Awards & Press

AWARDS AND PRESS TRIBUTES

 

1968  COURAGE LIGHT BRIGADE

Score by Howard Blake awarded TV Mail Best Soundtrack Award

 

1975 HOKUSAI

BAFTA for best short factual film (score by Howard Blake)

 

1977 THE DUELLISTS

1. Score by Howard Blake awarded Ivor Novello Best Score Nomination

2, Film directed by Ridley Scott awarded Special Jury Prize Cannes Film Festival

 

1980  FLASH GORDON

Score by Howard Blake awarded joint BAFTA nomination with 'Queen'

 

1981 VICTOR/VICTORIA

Orchestration of 'Le Jazz Hot' and other numbers by Howard Blake on a score by Henry Mancini.

Oscar for Best Adaptation of Score, award to Henry Mancini


 

1982 THE SNOWMAN ANIMATED FILM (score, song and lyrics by Howard Blake)

1. OSCAR nomination  Best Short Film

2. BAFTA TV Nomination Best Children's Programme

3. TAMPERE INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM FESTIVAL

Grand Prix

 

1986  'A MONTH IN THE COUNTRY'

Score by Howard Blake awarded Anthony Asquith Award for Musical Excellence by The British Film Institute

 

1986  'GRANPA' 

SCORE, SONGS AND LYRICS BY HOWARD BLAKE

Awarded Prix Jeunesse Internationale

 

HOWARD BLAKE PIANIST COMPOSER AND CONDUCTOR

GROVE DICTIONARY OF MUSIC AND MUSICIANS

Main entry 

Howard Blake (b.London, 28 October 1938). English composer.He studied at the RAM with 
Harold Craxton (piano) and Howard Ferguson (composition). While serving as a 
projectionist at The National Film Theatre his enthusiasm for cinema led him to make a
 film himself. He began his career in London as composer, arranger, session
keyboard player and conductor, gaining experience in radio, television, and film. 
As a pianist in recordings for film he worked for major composers including Quincy Jones,
Bernard Herrmann and Henry Mancini. His meeting with Laurie Johnson resulted in his 
being commissioned to compose music for 'The Avengers' television series (1968-9).
In 1970, already with numerous assignments in film and television, he spent five 
years away from the commercial scene in order to develop his own style of concert music
which remains broadly conservative in the interest of accessibility to a non-specialist 
audience. His major choral work, the dramatic oratorio 'Benedictus' (1979 rev.1985), 
has been widely performed. His concert music includes the comic opera 'The Station'
(1987 rev. 1992), the ballets 'The Annunciation' (1979) and Eva (1995), several 
concertos, vocal works and chamber music. Music from 'The Snowman' (1982) for
narrator, boy soprano and orchestra first achieved enormous popularity through its 
use in a short animated film (1982) of the same name.
 

GROVE DICTIONARY OF MUSIC AND MUSICIANS

A garland of British light music composers

Howard Blake has achieved fame as pianist, conductor and composer. He has written
concertos for clarinet, piano and violin, a piano quartet, and two trios, one for flute,
clarinet and piano, the other for piano, violin and cello, but all these, indeed all of 
his output, is so fluently lyrical that he may properly be regarded as an heir to the 
English light music tradition. In any event much of Blake's music is categorisable as
''light'' on any terms: the instrumental items 'Burlesca' for violin and piano, the
'Eight Character Pieces' and the suite, 'Party Pieces', both for piano, the orchestral
'Concert Dances' and some very attractive film music, eg for 'The Riddle of the Sands',
'Agatha' (about Agatha Christie's disappearance, though incredibly Blake's score was 
not used) and of course 'The Snowman'.

 


 

 

 
 

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