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Tag: Laurie Johnson

Laurie Johnson Avengers Composer Remembered on KWAX

This week on “The Lost Chord,” we’ll honor English composer and bandleader Laurie Johnson, who died on Tuesday at the age of 96.

Among other things, Johnson was the composer of super-cool TV music for shows such as “Jason King,” “The Professionals,” and of course “The Avengers,” the elegant and often surreal spy-fi series, at its peak starring Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg.

He also wrote for film, providing scores for Stanley Kubrick’s “Dr. Strangelove,” “The First Men in the Moon” (with special effects by Ray Harryhausen), and the Hammer cult-classic “Captain Kronos – Vampire Hunter.”

Johnson’s “Symphony (Synthesis)” will be the main attraction on a triple feature of concert works by composers better known for their work in film.

Gramophone Magazine described the symphony, composed in 1971, as a masterpiece. “The work becomes increasingly fascinating with each listening,” writes the critic. “This is perhaps the first truly successful combination of the Jazz and European music traditions.”

The recording, made under the composer’s direction, features a number of prominent jazz artists, including Tubby Hayes, Don Lusher, Joe Harriott, Kenny Wheeler and Stan Tracey.

Also on the program will be music by Jerome Moross, who has been ensured a kind of immortality in the hearts of moviegoers by his Academy Award nominated score for “The Big Country.” He composed music for 16 films in all – comparatively few, actually, on account of a bicoastal career. (He was based in New York City.)

Off-screen, he wrote music for five ballets, a symphony, a flute concerto, various works for orchestra and chamber ensemble, and a one-act opera, “Sorry, Wrong Number.” His best-known musical theatre piece is “The Golden Apple,” which spawned the ever-green “Lazy Afternoon.”

We’ll hear Moross’ delightful “Sonatina for Clarinet Choir” of 1966.

Very little need be said of John Williams. The most successful film composer of all time, Williams has been a household name since the 1970s, thanks to the one-two punch of “Jaws” and “Star Wars.” But by then, he was already two decades into a career that’s now spanned some 70 years. With 54 Academy Award nominations and five wins, he is the second most nominated figure in the history of the Academy, behind only Walt Disney.

For the concert hall, Williams has written music for just about every instrument, including an impressive body of concertos. We’ll hear his “Essay for Strings,” composed in 1965, when he was 33 years-old.

It’s not always about images. Film composers cast themselves against type, on “Typecast IV: The Curse of Typecast” – including a salute to Laurie Johnson – on “The Lost Chord,” now in syndication on KWAX, the radio station of the University of Oregon!

Remember, KWAX is on the West Coast, so there’s a three-hour difference for those of you listening in the East. Here are the respective air-times for all three of my recorded shows (with East Coast conversions in parentheses):

PICTURE PERFECT, the movie music show – Friday on KWAX at 5:00 PM PACIFIC TIME (8:00 PM EST)

SWEETNESS AND LIGHT, the light music program – ALL NEW! – Saturday on KWAX at 8:00 AM PACIFIC TIME (11:00 AM EST)

THE LOST CHORD, unusual and neglected rep – Saturday on KWAX at 4:00 PM PACIFIC TIME (7:00 PM EST)

Stream all three, at the times indicated, by following the link!

https://kwax.uoregon.edu/

January 27, 2024
Laurie Johnson Avengers Composer Dies at 96

The composer and bandleader Laurie Johnson has died at a venerable age.

Among other things, Johnson was the composer of super-cool TV music for shows such as “Jason King,” “The Professionals,” and of course “The Avengers” – by which I mean the elegant and often surreal spy-fi series, starring Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg. You won’t find the incredible Hulk shooting very many corks out of champagne bottles.

Johnson was already composing and arranging for the Ted Heath Band by his late teens. At 21, he was recording with his own band for EMI. He spent four years in the Coldstream Guards. In the 1950s, he became well-established as a composer and arranger for many of the major big bands.

His music for the stage included collaborations with Lionel Bart (of “Oliver!” fame), Peter Cooke (of “Beyond the Fringe”), and Harry Secombe (of “The Goon Show”).

Later, he cofounded Mark 1 Productions, the television company responsible for “The Avengers” and “The Professionals,” and became co-owner of Gainsborough Pictures.

Among his feature film scores were those for Stanley Kubrick’s “Dr. Strangelove” and the Hammer cult classic “Captain Kronos – Vampire Hunter.”

Arbiters of “serious music” are too often dismissive of the kind of skill it takes for an artist of Johnson’s ilk to succeed. It requires versatility, speed, polish, and instant memorability. What’s more, those putting up the money want it on the cheap. You won’t find many Stravinskys or Schoenbergs in the field (although, Lord knows, both tried to break in).

Johnson was tutored at the Royal College of Music by Herbert Howells and Ralph Vaughan Williams.

In addition to conducting albums of his own works, he recorded film scores of Dimitri Tiomkin and “North by Northwest” by Bernard Herrmann. He also wrote an autobiography, “Noises in the Head.”

He directed, toured, and recorded with his own big bands well into old age. I own a number of their recordings. I’m thinking I might resurrect one of his more ambitious works, the “Symphony (Synthesis),” this weekend on my radio show, “The Lost Chord.”

In 1971, a critic for Gramophone magazine described the symphony as a masterpiece: “This is perhaps the first truly successful combination of the Jazz and European music traditions,” he wrote.

Johnson died on Tuesday at the age of 96. R.I.P.

January 22, 2024
Film Composers Beyond the Screen

Played out on the Oscars?

This Sunday night on “The Lost Chord,” enjoy a triple-feature of concert works by composers better recognized for their work in film.

First, Jerome Moross was ensured a kind of immortality in the hearts of moviegoers for his Academy Award nominated score for “The Big Country.” He composed music for 16 films in all – comparatively few, actually, on account of a bicoastal career. (He was based in New York City.)

Off-screen, he wrote music for five ballets, a symphony, a flute concerto, various works for orchestra and chamber ensemble, and a one-act opera, “Sorry, Wrong Number.” His best-known musical theatre piece is “The Golden Apple,” which spawned the ever-green “Lazy Afternoon.”

Tonight, we’ll hear his delightful “Sonatina for Clarinet Choir” of 1966.

Very little need be said of John Williams. The most successful film composer of all time, Williams has been a household name since the 1970s, thanks to the one-two punch of “Jaws” and “Star Wars.” But by then, he was already two decades into a career that’s now spanned 65 years. With 52 Academy Award nominations and five wins, he is the second most nominated figure in the history of the Academy, behind only Walt Disney.

For the concert hall, Williams has written music for just about every instrument, including an impressive body of concertos. Tonight, we’ll hear his “Essay for Strings,” composed in 1965, when he was 33 years-old.

Finally, English composer Laurie Johnson (pictured) – still with us at 94 – is appreciated for his contributions to, among others, Stanley Kubrick’s “Dr. Strangelove,” the Hammer cult favorite “Captain Kronos – Vampire Hunter,” and the classic TV series “The Avengers.”

Gramophone Magazine described his “Symphony: Synthesis,” composed in 1971, as a masterpiece. “The work becomes increasingly fascinating with each listening,” writes the critic. “This is perhaps the first truly successful combination of the Jazz and European music traditions.”

The recording we’ll hear, made under the composer’s direction, features a number of prominent jazz artists, including Tubby Hayes, Don Lusher, Joe Harriott, Kenny Wheeler and Stan Tracey.

It’s not always about images. Film composers cast themselves against type, on “Typecast IV: The Curse of Typecast.” It will be there for you when the Oscars sputter, this Sunday night at 10:00 EDT; or enjoy it later, as a webcast, on WWFM – The Classical Network and at wwfm.org.

April 25, 2021
Avengers Theme & Classical Music Today

Are you a fan of “The Avengers?” No, not Iron Man, Captain America, and Hulk, but Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg.

If so, perhaps you’d be interested to join me this afternoon on The Classical Network to hear a symphony by the series’ composer, Laurie Johnson. His “Symphony (Synthesis)” achieves what few works of the so-called Third Stream ever do: successfully unite elements of jazz with classical symphonic form. And yes, as an encore, we’ll enjoy Johnson’s snazzy “Avengers” theme.

We’ll also celebrate the birthdays today of composer Riccardo Zandonai, clarinetist Benny Goodman, harpsichordist Gustav Leonhardt, and pianist Zoltan Kocsis. Since Glenn Smith will be hosting today’s concert broadcast at 4 p.m. EDT – an organ recital from last year’s The Princeton Festival with Kristiaan Seynhave, which will air in place of our usual Noontime Concert – we’ll have a clean slate from noon to 4.

Jolly good, then. Grab your umbrella and bowler, and join me on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

May 30, 2017

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