The Aldeburgh Cinema, in the small town in Suffolk where the famous composer Benjamin Britten made his home, annually holds three matinees honoring the life and work of famous composers, hosted by former BBC documentarian Humphrey Burton.
In April, the theater will host a fourth matinee, and for the first time take a look at the life of a film composer. The event will honor the life and work of none other than James Horner. During this event, Burton will be joined on stage by film music scholar Tommy Pearson.
From the press release:
"We shall close this season of Matinee Musicales on Sunday April 10th, with a new departure: I shall be straying off the beaten track of classical music for AN APPRECIATION OF A HOLLYWOOD MAESTRO. Some of the best music of the 20th Century was composed for the cinema (I think of Henry V, Odd Man Out and On the Waterfront) and one of the finest film composers of recent times was James Horner, who wrote the music for Titanic. Horner’s grandfather was from Vienna and his studies included a spell at London’s Royal College of Music. James Horner died in a tragic and mysterious way: the plane he was piloting solo crashed into a remote Californian forest; he was only 61. He had composed music for a hundred movies, winning two Oscars and another eight Oscar nominations. A truly intriguing phenomenon! Our cinema’s Head of Content Delivery, Dan Champion, was a great fan and he did suggest that we should do a matinee about James Horner. I welcomed the idea but since I make no claim to expertise in this field I have invited Tommy Pearson to join me; Tommy is a friend and colleague from my BBC days who is now a leading UK authority on film music; he interviewed Horner at the Royal Albert Hall just weeks before his untimely death. Tommy will sketch in Horner’s extraordinary career, show scenes from significant movies, quote from radio and TV interviews and share his personal memories of meetings in Los Angeles and London. An event that’s not to be missed! The event will take place at 3 p.m. on Sunday April 10th."
Tickets can be bought at www.aldeburghcinema.co.uk.
What a wonderful afternoon this will be for James. I think this will be great. I have visited Alderburgh before, Benjemin Britten country….I just can’t believe it will be held when I am travelling back from Amsterdam. There is no way we could get there this important time. We only recently saw Humphrey Burton at the Royal Academy of Music on Menhuin. Please please, is there anyway this could be repeated again on a different date/place. I am so disappointed but I’m sure it will be a great success. Pamela.
What are some options for those of us who can’t attend. I am unable to attend but I would like to know about what will be going on April 10th.
Did anyone attend this on Sunday, who could write in with information on the event please? I would have loved to go but was traveling back to the UK. I do hope a similar event can be held again as Humphrey Burton and Tommy Pearson would be such an insight into James’s wonderful music.
I tweeted to Tommy about the show and he said all he did was show excerpts from some of the interviews he did with James and they played some of it’s music.
That is good to know about Tommy Pearson. I had the pleasure of speaking to Humphrey Burton on Monday evening and asked him about Aldeburgh. He said it went very well and that Tommy had a lot of knowledge on James’s music. Wish I could have been there though. Pamela.