and two piano concertos, various
descriptive orchestral pieces, four operas and much chamber, instrumental and
vocal music. In addition to this Alwyn contributed nearly two hundred scores
for the cinema. He began his career in this medium in 1936, writing music for
documentaries. In 1941 he wrote his first feature length score for Penn of
Pennsylvania. Other notable film scores include the following: Desert
Victory, The Way Ahead, The True Glory, Odd Man Out, The History of Mr
Polly, The Fallen Idol, The Rocking Horse Winner, The Crimson Pirate, The Million
Pound Note, The Winslow Boy, The Card, and A Night To Remember. In
recognition of his services to the film medium he was made a Fellow of
the British Film Academy, the only composer ever to have received this
honour. His other appointments include serving as chairman of the Composers
Guild of Great Britain, which he had been instrumental in forming, in 1949,
1950 and 1954. He was a Director of the Mechanical Copyright Protection Society,
a Vice-President of the Society for the Promotion of New Music (S.P.N.M.) and
Director of the Performing Rights Society. For many years he was one of the
panel reading new scores for the BBC. The conductor Sir John Barbirolli championed
his first four symphonies and the First Symphony is dedicated to him.
