Biography
William Alwyn was an English composer, conductor and music teacher. Born William Alwyn Smith in Northampton on 7 November 1905, he studied flute, piano and composition at the Royal Academy of Music in London from the age of fifteen and was appointed Professor of Composition there in 1926, a post he held until 1955. He also played flute with the London Symphony Orchestra.
Alwyn composed scores for more than seventy feature films between 1941 and 1963, as well as around 150 documentaries. His film credits include Odd Man Out (1947), The Fallen Idol (1948), The Crimson Pirate (1952), A Night to Remember (1958), Swiss Family Robinson (1960) and Night of the Eagle (1962). He received a fellowship of the British Film Academy in 1951 and was appointed CBE in 1978. In addition to film work he wrote five symphonies, four operas, concertos and chamber music. He died in Southwold, Suffolk, on 11 September 1985.
