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Afterwords: Richard Rodney Bennett

An exploration of the musical versatility of Richard Rodney Bennett - composer, pianist, jazz musician, cabaret singer, film score writer and avant-gardist.

Richard Rodney Bennett, who would have celebrated his 90th birthday in March 2026, has been described as the 'complete musician'. Born into a highly musical family - his mother had studied with Gustav Holst - he was already writing film scores while a teenage student at the Royal Academy of Music. He went on to study with Boulez, perform as a jazz pianist and singer and receive three Academy Award nominations for his film music.

He was also a lively interviewee, as revealed in the Âé¶¹Éç Sound Archive. Here, his words interweave with new observations from jazz singer Claire Martin, pianist Neil Brand, biographer Anthony Meredith, music publisher Gill Graham and conductor Scott Dunn.

Produced by Alan Hall
A Falling Tree production for Âé¶¹Éç Radio Three

Release date:

44 minutes

On radio

Sun 12 Apr 2026 19:00

Broadcast

  • Sun 12 Apr 2026 19:00

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