Joby Talbot
Media Composer Joby Talbot is one of the most exciting composers working in the UK today. His classical music, television scores and pop collaborations are performed and broadcast all over the world.
Joby began writing and performing in 1993, joining Neil Hannon in The Divine Comedy. Talbot and Hannon co-wrote the songs for The Divine Comedy album Fin de Siecle and Ute Lemper's collaborative album Punishing Kiss (released in 2000). In 1997, Talbot and the Divine Comedy collaborated with Michael Nyman at the Flux Festival and were awarded Edinburgh Festival's Critics Choice. During this period, Joby's reputation as an arranger grew, leading him to provide string arrangements for artists such as Travis and Tom Jones.
Joby's early television scores for the BBC include the theme music for Young Musician of the Year, Tomorrow's World (co-written with Neil Hannon), and the score for BBC 2's short film Queen's Park Story. He later composed scores for two major series for BBC Entertainment, Chambers and the primetime comedy The League of Gentlemen, (the latter winning Joby the Royal Television Society Award for Best Title Music in 2000).
In 2000, the British Film Institute commissioned Joby to compose a new score for Hitchcock's silent classic The Lodger, and this proved to be such a success that he has now completed a second film score for the BFI to accompany their release of the silent The Dying Swan.
Joby's classical commission for the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Luminescence was premiered in 1997 under Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. The following year, Evelyn Glennie toured his percussion concerto Incandescence with the London Sinfonietta. The quality and integrity of Joby's classical music has lead to commissions from the London Sinfonietta and the BBC Proms.
More recently, Joby has written the music to the Comic Relief animated film, Robbie the Reindeer in legends of the Lost Tribe, which was shown on television in the US (CBS) and the UK (BBC 1) on Christmas day. In 2002 he formed his own band Billiardman and a performing ensemble who showcased work from his new album The Dying Swan : Music for 1-7 Players (Black Box) at the London Jazz Festival and throughout the UK.
Joby was very recently appointed as Classic FM's composer in residence, further to an exciting new collaboration between the PRS Foundation and the radio station. He spoke to PRSF to tell us what he's currently listening to:
The Styrenes - In C
I heard about this rock band's cover of the seminal Terry Riley piece on Radio 3's Late Junction & it's by far the best performance of the piece I've ever heard. They sound like superhumanly good players & it's so nice to hear 'pop' musicians doing something 'classical'.
www.bbc.co.uk/music/experimental/reviews/styrenes_inc.shtml
Air - Talkie Walkie
I've just got the new Air album and am yet to listen to it properly but I like what I've heard so far & I'm a big fan of their's. I thought the music they did for Sophia Copolla's film The Virgin Suicides was wonderful and the new album seems to live up to that. I love the single Cherry Blossom Girl - lovely to hear a straightforward beautiful pop song.
www.intairnet.org/
Brian Elias - Geranos
It was my old teacher, Brian's 55th birthday recently & The Endymion Ensemble gave a portrait concert at The Purcell Room last week. It was a wonderful evening - beautifully put together & performed & the final piece, Geranos, which somehow I'd never heard before, blew me away. An almighty storm was blowing up outside and as the final bell notes died away they were merging with the eerie whistling of the wind.
www.chesternovello.com/work/9086/main.html
Links for Joby Talbot
www.chesternovello.com/composer/1597/main.html
www.mannersmcdade.co.uk/composer.asp?cid=2