Howard Blake Videos

NASA and Walking in the Air

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Giuseppe Andaloro performs Howard Blake "Speech after long Silence"

The prize-winning performance by Giuseppe Andaloro at the Hong Kong International Piano Competition 2011.

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Klöckner plays Blake

In 2010 the 22-year old German cellist Benedict Klöckner qualified for the finals of the EBU Young Artist of The Year Award by playing 'Diversions' for cello and piano by Howard Blake. He then went on to win the prize outright.

Howard Blake flew out to Bratislava to hear him and the two of them were invited to give a concert of Howard's work at the Cafehalle, Schlangenbad near Mainz on 8 May 2011. This is a live performance of 'Diversions' recorded at that concert.

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Premiere performance of Howard Blake's 'Spieltrieb' by the Edinburgh Quartet

Live first performance of Howard Blake's 'Spieltrieb - a string quartet in one movement' played by the Edinburgh Quartet who commissioned it to celebrate their 50th anniversary. Tristan Gurney, Philip Burrin, Michael Beeston, Mark Bailey, Queen's Hall, Edinburgh, February 19th 2010.

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Granpa UK VHS Promo

A Channel 4 animated film based on a book by John Burningham directed by Diane Jackson in 1985 following the success of The Snowman in 1982. Granpa is played by Peter Ustinov, the children are the prizewinning Wroughton Middle School Choir. Music, script and lyrics by Howard Blake.

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The Bear

A sequel to The Snowman made as an animation film by Channel 4 from the book by Raymond Briggs with music and lyrics by Howard Blake. Made in 1998 and featuring the voice of twelve year old Charlotte Church.

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The Snowman

The original version of the animated film The Snowman was introduced by its author Raymond Briggs but in 1985 David Bowie agreed to film his own introduction. The music and lyrics are by Howard Blake.

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My Life So Far

A coming-of-age film set in Ayrshire in the 20s. Colin Firth plays a strict father obsessed with Beethoven. Producer David Puttnam and director Hugh Hudson initially invited Sir Simon Rattle to record an all-Beethoven score which did not really work. Howard Blake was asked two years later by Puttnam and distributor Harvey Weinstein to create a new score which begins with this seven and a half minute musical sequence.

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The Canterville Ghost

A film by HTV of Oscar Wilde's classic ghost mystery starring Sir John Gielgud. Made in 1986 with music by Howard Blake, directed by Paul Bogart.

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Composer Howard Blake (OBE) talks exclusively with C Music TV

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Flash Gordon - Duel on the Sky Platform

Almost all of the music for the sky platform fight sequence in Flash Gordon was deleted in the final film. Presented here is Howard Blake's score originally written for the scene. The deleted music starts just as the actual fight begins. In the final film, the score is brought back while Barin is strangling Flash with his whip.

A complete recording of Howard Blake's original music for the film was issued by Supertracks Music Group in 2001 for promotional use only.

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S.O.S Titanic

This assembly of scenes also presents the main theme of S.O.S. Titanic composed by Howard Blake in 1979 in Hollywood. Silva Screen Records present a complete soundtrack CD issued in 2012 for the centenary of the tragedy.

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Walking In The Air

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The Duellists

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The Riddle of the Sands Clip

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The Changeling

Director Peter Medak asked Howard Blake to write the theme for the movie The Changeling. George C. Scott starred as a pianist composer who becomes obsessed with this music box theme, gradually turning it into a concert piano piece which Howard originally recorded and which features in his collection of piano works titled "Lifecycle" (1996).

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Howard Blake and the British Airways music (Lakme)

Howard Blake describes how a 19th Century opearatic excerpt became a global hit.

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The Snowman 2007 programme note

Howard Blake reads his 2007 programme note describing the 25 years of The Snowman animated film and the 10 years of The Snowman Stage Show in London's West End.

He then plays "Walking in the Air". (starting at 7 minutes into the video).

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Amityville 3D

The first two Amityville Horror films were scored by Lalo Shifrin but Dino de Laurentiis asked Howard Blake to write the score for the third movie this time shot in 3D. The director was Richard Fleischer. Blake used a solo soprano, Elaine Barry doubled up with bass flutes, synthesizer and orchestra to create the eerie theme music.

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Rise Of The House Of Usher

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The Snowman tours South Korea

Birmingham Mail Arts Editor Diane Parkes travelled with the Birmingham Repertory Theatre to Seoul to see how the stage show version of the legendary Christmas Music spectacular The Snowman is going down in the Far East.

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A Month in the Country

This deeply-moving 1987 film relating the experiences of two shell-shocked young soldiers returning from the trenches of World War 1 to work on an archaeological dig in the idyllic English countryside featured Colin Firth and Kenneth Branagh. Director Pat O'Connor invited Howard Blake to compose the score which is written for string orchestra only, offsetting excerpts of choral music by Schubert and Verdi. It won Howard the Anthony Asquith Award for Musical Excellence.

Unusually, the written score does not begin until 30 minutes into the film.

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