Carl Davis

About

From Wikipedia:

Carl Davis, CBE (28 October 1936 – 3 August 2023) was an American-born conductor and composer who lived in the United Kingdom from 1961.

He composed music for more than 100 television programmes, created new scores for the concert performance of silent movies, and wrote many ballet and concert works that were performed worldwide. Davis’s publisher was Faber Music. […]

In 1991, Davis and Paul McCartney collaborated on Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Oratorio, recorded to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. Loosely based on McCartney’s own life, the eight-movement work was composed by Davis and McCartney and conducted by Davis.

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I was very sad to hear that my friend Carl Davis had passed away. Carl and I wrote the ‘Liverpool Oratorio’ together. It was my first full-length classical venture and I really enjoyed working with him to make it happen. I would show up at his house and we would start writing. I would suggest an idea and he would write it down on the manuscript paper which made it easy for him to play the idea back to me and we progressed like that. He was a very skilful and fun man to be with. His enthusiasm was extremely infectious and we had a great time during the period that we worked together.

When we came to perform the piece at Liverpool Cathedral it was very exciting for me who had once failed an audition for the choir at the cathedral to be back there with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and tremendous soloists Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Sir Willard White, Sally Burgess, Jerry Hadley, and a large choir for a very special evening.

I enjoyed my time with Carl very much and send my love and sympathies to his lovely wife, Jean, and their daughters Hannah and Jessie.

Love, Paul

Paul McCartney – From Paul McCartney on Twitter, August 5, 2023

Last updated on August 5, 2023