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When did you first become
interested in music?
Quite early. Although not musicians
themselves, both my parents were musical.
They both played a bit of piano – my
father had played the drums when he was
younger. I had a musician aunt and my great
grandfather was a conductor. So there was
music in the family and in the house.
My first instrument was the guitar –
I started learning when I was about seven
years old. I had no interest at all in formal
music at that time, I wasn’t keen on music
lessons. It felt as though they would be
dreary. So my first experiences were all by
ear. I enjoyed playing guitar and the piano,
and I then sang in the church choir, which
was where I began to read music.
In church I was impressed by the
mysteries of the organ, and decided I
wanted to learn how to play. Probably for
the same reasons as l liked the electric guitar
– noise – sheer force. It struck me as being
the ultimate ‘blast’ in terms of expression
and musical power.
Why did you come to St Edward’s?
My godfather, whom I never knew because
he had died when I was very young, had
been to St Edward’s. My mother thought
him the world’s nicest person, so to her
it seemed like a natural choice. Teddies
was mainly known for sport at the time,
particularly rowing and rugby. I liked rugby,
and my father had rowed, so I embraced
that side of school life; I was quite good at
sport and I enjoyed it.
What are the biggest differences
between the School then and now?
I would say ambition. School life was much
simpler then and so was life beyond school
so there was no expectation that you
would be involved in everything and there
were also far fewer options. As long as
you were getting on OK, no one worried.
School is far more energetic today – pupils
are involved in a huge number of activities
and interests; they really make the most of
their time at school. It’s as important with
extra curricular activities as it is with the
George Fenton in his studio, 2015
ST EDWARD’S CHRONICLE
FOCUS ON MUSIC
George Fenton OSE, one
of the UK’s most successful
composers, is behind
countless award-winning
scores for theatre, film
and TV including
Bergerac
,
The Jewel in the Crown
, the
Newsnight
theme,
Groundhog
Day
,
A Handful of Dust
and
the BBC’s
Earth Trilogy: The
Blue Planet, Planet Earth
and
Frozen Planet
. A concert
series based on the Trilogy
is currently enjoying huge
international success, playing
most recently in Norway,
Germany and China.
Recent theatre and
film projects include the
soundtrack for
Wild Oats
,
directed by Andy Tennant
starring Demi Moore,
Shirley MacLaine and Jessica
Lange;
The Lady in the Van
,
directed by Nick Hytner,
written by Alan Bennett,
and starring Dame Maggie
Smith; and the musical,
Mrs
Henderson Present
s, which
ran at the Noel Coward
Theatre in London earlier
this year.
George
Fenton