John Mervyn Addison (16 March 19207 December 1998) was a British composer best known for his film scores.

Early life Addison was born in Chobham, Surrey to a father who was a colonel in the Royal Field Artillery, and this influenced the decision to send him to school at Wellington College, Berkshire. His grandfather was Lieut-Colonel George Addison, who played for the Royal Engineers in the 1872 and 1874 FA Cup Finals.

At the age of sixteen he entered the Royal College of Music,The Guardian obituary, 15 December 1998 where he studied composition with Gordon Jacob, oboe with Léon Goossens, and clarinet with Frederick Thurston. This education ended in 1939 with service in World War II. Addison served with the British XXX Corps in the 23rd Hussars. He was a tank officer in the Battle of Normandy and wounded at Caen, later participating in Operation Market Garden. Addison would later write the score for the film A Bridge Too Far about the operation. At the end of the war, he returned to London to teach composition at the Royal College of Music.

Career Addison is best known for his film scores. He won an Academy Award for Best Original Score and a Grammy Award in the Best Original Score from a Motion Picture or Television Show category for the music to the 1963 film, Tom Jones. He also won a BAFTA Award for A Bridge Too Far (1977). His other film scores included A Taste of Honey (1961), Smashing Time (1967), The Honey Pot (1967),The Honey Pot: original motion picture score Sleuth (1972), Swashbuckler (1976) and the television series Centennial (1978).

He composed the theme music for the television series Murder, She Wrote, and won an Emmy for the 2-hour pilot episode in the Outstanding Achievement in Music Composition for a Series (dramatic underscore) category. Addison was the composer Alfred Hitchcock turned to when the director ended his long relationship with Bernard Herrmann over the score to his 1966 film Torn Curtain, although Addison was not hired for any of his other films.

He had a personal connection to Reach for the Sky (1956) which he scored, since Douglas Bader (the subject of the movie) was his brother-in-law, having married Addison's elder sister Thelma.

For the theatre, Addison wrote the music for John Osborne's plays The Entertainer (1957)Tynan, Kenneth. Tynan on Theatre, Penguin Books, London, 1964, p. 50 and Luther (1961).The Times, 7 July 1961, p. 15 He collaborated with John Cranko on a revue, "Cranks" in 1956.The Times, 24 May 1956, p. 3

Although he wrote numerous classical compositions, Addison explained that "If you find you're good at something, as I was as a film composer, it's stupid to do anything else." His classical works included the Concerto for trumpet, strings and percussion (1949), described by The Times as "buoyant" and "Gershwinesque";The Times, 18 July 1950, p. 8 and 18 June 1951, p. 2 a trio for oboe, clarinet and bassoon;The Times, 18 April 1952, p. 2 Carte Blanche, a ballet for Sadler's Wells first performed at the 1953 Edinburgh FestivalThe Times, 19 August 1953, p. 4 from which an orchestral suite of "sophisticated high spirits" was performed at the Proms;BBC Proms performance archive, 11 August 1956 a sextet for wind and harp,The Times, 27 February 1957, p. 3 a piano concertino,1959, commissioned for and performed by the then "National Schools Symphony Orchestra" (not to be confused with the later National Schools Symphony Orchestra), otherwise called the "British Youth Orchestra" ( http://www.answers.com/topic/trevor-harvey-2 ), following the withdrawal of his former teacher, Gordon Jacob from the commission, following the death of the latter's first wife a concertante for oboe, clarinet, horn and orchestra;The Times, 14 July 1959, p. 8 and a partita for strings, which was warmly praised.The Times, 1 May 1961, p. 16 The Bassoon Concertino was one of his last compositions. It was premiered by Graham Salvage and the Hallé Orchestra on 4 July 1998 at the BBC Proms he died later that year in Vermont at 78.Philip Lane. Notes to ASV CD WHL 2125 (2001)

Marlene Dietrich recorded If He Swing By the String and Such Trying Times from the music in Tom Jones.

Addison's collection of correspondence, scores, and studio recordings were donated to the Film Music Archives at Brigham Young University in 1994. He was survived by his wife Pamela; two sons Jonathan and Daniel; daughter Lucinda; stepson Rex Birchenough, and stepdaughter Sandra Stapleton. His daughter Jane pre-deceased him.

Film scores

1950: Seven Days to Noon 1951: High Treason 1951: Pool of London 1952: The Hour of 13 1953: The Man Between 1953: Terror on a Train 1953: The Red Beret 1954: The Maggie 1954: The Black Knight 1954: Make Me an Offer 1955: The Cockleshell Heroes 1956: Private's Progress 1956: Reach for the Sky 1956: Three Men in a Boat 1957: The Shiralee 1957: Lucky Jim 1957: Barnacle Bill 1958: I Was Monty's Double 1959: Carlton-Browne of the F.O. 1960: School for Scoundrels 1960: The Entertainer 1960: A French Mistress 1960: His and Hers 1961: A Taste of Honey 1962: Go to Blazes 1962: The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner 1963: Girl in the Headlines 1963: Tom Jones 1964: Girl with Green Eyes 1964: Guns at Batasi 1964: The Peaches 1965: The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders 1965: The Loved One 1966: The Uncle 1966: I Was Happy Here 1966: A Fine Madness 1966: Torn Curtain 1967: The Honey Pot 1967: Smashing Time 1968: The Charge of the Light Brigade 1970: Start the Revolution Without Me 1970: Country Dance 1971: Mr. Forbush and the Penguins 1972: Sleuth 1973: Luther 1974: Dead Cert 1975: Ride a Wild Pony 1976: Swashbuckler 1976: The Seven-Per-Cent Solution 1977: A Bridge Too Far 1977: Joseph Andrews 1980: The Pilot 1982: Highpoint 1983: Strange Invaders 1985: Grace Quigley 1985: Code Name: Emerald

Music composed for TV

1964: Detective (1 episode) 1970: ITV Sunday Night Theatre (1 episode: Hamlet) 1974: Play for Today (1 episode) 1974: Bellamira 1975: A Journey to London 1975: Grady (2 episodes) 1978: Black BeautySee IMDb entry 1978: The Bastard 1978: The Eddie Capra Mysteries (1 episode) 1978: Pearl 1978: Centennial (12 episodes) 1979: Like Normal People 1979: The Power Within 1979: Love's Savage Fury 1979: The French Atlantic Affair 1981: Nero Wolfe (14 episodes) 1981: Mistress of Paradise 1982: Eleanor, First Lady of the World 1982: Charles & Diana: A Royal Love Story 1982: The Devlin Connection 1982: I Was a Mail Order Bride 1984: Murder, She Wrote (1 episode) 1984: Ellis Island 1985: Thirteen at Dinner 1986: Dead Man's Folly 1986: Something in Common 1986: Amazing Stories (2 episodes) 1986–1987: Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color (2 episodes) 1987: Strange Voices 1988: A Shadow on the Sun 1990: The Phantom of the Opera (miniseries)

Concert works Trio for harp, flute and violin (1941) Variations for piano and orchestra (1948)British Piano Concertos, Lyrita SRCD.416 (2023) Concerto for trumpet, strings and percussion (1949) Wind Sextet (1949) Trio for oboe, clarinet and bassoon (1952) Carte Blanche, ballet (1953) Divertimento, op. 9 for brass quartet Concert Overture, op. 13 (1955) Serenade for wind quintet and harp (1957) Conversation Piece for chamber ensemble (1958)'British Piano Concertos: Addison, Cannon, Chagrin', Lyrita SRCD444 (2025) British Music Society CD review Concertante for oboe, clarinet, horn and orchestra (1959) Wellington Suite for 2 horns, piano, strings and percussion (1959) Concertino for piano (1959) Partita for strings (1961) Display for orchestra (1968) Divertimento for wind quintet (1990) Bennington Suite for flute, violin, viola and cello Concertino for orchestra (1993) Bassoon Concertino (1998)

See also List of Academy Award winners and nominees from Great Britain Notes

References Obituary, The Guardian, 15 December 1998

External links

John Addison papers, MSS 2165, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University John Addison biography and credits at BFI Screenonline