William Alwyn

William Alwyn (born William Alwyn Smith; 7 November 1905 – 11 September 1985), was an English composer, conductor, and music teacher who composed over 200 cinematic scores, of which some 70 were for full-length features, as well as number of operas, concertos and symphonies. Alwyn’s wartime work in particular was to lead him to be placed on a Nazi death list. Life and music William Alwyn was born William Alwyn Smith in Northampton, England, the son of Ada Tyler (Tompkins) and William James Smith. He showed an early interest in music and began to learn to play the piccolo. At the age of 15, he entered the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he studied flute, piano and composition. For a time he was a flautist with the London Symphony Orchestra. Alwyn served as professor of composition at the Royal Academy of Music from 1926 to 1955. Alwyn was a polyglot, poet, and artist, as well as musician. He was also sometime Director of the Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society, a Vice-President of the Society for the Promotion of New Music (SPNM) and Director of the Performing Right Society. For many years he was one of the panel engaged by the BBC to read new scores to help assess wheth