William Alwyn (1905-1985)

"I write believing I have something worthwhile to say, and I therefore desire to be understood by the widest possible public." - William Alwyn

‘I am a romantic born one hundred years too late,’ William Alwyn confessed to his diary. A film composer who longed to flee the cinema, Alwyn was a man who felt at odds with his era. His nostalgic attitude defined his musical voice, which is passionate and melodically-driven, and not easily placed within any one school or style. A prolific composer, Alwyn’s output includes five symphonies, four operas, concertos, chamber music, instrumental pieces, songs and over two hundred film scores.

Alwyn studied flute, piano and composition at the Royal Academy of Music. He later gained a job as a flautist with the London Symphony Orchestra, and was appointed professor of composition at the RAM in 1926. He wrote quickly, and his early works included an opera, a ballet, a large number of orchestral works, chamber and piano pieces, and his Piano Concerto No. 1 (1930). His film career began in 1936, with a documentary called The Future’s in the Air. Alwyn felt dissatisfied with his work, though, and in 1939 took the unusual step of renouncing his entire catalogue of works until that point. ‘I must forge my individual style, regardless of all else, with absolute sincerity,’ he wrote.

It was during this period of crisis that he met Doreen Carwithen, who started as his student at the RAM in 1941. This was a critical meeting for both of them, personally and professionally. The pair fell in love, but Alwyn was already married. They conducted a secret affair for nearly two decades before Alwyn left his first wife, Olive Pull, and eloped to Suffolk with Carwithen in 1961.
For Alwyn, meeting Carwithen seems to have helped him to find the individual style he was searching for. His Autumn Legend for cor anglais and strings (1954) is representative of this new style — darkly sensual, intense, and lyrical. It was inspired by the poetry and art of Pre-Raphaelite Dante Gabriel Rossetti, who Alwyn admired immensely.

Passionate about bringing attention to contemporary composition, Alwyn helped found and run the Composer’s Guild of Great Britain, served as Director of the Performing Rights Society, and was additionally Vice-President of the Society for the Promotion of New Music. He was made a CBE in 1978.

Discover William Alwyn

'1905 was a good year for British composers: Michael Tippett, Alan Rawsthorne, Constant Lambert, and William Alwyn... William Alwyn was an unashamed Romantic. He refused to follow the musical trends of the time. He was appalled by the dehumanisation of music and so, if anything, he pulled more strongly in the opposite direction, increasingly the directly emotional qualities of his own writing.'
Listen to William Alwyn as BBC Radio 3 Composer of the Week.

​'The struggle for Alwyn to be taken seriously as a composer is made real by the reaction to the First Symphony, and the reason had long been clear: too much of a reputation as a composer of film music.'
Buy Adrian Wright's biography of William Alwyn.

Scores and other recordings

Autumn Legend is published by June Emerson. The majority of Alwyn's music, including the Piano Concerto No. 1, is published by Faber Music. His manuscripts and correspondence are held at Cambridge University Library. For copyright information, please contact the William Alwyn Foundation.

Alwyn has a large discography. Some select recordings include: