John Addison

John Mervyn Addison (16 March 19207 December 1998) was a British composer best known for his film scores.

Early life Addison was born in Chobham, Surrey to a father who was a colonel in the Royal Field Artillery, and this influenced the decision to send him to school at Wellington College, Berkshire. His grandfather was Lieut-Colonel George Addison, who played for the Royal Engineers in the 1872 and 1874 FA Cup Finals.

At the age of sixteen he entered the Royal College of Music, where he studied composition with Gordon Jacob, oboe with Léon Goossens, and clarinet with Frederick Thurston. Sleuth (1972), Swashbuckler (1976) and the television series Centennial (1978).

He composed the theme music for the television series Murder, She Wrote, 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 turned to when the director ended his long relationship with Bernard Herrmann over the score to his 1966 film Torn Curtain,

For the theatre, Addison wrote the music for John Osborne's plays The Entertainer (1957) and Luther (1961). He collaborated with John Cranko 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 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 sextet 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 he died later that year in Vermont at 78.

Marlene Dietrich 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 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 1951: Pool of London 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 1956: Reach for the Sky 1956: Three Men in a Boat 1957: The Shiralee 1957: Lucky Jim 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 1966: The Uncle 1966: I Was Happy Here 1966: A Fine Madness 1966: Torn Curtain 1967: The Honey Pot 1967: Smashing Time 1968: The Charge of the Light Brigade 1970: Start the Revolution Without Me 1970: Country Dance 1971: Mr. Forbush and the Penguins 1972: Sleuth 1973: Luther 1974: Dead Cert 1975: Ride a Wild Pony 1976: Swashbuckler 1976: The Seven-Per-Cent Solution 1977: A Bridge Too Far 1977: Joseph Andrews 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 (1 episode: Hamlet) 1974: Play for Today (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 1978: Centennial (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: Murder, She Wrote (1 episode) 1984: Ellis Island 1985: Thirteen at Dinner 1986: Dead Man's Folly 1986: Something in Common 1986: Amazing Stories (2 episodes) 1986–1987: Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color (2 episodes) 1987: Strange Voices 1988: A Shadow on the Sun 1990: The Phantom of the Opera (miniseries)

Concert works Trio for harp, flute and violin (1941) Variations for piano and orchestra (1948) 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) 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)