edgware () is a suburban town in northwest London. It was an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex east of the ancient Watling Street in what is now the London Borough of Barnet but it is now informally considered to cover a wider area, inc ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

in May 1930 as Gordon Maris Colman. His father was a precision toolmaker. He was a prodigious child, beginning piano lessons aged five. At nine, one of his compositions received a public performance. He attended Bedford Modern School, and he went on to win a scholarship to the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools 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 firs ...

where he studied piano and composition with Norman Demuth. It was Demuth who suggested that he should change his surname or use a pseudonym. Hence, he changed his name to become Gordon Colman Langford. In 1951, during his army service with the Royal Artillery Band, he made his first BBC broadcast as a solo pianist. After leaving the army, he worked with seaside orchestras, a touring opera company and as a ship's musician, but it was during the 1960s he came to prominence as a pianist, arranger and composer on BBC programmes such as ''Music in the Air'', ''Melody around the World'' and

Ronnie Barker Ronald William George Barker (25 September 1929 – 3 October 2005) was an English actor, comedian and writer. He was known for roles in British comedy television series such as ''Porridge (1974 TV series), Porridge'', ''The Two Ronnies'', ...

's '' Lines From My Grandfather's Forehead''. In later life he lived in East Devon, mainly composing but occasionally appearing in recordings, concerts and broadcasts. In 2011 he was nominated for a Fellowship of the

(FRAM) by the Governing Body of the Academy. He died in April 2017.

Works

Langford won an

Ivor Novello Award The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the Welsh entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and Musical composition, composing. They have been presented annually in London by the The Ivors Academy, Ivors Academy, formerly called the Britis ...

for best light music composition for his March from the ''Colour Suite'' in 1971. He is perhaps best known as a brass band composer and arranger. In particular, the test pieces ''Facets of Glass'' and ''Rhapsody for trombone'' are well known. The Black Dyke Band issued a CD of his music in 1976, including the ''Rhapsody'' with Don Lusher as soloist. He also arranged the works of other composers, such as Henry Mancini,

Jerry Goldsmith Jerrald King Goldsmith (February 10, 1929July 21, 2004) was an American composer, conductor and orchestrator with a career in film and television scoring that spanned nearly 50 years and over 200 productions, between 1954 and 2003. He was consid ...

and

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (November 15, 2022)Classic Connection review, ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who w ...

. Langford's career had a notable relationship with the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

. Some of his compositions and arrangements were used as ''

Test Card A test card, also known as a test pattern or start-up/closedown test, is a television test signal, typically broadcast at times when the transmitter is active but no program is being broadcast (often at sign-on and sign-off). Used since the ear ...

'' music in the 1960s and '70s, with such titles as ''Hebridean Hoedown'', ''The Lark in the Clear Air'' and ''Royal Daffodil'' being remembered by Test Card aficionados. He also wrote and arranged music for '' Friday Night is Music Night'', as well as numerous other BBC programmes. In 1994 the BBC commissioned his piece ''Grand Fantasia on La bohème'' for the centenary of the Proms. Langford produced many choral arrangements for the

King's Singers The King's Singers are a British a cappella Choir, vocal ensemble founded in 1968. They are named after King's College, Cambridge, King's College in Cambridge, England, where the group was formed by six Choir of King's College, Cambridge, chor ...

in the 1970s. He was also known for his theatre compositions, such as ''The Crooked Mile'' and ''The House of Cards''. Langford was often used by Hollywood as a score orchestrator, with ''

Return of the Jedi ''Return of the Jedi'' (also known as ''Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi'' is a 1983 American epic space opera film directed by Richard Marquand from a screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas. The sequel to '' The Empire ...

'', ''

Superman II ''Superman II'' is a 1980 superhero film directed by Richard Lester and written by Mario Puzo and David Newman (screenwriter), David and Leslie Newman from a story by Puzo based on the DC Comics character Superman. It is the second installment i ...

'', '' The First Great Train Robbery'', '' Clash of the Titans'' and '' Return to Oz'' to his name. In 1974 he released a demo album entitled ''The Amazing Music of the Electronic ARP Synthesizer''. This contained several compositions of his own, plus cover versions, played entirely on the then new innovation, the ARP synth, of pieces as diverse as " Yellow Submarine", " Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head", " Cocktails for Two", " Light Cavalry Overture" and Mozart's Symphony No. 40. A CD of his original compositions for orchestra, performed by the

BBC Concert Orchestra The BBC Concert Orchestra is a British concert orchestra based in London, one of the British Broadcasting Corporation's five radio orchestras. With around fifty players, it is the only one of the five BBC orchestras which is not a full-scale sym ...

conducted by Rumon Gamba, was released in 2003. Included are the ''Concertino for Trumpet and Orchestra'' (1979), ''Four Movements for String Orchestra'' (1965), the ''First Suite of Dances'' (1973), and two movements from the ''Colour Suite'' (1966).Steve Arloff
'Gordon Langford (b.1930): Orchestral Classics'
reviewed at ''MusicWeb International'', 4 February 2004 Later compositions include his ''Berceuse and Burlesque'' for bassoon and orchestra, performed on 1 February 2008 at

Axminster Axminster is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the eastern border of the county of Devon in England. It is from the county town of Exeter. The town is built on a hill overlooking the River Axe, Devon, River Axe which ...

Selected compositions

Orchestral * ''Beautiful Haven'' (for Frank Chacksfield, 1986) * ''Capriciello'' for string orchestra * ''Chanson d'été'' (196^) * ''A Christmas Fantasy'' * ''Cirrus'', rhapsody for piano and orchestra (1966) * ''Colour Suite'' (1966) * ''Comedietta'', overture * ''Concertino'' for trumpet and orchestra (1979) * First Suite of Dances (1973) * Four Movements for string orchestra (1965) * ''Friendly Street'' (1966) * ''Grand Fantasia on La bohème'' (1994) * ''Greenways'' (1966) * ''Hebridean Hoedown'' (1966) * ''Hippodrome Waltz'' (1988) * ''Royal Daffodil'' (1966) * ''Song for All Seasons: a fantasie'' for piano and orchestra (1997) * ''Spirit of London'', overture (1965) * ''Theme and Diversions'' for accordion and orchestra Brass band and concert band * ''Carnival Day March'' * ''Facets of Glass'' * ''Harmonious Variations on a Theme of Handel'' (1978) * ''Leviathan March'' * ''London Miniature'' * ''Metropolis'', overture * ''The Peacemakers'' * ''Prince of Wales March'' * ''Proclamation'', for bass trombone and brass band * ''Rhapsody'', for cornet and brass band * ''Rhapsody'', for trombone and brass band * ''Sinfonietta'' (1975) * ''A Summer Scherzo'' Chamber * ''Andante and Rondo on Flemish Themes'' for chamber ensemble * ''Ballade'' for violin and piano * ''Divertimento'' for saxophone quartet * ''Sonatina'' for violin and piano

References

External links

*
Chandos Production Music Disc No. 1
(1966) {{DEFAULTSORT:Langford, Gordon 1930 births 2017 deaths 20th-century British classical composers 20th-century English composers 20th-century English male musicians Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music Brass band composers English classical composers English light music composers English male classical composers People educated at Bedford Modern School People from Edgware BBC music people