Cedric Thorpe Davie

Cedric Thorpe Davie OBE (30 May 1913 – 18 January 1983) was a musician and composer, most notably of film scores such as The Green Man in 1956. A high proportion of his film and documentary music and his concert pieces have a Scottish theme.

Life Cedric Thorpe Davie was born in Lewisham in south London, the son of Thorpe Davie, a music teacher and choir master. The family moved to Glasgow early in his life and he attended the High School of Glasgow.

He studied at the Scottish National Academy of Music in Glasgow and the Royal Academy of Music in London. In London he studied piano with Egon Petri and Harold Craxton, and horn with Aubrey Brain. His composition teachers were Ralph Vaughan Williams, Eric Thiman and R. O. Morris. In 1935 he travelled to both Helsinki and Budapest for further training under Yrjo Kilpinen and Zoltán Kodály, returning to Glasgow in 1936 where he began lecturing in music. Early works include the Piano Trio in C minor (1932), the Phantasie Quartet (1935), the one act opera Gammer Gurton's Needle (1936) and the Concerto for Piano and Strings (1944).

He was involved in the newly created Edinburgh Festival in the 1950s, and oversaw production of important new Scottish musical works such as Ane Satyre of the Thrie Estaites. The Diversions on a theme of Thomas Arne was played at the Last Night of the Proms in 1955. He also wrote the music for the Edinburgh Gateway Company's production of Robert Kemp's musical Marigold in 1955.

In 1955 he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE).

Davie also wrote a book on musical form: Musical Structure and Design (1953). A substantial collection of his manuscripts and scores is held by the University of St Andrews. Few of his works have been recorded: an exception is the Royal Mile Coronation March of 1952. In 2013, St Andrews University held a special event to mark the centenary of Davie's birth.

Family In 1937, he married Margaret Russell Brown. She died on 1 October 1974. They had two sons: Anthony John Thorpe Davie (17 November 1939 – 8 January 2003); and Stephen William Thorpe Davie (born 8 April 1945).

Film scores by Davie Scotland Speaks (1940) documentary This Modern Age (1946) The Brothers (1947) Snowbound (1948) The Future of Scotland (1948) documentary The Bad Lord Byron (1949) The Adventurers (1951) You're Only Young Twice (1952) Highland Laddie (1952) documentary Rob Roy, the Highland Rogue (1953) a Disney film usually now simply called Rob Roy The Miner's Widow (1954) documentary The Dark Avenger (1955) Jacqueline (1956) The Land of Robert Burns (1956) documentary The Green Man (1956) The Kid from Canada (1957) The Enchanted Island (1957) Wales (1957) documentary Scotland (1957) documentary Rockets Galore! (1958) The Bridal Path (1959) A Terrible Beauty (1960) Kidnapped (1960) Disneyland (1963)

Concert works Elegy for orchestra (1932) Piano Trio (1932) Concert Overture (1934) Sonatina for cello and piano (1934) Dirge for Cuthullin for chorus and orchestra (1935) Fantasy String Quartet (1935) Gammer Gurton’s Needle, op.1, opera (1936) Fantasia No.1 on Four Scottish Tunes for orchestra (1937) Three Anthems, chorus and organ (1937) Violin Sonata (1939) Sonatina for flute and piano (1939, rev. 1980) Concerto for piano and strings (1943) Symphony in C (1945) The Beggar’s Benison for orchestra (1947) Six Poems by Violet Jacob for tenor and piano (1948) Variations on a Theme of A.C. Mackenzie for orchestra (1949) Festal Overture (1950) Ode for St Andrew’s Night for tenor, chorus and orchestra (1950) Royal Mile, march (1952) Diversions on a Tune by Dr Arne for orchestra (1953–4) Directions for a Map, cantata for soloists and string quartet (1955–6) Fantasia No.2 on Four Scottish Tunes for orchestra (1964) New Town, suite for orchestra (1966–7)

Publications Music Structure and Design (1953, reprinted by Dover) The Oxford Scottish Song Book (1969) joint editor Scotland's Music (1980)