Richard Hill (composer)

Richard Vincent Hill (22 August 1942 – 13 June 2026) was a British composer. He initially studied trombone at the Royal College of Music in London in the 1960s, before moving into music production and composition. Life and career At the Royal College of Music Hill became a founder member of the London Gabrieli Brass Ensemble. He also worked in rock and jazz circles playing with the Dave Keir Jazz Band among others. After leaving College, Hill played in a number of symphony orchestras on a freelance basis including the Royal Opera House Orchestra, the London Philharmonic and the Philharmonia. Working under such conductors as Sir Georg Solti, Leonard Bernstein and Rudolf Schwarz, Hill further broadened his musical experience by playing Duke Ellington’s music under Billy Strayhorn in a production of Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens. In the 1960s, Hill’s career underwent a sea change when he joined Polydor Records as a producer and studio arranger at the height of the sixties pop boom. He stopped playing and began to compose. This in turn led to a career as a media composer in film, television and theatre. Film scores included To Kill a Clown starring Alan Alda and Baffled! Starring Susan