Biography
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Born
1950 (age 75)
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Born In
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, United Kingdom
Philip Lane (born 1950, Cheltenham, England) is an English composer and musicologist.
Lane read music at Birmingham University. Whilst at University he developed a deep interest in Lord Berners, about whom he wrote a thesis and ultimately became a trustee of the Berners Estate, overseeing the completion of all Berners’ music on to CD.
He taught music at The Cheltenham Ladies' College from 1971 to 1998, and was invited to look after the estate of Richard Addinsell in 1993. This began a new career reconstructing lost film scores of Addinsell's, including Goodbye, Mr Chips (1939 film) amongst others, the originals of which had been destroyed by the studios as was common practice at the time. Lane has since performed similar rescue work on film scores of Malcolm Arnold, Georges Auric, William Alwyn, Arthur Bliss, Victor Young and many others.
In the case of recent scores there are usually soundtrack CDs devoid of extraneous sounds to work from, but despite the change in status of film music, present day composers still mislay their scores. He has consequently reconstructed music by Jerry Goldsmith, Randy Edelman and James Homer. If the composers are still alive he obviously encourages them to do the reconstruction themselves. So far, they have declined for various reasons.
Meanwhile he is content to dip his toes in the great sea of film music that he has admired and loved since his childhood. When asked to work on his absolute favourite films the job is even more rewarding. He has worked on The Quiet Man (complete), The Thirty-Nine Steps, Kind Hearts And Coronets and Goodbye Mr Chips. Whether or not the films are his favourites, the process is repeatedly satisfying - from scribbling down a piano score and orchestrating it to producing the performance in the studio. The only bigger thrill is when the music is his own.
Lane's own compositions have included BBC drama including The Merchant of Venice and Sir Thomas More and the children's animated series Captain Pugwash. He has since composed the music for three other TV animation series - Tom, Marco and Gina and Wicked!
In 2005, he composed a ballet, Hansel and Gretel, for the National Youth Ballet.
In 2007 Lane composed a setting of The Night before Christmas for narrator and orchestra, the commercial recording of which with Stephen Fry narrating, was a best selling CD. Concert performances have taken place worldwide including the USA and Asia. The sequel - Another Night before Christmas to a text by Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy - was premiered in Liverpool in December 2009 with narrators Dame Joan Bakewell and Simon Bates. This will be commercially recorded by Naxos for release in November 2011.
In December, 2009 he was commissioned by the Boston Pops to write their annual Holiday Pops work, The Christmas Story, which received 38 performances.
Virtually all of Lane's orchestral works have been commercially recorded and are currently available worldwide.
In November, 2010 Lane will have conferred on him an honorary Doctorate of Music by the University of Gloucestershire.
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