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John Scott (composer)

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John Scott
Birth namePatrick John O'Hara Scott
Also known asJohnny Scott
Patrick John Scott
Born (1930-11-01) 1 November 1930 (age 94)
Bishopston, Bristol, England
GenresClassical, jazz
Occupation(s)Film and television composer, orchestra conductor
Instrument(s)Clarinet, flute, harp, saxophone
Years active1960s–present
Websiteweb.archive.org/web/20070714171513/http://www.josrecords.com/

John Scott (born Patrick John O'Hara Scott, 1 November 1930), also known as Johnny Scott and Patrick John Scott, is an English film composer and music conductor. Scott has collaborated with well-known directors and producers, including Mark Damon, Richard Donner, Charlton Heston, Mike Hodges, Hugh Hudson, Norman Jewison, Irvin Kershner, Ilaiyaraaja, Daniel Petrie, Roger Spottiswoode, and Norman J. Warren.[1]

Life and career

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Scott was born in Bishopston, Bristol, England. His father, a musician in the Bristol Police Band, gave him his first music lessons. At the age of 14, he enrolled in the British Army (in the Royal Artillery Band, Woolwich) as a Boy Musician in order to continue his musical studies of the clarinet, harp and saxophone.[2]

Later, Scott toured with some of the best-known British bands of the era. He was hired by EMI to arrange and conduct some of its most popular artists and, during this time, worked with Beatles producer George Martin (playing flute in the band's 1965 recording "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away").[2] Scott also recorded such artists as Tom Jones, Cilla Black, and The Hollies. As a musician, he played with The Julian Bream Consort, John Dankworth, Cleo Laine, Yehudi Menuhin, Nelson Riddle and Ravi Shankar.

Credited as Johnny Scott, and playing flute, he led a jazz quintet, quartet and trio during the 1960s: his three part Study for Jazz Quintet was included on the 1962 compilation album Jazz Tête-à-Tête recorded by Denis Preston.[3] He played for Henry Mancini and was principal saxophonist in John Barry's soundtrack to the James Bond film Goldfinger (1964).[4]

Since the 1960s, Scott has composed for more than 100 film and television productions. Some of Scott's most praised and recognized scores are Antony and Cleopatra (1972), England Made Me (1973), North Dallas Forty (1979), The Final Countdown (1980), Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984) and The Shooting Party (1985). His TV work includes the themes to the BBC current affairs programmes Nationwide and Midweek, incidental music for the ITV series Rosemary and Thyme, and documentaries by French explorer Jacques Cousteau.[5] He also composed the instrumental piece "Gathering Crowds" for a stock music library. While the opening bars of the piece were used briefly in 1976 by ABC for its nightly national news program, the piece would later become iconic in the US for its use as the closing theme for the long-running syndicated Major League Baseball highlights show This Week in Baseball.[6]

Scott is also active as a classical composer (having written a symphony, a ballet, four string quartets and a guitar concerto) and as a conductor.[2] Orchestras that he has conducted include the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Munich Symphony Orchestra, the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Budapest Opera Orchestra, the Lubliana Radio Orchestra and the Prague Philharmonic.[5]

In 2006–2008, Scott served as the artistic director of the Hollywood Symphony Orchestra.[7]

On 16 October 2013 Scott was presented with a BASCA Gold Badge Award[8] in recognition of his contribution to music.

Selected filmography

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References

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  1. ^ "John Scott". Song 365. Archived from the original on 20 November 2015. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  2. ^ a b c Hischak, Thomas S. (2015). The Encyclopedia of Film Composers. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 605. ISBN 9781442245501.
  3. ^ Various Artists. Pete Burman's Jazz Tête-à-Tête (Remastered): Trunk Records
  4. ^ "BBC Radio 3 - Sound of Cinema, John Scott". BBC. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
  5. ^ a b "John Scott" (PDF). SMC. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  6. ^ Foster, Jason (4 August 2015). "The inside story of how 'This Week in Baseball' got its iconic theme music". Sporting News. Sporting News Media. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
  7. ^ "Hollywood Symphony Orchestra Debuts". Film Music Society. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  8. ^ "2013 BASCA Gold Badge Award Recipients Announced - PPL". Archived from the original on 18 November 2017. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
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