Biography

English composer Richard Addinsell was born in 1904. After finishing his law studies at Oxford, he took a short course in music at the Royal College of Music in London and studied from 1929 to 1932 in Berlin and Vienna. From 1933 to 1935 he lived in the USA writing scores for the Hollywood studios.
- IMDb mini biography by: Anonymous

British composer for theatre, films, and television, best known for his Warsaw Concerto. Born Richard Stewart Addinsell in Woburn Square, Bloomsbury, London, England, to accountant William Addinsell and his wife Annie, Richard Addinsell received a home schooling and then studied law at Hertford College, Oxford. His interest shifted to music and he enrolled at the Royal College of Music in 1925. As with his law studies, Addinsell did not complete his degree, but began creating music for various revues, often in collaboration with Noel Gay for Andre Charlot. In 1928, he formed a successful partnership with playwright Clemence Dane and composed music for several of his plays, beginning with Adam's Opera at the Old Vic and, after some further studies in Germany and Austria, the 1933 adaptation of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, produced on Broadway by Eva Le Gallienne. He wrote his first film score in 1932 and by the end of the decade was in high demand for such scores. In 1941, Addinsell was approached by producers who wanted a Rachmaninoff score for their film Dangerous Moonlight, but were unable to obtain Rachmaninoff's services. Addinsell agreed to compose a piece with the feel of a Rachmaninoff concerto and thus produced his most enduring work, the Warsaw Concerto. Audiences loved it, making it a popular commercial success in its recording, but music critics were widely diverse in their opinions, many of them objecting to faux Rachmaninoff on principle or complaining of a perceived disrespect in such a "pastiche." Nonetheless, the piece remains a concert and recording favorite, and it brought Addinsell both fame and financial security. Later in his career, Addinsell returned to his roots in the popular theatre and collaborated with performer Joyce Grenfall on music for her revues and one-woman shows. He also composed a number of straight orchestral works such as The Smokey Mountains Concerto and The Isle of Apples. The composer retreated into near-recluse status in his later years. Most of his final years were spent with his life companion, the clothing designer Victor Stiebel. Addinsell survived Stiebel, dying at 73 in London. He left the royalties for Warsaw Concerto to his neighbors, Brigadier W.B. Sallitt (OBE) and his wife Mary in gratitude for their keeping his relationship with Stiebel secret. Addinsell's ashes are at Golders Green, Barnet, London.
- IMDb mini biography by: Jim Beaver <jumblejim@prodigy.net>