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This Week's Guest:
George Fenton
Sunday 11 May
Repeated
Friday 16 May | | |  |
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| George Fenton's Choice |  | |
Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the composer George Fenton, whose work includes music for Groundhog Day,Shadowlands, Cry Freedom, The Company of Wolves and The Fisher King.
Born George Howe in South London in 1950 he taught himself to play the guitar at the age of eight and by the age of 14 was playing the organ – ‘dreadfully’!
He wanted to be an actor, and got an early break in Alan Bennett’s play Forty Years On. As time went on, however, he found directors were always asking him to play an instrument, so he switched to music as his main focus. He got his first job as composer and musical director for a production of Twelfth Night at the RSC in Stratford in 1974. Eight years later, and still almost entirely self-taught, he was nominated for an Oscar for his score for Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi. It was only his fourth attempt at film music.
Since 1982 he has been nominated for four more Oscars (for Cry Freedom, The Fisher King and Dangerous Liaisons) and three Golden Globes, won three BAFTAs, two Ivor Novello Awards and an EMMY and written music for more than 100 television productions including Bergerac,The Jewel in the Crown, Talking Heads and The Blue Planet. In addition he cornered the market in jingles for daily news bulletins across the BBC.
George Fenton is a visiting professor at the Royal College of Music in London, and regularly appears on television arts shows and documentaries as an authority on music.
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1. 'Fantasia and Fugue in G minor'
Performer Tom Koopman
Composer Bach
Publisher Teledisc Classics
CD Title Organ Works: Volume One
Track 1
Label TELDEC
Rec No 4509 94458 2
2. 'What a Mouth' (what a North and South)
Performer Tommy Steele
Composer Weston, Champion
Publisher Decca
CD Title Greatest Hits - Tommy Steele
Track 20
Label DERAM
Rec No 820 688-2
3. 'Just Walking in the Rain'
Performer Johnnie Ray
Composer J Bragg-R Railey- B Killen
Publisher CBS Records
CD Title 16 Most Requested Songs of the 1950's - Volume 1
Track 13
Label COLUMBIA
Rec No CK 45110
4. 'Ninety Nine and a Half'
Performer Dorothy Love Coates
Composer Dorothy Love Coates
Publisher Venice Music - BMI
CD Title The Best of Dorothy Love Coates & the Original Gospel Harmonettes
Track 9
Label ACE
Rec No CDCHD 343
5. 'Reunion'
Performer John Low
Composer George Fenton
Publisher Columbia pictures
CD Title Soundtrack of the film Hero
Track 13
Label EPIC
Rec No EK 53193
6. 'You're Driving Me Crazy'
Performer Billy May's Big Band
Composer Walter/Donaldson
Publisher F D & H
CD Title The Capitol Years
Track 5
Label CAPITOL
Rec No CDEMS 1472
7. 'Eternal Source of Light Divine'
Performer James Bowman and Crispian Steele Perkins with King's Consort
Composer Handel
Publisher Hyperion records
CD Title Music for Royal Occasions
Track 1
Label HYPERION
Rec No CDA 66315
8. 'On Going to Sleep' from 'Four Last Songs'
Performer Rene Fleming with Houston Symphony Orchestra
Composer Strauss
Publisher BMG
CD Title Four Last Songs - Richard Strauss
Track 3
Label BMG
Rec No 09026 685392
Record: On Going to Sleep - Richard Strauss
Book: Chekov's - Short Stories
Luxury: A piano or failing that for comfort a tin of condensed milk & opener
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