Carl Davis
(c) carldaviscollection
American film composer Carl Davis died today, 3 August 2023, at the age of 86. A consummate all round-musician, Carl Davis was one of the best silent film musicians in Europe. He wrote the music for over 100 television series and is known for his dubbing of silent films. The film scores of the US-American, who has lived in London since the age of 20, are characterized by empathy as well as the confident merging of classical and modern traditions: Film and music merge in his music to form a new, expressive unity.
The passion for music had gripped Carl Davis very early, as he himself explains:
« I was born in New York in 1936. Pre-birth, my mother went to a lot of concerts and my reaction was quite passionate! After, she played piano and I imitated her. My first lessons were at 7. I sacked my first teacher when, after seeing Disney’s Fantasia, I insisted on studying Bach’s Toccata and Fugue and he refused. I kept playing though, driven by curiosity – pop to Parsifal. We had good public libraries in Brooklyn with fairly comprehensive music sections and I devoured scores. My mission was to be able to sight-read and sing operas, text and all. I went on to orchestral scores, helped by New York’s two classical music radio stations. I was equally attracted by dance. In my teens I widened my circle with singers and musicians. There were opera workshops, choirs, chamber music and Lieder to play. My first professional engagements were at Tanglewood, touring with the Robert Shaw Chorale and The New York City Opera and at 18, composition. A choice had to be made and I chose composition and London. »
Carl Davis
(c) carldaviscollection
In London, the aspiring composer soon succeeded in becoming active in the field of radio. He not only received commissions there, but also found the woman of his life:
« Helped by Diversions, a revue written at college, that had won Off-Broadway prizes, my colleague, Steven Vinaver, who had joined me in London, the revue Twists was produced at the Edinburgh Festival and then the Arts Theatre in the West End. An encouraging review from Richard Buckle led to my first radio work and television. There were strong collaborators: Jack Gold, Ronald Eyre and Patrick Garland. The breakthrough came in 1969 with Alan Bennett’s Forty Years On. Jonathan Miller took me to the National Theatre and Ron to the RSC. A collaboration with John Wells produced three full length musicals for stage: Alice in Wonderland, Peace (Aristophenes) and The Projector for Joan Littlewood’s Theatre Workshop. There I met my future wife, Jean Boht and began a family: two daughters, Hannah and Jessie and three grandchildren. »
And that, according to Davis, is how his involvement in silent film came about:
« In 1980 this led to a landmark performance with orchestra of Kevin Brownlow’s restoration of the 5 hour epic Napoleon: live cinema was re-born. Channel 4 continued this development with a chain of restorations of the major silent films featuring Garbo, Gish, Fairbanks and the three great clowns: Chaplin, Keaton and Lloyd, as well as epics like Ben Hur and Intolerance. Orchestras were now keen to mount these films and I fancied myself a conductor climaxing in an 8 year run in a series of popular concerts in Big Top on The King’s Dock in Liverpool! This helped me develop a unique performance style involving costumes and a rapport with my audience. »
