Christian Darnton
Philip Christian Darnton (30 October 1905 – 14 April 1981) was a British composer who wrote modernistic scores to a few feature films and short films for the Canadian Army.[1]
He was born in Leeds as Philip Christian von Schunck (or Schunk). His paternal grandfather, born in Leipzig but who later settled in Britain, was part of an old German family that had, since 1715, held a Barony in the Holy Roman Empire. This grandfather, Edward, married Kate Lupton, born into the progressive and political Lupton family, and educated at the school of her relative Rachel Martineau.[2] Edward died in 1889, but Kate survived him until 1913, the eve of the First World War, and insisted in her will that their only son, John Edward von Schunck, change his surname to that of her father, the former Mayor of Leeds. Thus he and his children acquired by Royal Licence the name Darnton.[3] John Edward had two sisters, both of whom married, making Christian Darnton the nephew of Albert Kitson, 2nd Baron Airedale.
The family was extremely well-off and he was educated at home by a governess until he was nine, when he began composing.[4]
Darnton composed the overture Stalingrad during World War II, and works for different combinations.[5] He had joined the Communist Party of Great Britain in 1941.[6] His Communist views may have later hurt his popularity and led to his becoming relatively obscure.[7] He also criticized the term "English Musical Renaissance", feeling England produced no "composer of international consequence" in that period.[8]
Selected works
- Concertino for Piano and Chamber Orchestra, 1926
- 1. Symphony, 1929–31
- Piano concert, 1933
- Concert for Viola and Strings, 1933–35
- Harp concert, 1934
- Suite concertante for Violin and Chamber Orchestra, 1936
- 2. Symphony (Anagram), 1939–40
- Ballad of Freedom, Cantata, 1941–52
- Stalingrad, Overture, 1943
- 3. Symphony D-dur, 1944–45, rev. 1961
- Fantasy Fair, Opera, 1949–51
- Jet Pilot, Cantata, 1952
- Concerto for Orchestra, 1970–73
- 4. Symphony, 1975–79
References
- ↑ British film music by John Huntley
- ↑ Lupton, C.A. , The Lupton Family in Leeds, Wm. Harrison and Son 1965.
- ↑ Leodis, City of Leeds Archives. "http://www.leodis.net/display.aspx?resourceIdentifier=2002913_84563846&DISPLAY=FULL". Sir James Kitson (Lord Airedale) and family c1905. Leeds, UK Gov. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
- ↑ Mullenger, Len. "http://www.musicweb-international.com/darnton/darnton.htm". Classical Music on the Web. C. Darnton. Classical Music on the Web. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
- ↑ The Glasgow Herald - 16 December 1943
- ↑ The Bulletin - 14 June 1955
- ↑ The land without music: music, culture and society in twentieth-century Britain by Andrew Blake, pgs 43 and 57
- ↑ The English musical renaissance, 1840-1940: constructing a national music by Meirion Hughes, R. A. Stradling, pgs 197 and 198