John Mervyn Addison (16 March 19207 December 1998) was a British

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

best known for his film scores.

Early life

Addison was born in

Chobham, Surrey Chobham is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Surrey Heath in Surrey, England. The village has a small high street area, specialising in traditional trades and motor trades. The River Bourne and its northern tributary, the Hale ...

to a father who was a colonel in the

Royal Field Artillery The Royal Field Artillery (RFA) of the British Army provided close artillery support for the infantry. It was created as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 1 July 1899, serving alongside the other two arms of the regiment, the ...

, and this influenced the decision to send him to school at

Wellington College, Berkshire Wellington College is a co-educational public school providing education for boarding and day pupils in the village of Crowthorne, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. Wellington is a registered charity and currently educates roughly 1,100 pu ...

. His grandfather was Lieut-Colonel George Addison, who played for the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

in the 1872 and 1874 FA Cup Finals. At the age of sixteen he entered the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...

,''The Guardian'' obituary, 15 December 1998 where he studied composition with

Gordon Jacob Gordon Percival Septimus Jacob CBE (5 July 18958 June 1984) was an English composer and teacher. He was a professor at the Royal College of Music in London from 1924 until his retirement in 1966, and published four books and many articles about ...

, oboe with Léon Goossens, and clarinet with Frederick Thurston. This education ended in 1939 with service in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Addison served with the British XXX Corps in the 23rd Hussars. He was a tank officer in the

Battle of Normandy Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful liberation of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the N ...

and wounded at

Caen Caen (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune inland from the northwestern coast of France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Calvados (department), Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inha ...

, later participating in Operation Market Garden. Addison would later write the score for the film '' A Bridge Too Far'' about the operation. At the end of the war, he returned to London to teach composition at the Royal College of Music.

Career

Addison is best known for his film scores. He won an

Academy Award for Best Original Score The Academy Award for Best Original Score is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by ...

and a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

in the Best Original Score from a Motion Picture or Television Show category for the music to the 1963 film, '' Tom Jones''. He also won a

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

Award for '' A Bridge Too Far'' (1977). His other film scores included '' A Taste of Honey'' (1961), ''

Smashing Time ''Smashing Time'' is a 1967 British satirical comedy film directed by Desmond Davis starring Rita Tushingham and Lynn Redgrave. It is a satire on the 1960s media-influenced phenomenon of Swinging London. It was written by George Melly. Plot B ...

'' (1967), '' The Honey Pot'' (1967), '' Sleuth'' (1972), ''

Swashbuckler A swashbuckler is a genre of European adventure literature that focuses on a heroic protagonist stock character who is skilled in swordsmanship, acrobatics, and guile, and possesses chivalrous ideals. A "swashbuckler" protagonist is heroic, ...

'' (1976) and the television series ''

Centennial A centennial, or centenary in British English, is a 100th anniversary or otherwise relates to a century. Notable events Notable centennial events at a national or world-level include: * Centennial Exhibition, 1876, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ...

'' (1978). He composed the theme music for the television series ''

Murder, She Wrote ''Murder, She Wrote'' is an American crime drama television series, created by Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson and William Link, starring Angela Lansbury, and produced and distributed by Universal Television for the CBS network. The series f ...

'', and won an Emmy for the 2-hour pilot episode in the Outstanding Achievement in Music Composition for a Series (dramatic underscore) category. Addison was the composer

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...

turned to when the director ended his long relationship with

Bernard Herrmann Bernard Herrmann (born Maximillian Herman; June 29, 1911December 24, 1975) was an American composer and conductor best known for his work in film scoring. As a conductor, he championed the music of lesser-known composers. He is widely regarde ...

over the score to his 1966 film '' Torn Curtain'', although Addison was not hired for any of his other films. He had a personal connection to '' Reach for the Sky'' (1956) which he scored, since Douglas Bader (the subject of the movie) was his brother-in-law, having married Addison's elder sister Thelma. For the theatre, Addison wrote the music for

John Osborne John James Osborne (12 December 1929 – 24 December 1994) was an English playwright, screenwriter, actor, and entrepreneur, who is regarded as one of the most influential figures in post-war theatre. Born in London, he briefly worked as a jo ...

's plays '' The Entertainer'' (1957) and '' Luther'' (1961). He collaborated with

John Cranko John Cyril Cranko (15 August 1927 – 26 June 1973) was a South African ballet dancer and choreographer with the Royal Ballet and the Stuttgart Ballet. Life and career Early life Cranko was born to Herbert and Grace Cranko in Rustenburg in ...

on a revue, "Cranks" in 1956. Although he wrote numerous classical compositions, Addison explained that "If you find you're good at something, as I was as a film composer, it's stupid to do anything else." His classical works included the Concerto for trumpet, strings and percussion (1949), described by ''

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 ...

'' as "buoyant" and "Gershwinesque"; a trio for oboe, clarinet and bassoon; ''Carte Blanche'', a ballet for Sadler's Wells first performed at the 1953 Edinburgh Festival from which an orchestral suite of "sophisticated high spirits" was performed at the Proms; a septet for wind and harp, a piano concertino, a concertante for oboe, clarinet, horn and orchestra; and a partita for strings, which was warmly praised. The Bassoon Concertino was one of his last compositions. It was premiered by Graham Salvage and the Hallé Orchestra on 4 July 1998 at the

BBC Proms The BBC Proms is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in central London. Robert Newman founded The Proms in 1895. Since 1927, the ...

he died later that year in Vermont at 78.

Marlene Dietrich Marie Magdalene "Marlene" DietrichBorn as Maria Magdalena, not Marie Magdalene, according to Dietrich's biography by her daughter, Maria Riva ; however, Dietrich's biography by Charlotte Chandler cites "Marie Magdalene" as her birth name . (, ; ...

recorded ''If He Swing By the String'' and ''Such Trying Times'' from the music in ''Tom Jones''. Addison's collection of correspondence, scores, and studio recordings were donated to the Film Music Archives at

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

in 1994. He was survived by his wife Pamela; two sons Jonathan and Daniel; daughter Lucinda; stepson Rex Birchenough, and stepdaughter Sandra Stapleton. His daughter Jane pre-deceased him.

Film scores

*1950: '' Seven Days to Noon'' *1951: ''

High Treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its d ...

'' *1951: ''

Pool of London The Pool of London is a stretch of the River Thames from London Bridge to below Limehouse. Part of the Tideway of the Thames, the Pool was navigable by tall-masted vessels bringing coastal and later overseas goods—the wharves there were t ...

'' *1952: '' The Hour of 13'' *1953: '' The Man Between'' *1953: '' Terror on a Train'' *1953: '' The Red Beret'' *1954: '' The Maggie'' *1954: '' The Black Knight'' *1954: '' Make Me an Offer'' *1955: '' The Cockleshell Heroes'' *1956: ''

Private's Progress ''Private's Progress'' is a 1956 British comedy film directed by John Boulting and starring Richard Attenborough, Dennis Price, Terry-Thomas and Ian Carmichael. The script was by John Boulting and Frank Harvey, based on the novel of the same ...

'' *1956: '' Reach for the Sky'' *1956: ''

Three Men in a Boat ''Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog)'',The Penguin edition punctuates the title differently: ''Three Men in a Boat: To Say Nothing of the Dog!'' published in 1889, is a humorous novel by English writer Jerome K. Jerome describing ...

'' *1957: '' The Shiralee'' *1957: ''

Lucky Jim ''Lucky Jim'' is a novel by Kingsley Amis, first published in 1954 by Victor Gollancz Ltd, Victor Gollancz. It was Amis's first novel and won the 1955 Somerset Maugham Award for fiction. The novel follows the academic and romantic tribulations ...

'' *1957: '' Barnacle Bill'' *1958: '' I Was Monty's Double'' *1959: '' Carlton-Browne of the F.O.'' *1960: '' School for Scoundrels'' *1960: '' The Entertainer'' *1960: '' A French Mistress'' *1960: '' His and Hers'' *1961: '' A Taste of Honey'' *1962: '' Go to Blazes'' *1962: '' The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner'' *1963: '' Girl in the Headlines'' *1963: '' Tom Jones'' *1964: '' Girl with Green Eyes'' *1964: '' Guns at Batasi'' *1964: '' The Peaches'' *1965: '' The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders'' *1965: ''

The Loved One Loved Ones, Loved One, The Loved Ones, or The Loved One may refer to: Films *The Loved One (film), ''The Loved One'' (film), a 1965 American satire based on the Evelyn Waugh novel *The Loved Ones (film), ''The Loved Ones'' (film), a 2009 Australia ...

'' *1965: '' The Uncle'' *1966: '' I Was Happy Here'' *1966: '' A Fine Madness'' *1966: '' Torn Curtain'' *1967: '' The Honey Pot'' *1967: ''

'' *1968: '' The Charge of the Light Brigade'' *1970: '' Start the Revolution Without Me'' *1970: ''

Country Dance A country dance is any of a very large number of social dances of a type that originated in England in the British Isles; it is the repeated execution of a predefined sequence of figures, carefully designed to fit a fixed length of music, perfo ...

'' *1971: '' Mr. Forbush and the Penguins'' *1972: '' Sleuth'' *1973: '' Luther'' *1974: '' Dead Cert'' *1975: '' Ride a Wild Pony'' *1976: ''

'' *1976: ''

The Seven-Per-Cent Solution ''The Seven-Per-Cent Solution: Being a Reprint from the Reminiscences of John H. Watson, M.D.'' is a 1974 novel by American writer Nicholas Meyer. It is written as a pastiche of a Sherlock Holmes adventure, and was made into a film of the same ...

'' *1977: '' A Bridge Too Far'' *1977: ''

Joseph Andrews ''The History of the Adventures of Joseph Andrews and of his Friend Mr. Abraham Adams'', was the first full-length novel by the English author Henry Fielding to be published and among the early novels in the English language. Appearing in 1742 ...

'' *1980: '' The Pilot'' *1982: '' Highpoint'' *1983: '' Strange Invaders'' *1985: '' Grace Quigley'' *1985: '' Code Name: Emerald''

Music composed for TV

*1964: ''Detective'' (1 episode) *1970: ''

ITV Sunday Night Theatre ''ITV Sunday Night Theatre'', originally titled ''ITV Saturday Night Theatre'' and often shortened to simply ''Sunday Night Theatre'' or ''Saturday Night Theatre'', is a British television anthology series screened on ITV, whose episodes were co ...

'' (1 episode: ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

'') *1974: ''

Play for Today ''Play for Today'' is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage ...

'' (1 episode) *1974: ''Bellamira'' *1975: '' A Journey to London'' *1975: '' Grady'' (2 episodes) *1978: ''Black Beauty'' *1978: '' The Bastard'' *1978: '' The Eddie Capra Mysteries'' (1 episode) *1978: ''

Pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle (mollusc), mantle) of a living Exoskeleton, shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pear ...

'' *1978: ''

'' (12 episodes) *1979: ''Like Normal People'' *1979: '' The Power Within'' *1979: '' Love's Savage Fury'' *1979: '' The French Atlantic Affair'' *1981: '' Nero Wolfe'' (14 episodes) *1981: '' Mistress of Paradise'' *1982: ''Eleanor, First Lady of the World'' *1982: '' Charles & Diana: A Royal Love Story'' *1982: '' The Devlin Connection'' *1982: '' I Was a Mail Order Bride'' *1984: ''

'' (1 episode) *1984: ''

Ellis Island Ellis Island is an island in New York Harbor, within the U.S. states of New Jersey and New York (state), New York. Owned by the U.S. government, Ellis Island was once the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United State ...

'' *1985: '' Thirteen at Dinner'' *1986: '' Dead Man's Folly'' *1986: ''Something in Common'' *1986: ''

Amazing Stories ''Amazing Stories'' is an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction. Science fiction stories had made regular appearance ...

'' (2 episodes) *1986–1987: ''

Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color The Walt Disney Company has produced an anthology series, anthology television series since 1954 under several titles and formats. The program's current title, ''The Wonderful World of Disney'', was used from 1969 to 1979 and again from 1991 onwa ...

'' (2 episodes) *1987: '' Strange Voices'' *1988: ''A Shadow on the Sun'' *1990: ''

The Phantom of the Opera The Phantom of the Opera may refer to: Novel * The Phantom of the Opera (novel), ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (novel), 1910 novel by Gaston Leroux Characters * Erik (The Phantom of the Opera), Erik (''The Phantom of the Opera''), the title char ...

'' (miniseries)

Concert works

* Trio for harp, flute and violin (1941) * Variations for piano and orchestra (1948)''British Piano Concertos'', Lyrita SRCD.416 (2023)
/ref> * Concerto for trumpet, strings and percussion (1949) * Wind Sextet (1949) * Trio for oboe, clarinet and bassoon (1952) * ''Carte Blanche'', ballet (1953) * Divertimento, op. 9 for brass quartet * Concert Overture, op. 13 (1955) * Serenade for wind quintet and harp (1957) * ''Conversation Piece'' for chamber ensemble (1958)British Piano Concertos: Addison, Cannon, Chagrin
, Lyrita SRCD444 (2025) British Music Society CD review * Concertante for oboe, clarinet, horn and orchestra (1959) * ''Wellington Suite'' for 2 horns, piano, strings and percussion (1959) * Concertino for piano (1959) * Partita for strings (1961) * ''Display'' for orchestra (1968) * Divertimento for wind quintet (1990) * ''Bennington Suite'' for flute, violin, viola and cello * Concertino for orchestra (1993) * Bassoon Concertino (1998)

Notes

References

Obituary, ''The Guardian'', 15 December 1998

External links

* *
John Addison papers
MSS 2165, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library,

John Addison biography and credits at BFI Screenonline
{{DEFAULTSORT:Addison, John 1920 births 1998 deaths Military personnel from Surrey Best Original Music BAFTA Award winners Best Original Music Score Academy Award winners Primetime Emmy Award winners Grammy Award winners English film score composers English male film score composers People from Chobham, Surrey People educated at Wellington College, Berkshire British Army personnel of World War II 23rd Hussars officers Alumni of the Royal College of Music 20th-century English classical musicians 20th-century English composers 20th-century English male musicians Varèse Sarabande Records artists