Edward Williams (composer)

{{Infobox person

| image = Edward-Williams-009.jpg

| name = Edward Williams

| imagesize =

| caption = Williams in 1999

| birth_date = {{birth date|1921|08|20|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Hindhead, Surrey, England

| height =

| death_date = {{death date and age|2013|12|08|1921|08|20|df=y}}

| death_place = Bristol, England

| birth_name = Edward Aneurin Williams

| othername =

| spouse = Judith Swingler

| nationality = British

| children = 4

}}

Edward Aneurin Williams (20 August 1921 – 8 December 2013) was a British composer and electronic music pioneer, best known for his work on the BBC Television series Life on Earth, and as the creator of Soundbeam. Two of the documentaries he composed scores for were Academy Award winners, including Dylan Thomas (1961), which won an Oscar in 1963,[https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/dec/19/edward-williams-obituary Thomas, Colin. Obituary, The Guardian, 19 December, 2013] and Wild Wings (1965), which won an Oscar in 1967.[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KP-eSgyKARE Short Film Winners: 1967 Oscars-YouTube]

Early life and education

Although of Welsh descent, Edward Williams was born in Hindhead, Surrey. His father Iolo Aneurin Williams was a poet, journalist, folk song collector and politician, and his American mother Francion Elinor Dixon was the musical daughter of a Colorado cattle rancher. He was the grandson of Liberal politician Aneurin Williams, the nephew of politician Ursula Williams, and a descendant of the Welsh poet Iolo Morganwg. Williams was initially educated at Rugby School, and later went on to read Languages at Trinity College, Cambridge. He then served in the Royal Navy during World War II, working on minesweeping vessels.

In 1946 Williams studied under (and worked as an assistant for) conductor and director of film music Muir Mathieson, and later with Vaughan Williams. He was also a friend and protégé of Alan Rawsthorne.Jacobi, Carol (2021). Out of the Cage: The Art of Isabel Rawsthorne (2021)His memorial address to Isabel Rawsthorne, given at Thaxted Parish Church on 4 Feb. 1992, was reprinted in [http://www.musicweb-international.com/rawsth/THE%20CREEL%20Summary.pdf The Creel], 2/1, Spring 1992, pp.5-7

Career

His career as British documentary composer began in 1948, and his many scores included 24 shorts for British Transport Films alone, including Open House (1951 - promoting the use of London Transport bus services to country houses),[https://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/collections/collections-online/film-video/item/2018-1268 Open House (1951), London Transport Museum][http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2016/Oct/British_transport_films_1PDR33.htm Classical Music for British Transport Films], Beulah 1PDR33 (2016) and one of the most famous of them, 1957's Journey into Spring, directed by Ralph Keene and portraying the arrival of spring in Selborne.Edward Williams biography, British Film Institute Another was Wild Wings (1965), a look at the conservation work carried out by The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust at its headquarters in Slimbridge, Gloucestershire.[https://mubi.com/films/wild-wings MUBI] It won an Oscar for Best Short Subject at the 39th Academy Awards.[https://www.filmaffinity.com/en/film379388.html FilmAffinity]

From the 1960s, Williams composed the scores for various dramas and documentaries, often with Welsh subject matter. They included the Oscar-winning documentary short Dylan Thomas (1961) directed by Jack Howells (a frequent collaborator)Russell, Patrick, Taylor, James Piers (ed.). Shadows of Progress: Documentary Film in Post War Britain (2019), Chapter 8, '[https://books.google.com/books?id=2wn8DwAAQBAJ&dq=%22shadows+of+progress%22+%22Jack+Howells+Productions%22&pg=PT170 The World Still Sings: Jack Howells]', by Dave Berry. and narrated by Richard Burton, and the science fiction film Unearthly Stranger (1964) for Independent Artists, directed by John Krish.

Williams also lectured on music at the University of Bristol, where he developed his interest in electronic music. He became a pioneer user of analogue synthesisers, notably using the EMS VCS 3, three of which were used by his 1970s touring band, “Uncle Jambo’s Pendular Vibrations”.Power, Mike. '[https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2009/nov/02/david-attenborough-life-on-earth-soundtrack Release of Life On Earth soundtrack delivers music as pioneering as the show]', in The Guardian, 2 November 2009

=Life on Earth=

The BBC's Life On Earth documentary, first broadcast in 1979, heralded a new genre of nature programming, and the avant-garde and pioneering music was pivotal to the programme's impact. It featured VCS 3 synthesisers alongside flute, harp, clarinet, strings, percussion, providing an evocative counterpoint to the visuals and Attenborough's commentary. Williams and his orchestra intricately crafted the music scene-by-scene to reflect the imagery on-screen. In one sequence examining the flight of birds, the instrumentation mirrors each new creature's appearance. A private recording of just 100 copies was produced on vinyl in 1979, but a commercial release had to await the interest of Jonny Trunk of Trunk Records, who issued the first commercially available recording in 2009.[https://www.trunkrecords.com/releases/life_on_earth_09/life_on_earth.php Life on Earth, Trunk Records JBH034 (2009)]

During the composition for Life on Earth, Williams mentored the film composer Martin Kiszko who then assisted him. (William Goodchild was a subsequent assistant). Following its success, Williams worked on the soundtrack for the three-part ecological series “Earth” for Thames Television and a series of Channel 4 television biographies of Goya, Gillray, Mary Wollstonecraft and Pushkin.

=Soundbeam=

In 1984 he commissioned the design of Soundbeam, an ultrasonic movement-to-MIDI converter which enables electronic instruments to be played from a distance by body movements in an ultrasonic beam. This has proven particularly useful in schools for children with special needs. Soundbeam has continued to be successful and remains in use worldwide.[https://www.soundbeam.co.uk/ Soundbeam website]

Later activities

In 1992, Williams composed and published Landscapes, a three movement trio for horn, violin and piano. It was first performed in October 1997 by the Bristol Ensemble with Donald Clist (horn), Roger Huckle (violin) and Susan Bird (piano).

In 1995, Williams won the BAFTA Cymru award for best original score for the BBC/S4C series Excalibur: The Search for Arthur. In 1996 he collaborated with horn player Pip Eastop with an Arts Council research development grant to explore "the possibilities of controlling computer-driven transformation of sound during live, partially improvised performance".{{cite web|url=http://british-horn.org/news1996.html |title=Horn News Archive 1996 |publisher=The British Horn Society |accessdate=26 July 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120206020038/http://www.british-horn.org/news1996.html |archivedate=6 February 2012 }}

His music from the 1957 documentary Journey Into Spring was re-fashioned into A Selborne Suite for chamber ensemble and narrator (with words by Laurie Lee), and was first performed in 2003.[https://web.archive.org/web/20200518073127/https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b69e88d71 Journey into Spring, British Film Institute]

Personal life

Williams was married to Judith Swingler, daughter of the poet Randall Swingler and the pianist Geraldine Peppin. Williams died in Bristol on 8 December 2013 age 92, after a short illness. His wife Judith died in 2022. There were four children - Simon, Bella, Nye and Caroline - and eight grandchildren.{{cite web|url=http://www.soundbeam.co.uk|title=EDWARD WILLIAMS 1921 - 2013|accessdate=15 December 2013|publisher=Soundbeam}} He was a keen sailor, owning a Wayfarer sailing dinghy, and had built Optimist dinghies.

Family tree

{{tree chart|border=0| | | | | | | | | IM |IM=Iolo Morganwg (Edward Williams)
1747–1826}}

{{tree chart|border=0| | | | | | | | | TW |TW=Taliesin ab Iolo (Taliesin Williams)
1787–1847}}

{{tree chart|border=0| | | | | | | | | EW1 |EW1=Edward Williams
1826–1886}}

{{tree chart|border=0| | | | | | AW | | | | PW | |AW=Aneurin Williams
1859–1924 |PW=Penry Williams
1866–1945}}

{{tree chart|border=0| | | | | | IAW | | | | | |IAW=Iolo Aneurin Williams
1890–1962}}

{{tree chart|border=0| | | | | | EW2 | | | | | |EW2=Edward Williams
1921–2013}}

References

External links

[https://web.archive.org/web/20180612185142/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba03afadf Edward Williams] at the British Film Institute
{{IMDb name|1025779}}
[https://historyproject.org.uk/interview/edward-williams] British Entertainment History Project Interview
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Rks7V1dFOw Performance of Landscapes by Donald Clist (horn), Roger Huckle (violin) and Susan Bird (piano)]

Category:1921 births

Category:2013 deaths

Category:20th-century English composers

Category:21st-century English composers

Category:English male composers

Category:English film score composers

Category:English male film score composers

Category:English television composers

Category:People educated at Rugby School

Category:Musicians from Surrey

Category:Military personnel from Surrey

Category:Royal Navy personnel of World War II

Category:Royal Navy sailors

Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge