Neil Richardson (composer)

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Neil Grant Richardson (5 February 1930 – 8 October 2010)[1] was an English composer and conductor.

Richardson composed "Approaching Menace" (the

KPM, and his music has been used in numerous TV, film and radio productions.[2]

Early life

The son of a Worcestershire clergyman, Neil Richardson was born in Stourport-on-Severn, and grew up in the village of Hartlebury.[3] Aged eight, he went to become a chorister at Westminster Abbey.[2] After leaving the Abbey school, he became a music scholar at Lancing College, Sussex, and continued his musical studies at the Royal College of Music, studying clarinet, piano and composition with professor William Lloyd Webber.[2] During his national service, he played solo clarinet with the band of the Royal Air Force at Cranwell.

Career

After completing his national service, Richardson began a career as an arranger, writing and conducting for the BBC, particularly the then-numerous BBC Radio and concert orchestras.

BBC Northern Radio Orchestra in 1975 and was its conductor for many years.[2] He died, aged 80, in Nerja, Spain
.

Compositions

As a composer, Richardson was best known for his

Mastermind.[3] In the 1960s he often composed under the pseudonym "Oscar Brandenburg", a name he shared with Johnny Pearson and Alan Moorhouse, also well known in this area.[4] For example, he co-composed the test card
piece "Scotch Broth".

Another of his library music compositions, "The Riviera Affair" (aka "Prestige Production," from the 1970 KPM album Impact and Action, Vol. II), is best known to

newsreels
.

Richardson also orchestrated and conducted some of

Enchanted April. He also appeared as conductor in the 1980 album A Sure Thing, featuring Bennett's arrangements of Jerome Kern songs, alongside Bennett as piano soloist and French horn player Barry Tuckwell. He was also an arranger for numerous television productions including Agatha Christie's Poirot and The Charmer.[3]

References

  1. ^ Radio Café message board, URL accessed 9 October 2010
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Neil Richardson biography at Radio Café, URL accessed 9 October 2010
  3. ^
    IMDb
  4. ^ Test Card Music at MB21, URL accessed 9 October 2010
  5. ^ WOR-TV's The 4 O'Clock Movie opening with Neil Richardson's "The Riviera Affair", URL accessed 9 October 2010

External links

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