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Carey Blyton (14 March 1932 – 13 July 2002) was a British composer and writer best known for his song "Bananas in Pyjamas" (1969) - which later became the theme tune for
an Australian children's television series - and for his work on ''
Doctor Who
''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...
''. Having had a late start to his career, he mainly worked as a miniaturist, composing short
orchestral scores and humorous pieces such as ''Return of Bulgy Gogo, Up the Faringdon Road, Mock Joplin and Saxe Blue''; in addition, he assisted
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...
as a music editor.
Blyton wrote incidental music for three stories in the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
''
Doctor Who
''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...
'' television series: ''
Doctor Who and the Silurians'' (1970), ''
Death to the Daleks
''Death to the Daleks'' is the third serial of the 11th season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 23 February to 16 March 1974.
In the serial, the Daleks ...
'' (1974), and ''
Revenge of the Cybermen
''Revenge of the Cybermen'' is the fifth and final serial of the 12th season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 19 April to 10 May 1975. It was the first ...
'' (1975).
He was noted for his use of primitive musical instruments, using
Crumhorn
The crumhorn is a double reed instrument of the woodwind family, most commonly used during the Renaissance period. In modern times, particularly since the 1960s, there has been a revival of interest in early music, and crumhorns are being play ...
s to depict the Silurians in ''Doctor Who and the Silurians'', and
serpents and
ophicleide
The ophicleide ( ) is a family of conical-bore keyed brass instruments invented in early 19th century France to extend the keyed bugle into the alto, bass and contrabass ranges. Of these, the bass ophicleide in C or B took root over the cours ...
s in ''Revenge of the
Cybermen
The Cybermen are a fictional race of cyborgs principally portrayed in the British science fiction television programme '' Doctor Who''. The Cybermen are a species of space-faring cyborgs who often forcefully and painfully convert human beings ...
.'' Several CDs of his work were produced, notably ''Sherlock Holmes meets Dr Who'', showcasing his work for an unmade
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...
animated series, cues from all three of his Doctor Who stories, and other classics such as ''Saxe Blue''.
His career was prolific, and he died in
Suffolk
Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...
, aged 70.
Early life and career
Early life
Blyton was born in
Beckenham
Beckenham () is a town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley, in Greater London. Until 1965 it was part of the historic county of Kent. It is located south-east of Charing Cross, situated north of Elmers End and E ...
,
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
on 14 March 1932. He was the second child and only son of Hanly and Floss Blyton, and had an elder sister, Yvonne. A nephew of children's author
Enid Blyton
Enid Mary Blyton (11 August 1897 – 28 November 1968) was an English children's writer, whose books have been worldwide bestsellers since the 1930s, selling more than 600 million copies. Her books are still enormously popular and have be ...
,
he was educated at a
grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...
and showed an interest for science and a hostility towards music. He developed
polio
Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe s ...
at age sixteen, and during his recovery, he was taught
piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
as a pastime. That was the starting point of his formation and career in music; in the 1950s he officially began training as a composer.
Music education
The years from 1948 (when Blyton began to take piano lessons and start to show an increasing interest in music) to 1953 (when he commenced his formal training as a musician) were crucial years, in which his style as a composer was forged. In 1953 he entered
Trinity College of Music
Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music and dance conservatoire based in London, England. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. The conservatoire has ...
,
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, by examination, obtaining all three college diplomas (Associate, Licentiate and Fellow) during his four years there, and in 1954 won the Sir Granville Bantock Prize for Composition. He studied
harmony
In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. However ...
,
counterpoint
In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...
,
orchestration
Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orc ...
and
musical history with Dr William Lovelock,
piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
with Joan Barker,
harpsichord
A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...
with Valda Aveling, and
viola
The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...
with Alison Milne.
In 1957 he obtained a B.Mus. (London) degree and was awarded a 10-month scholarship in composition tenable at Det Kongelige Danske Musikkonservatorium (
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
,
Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark
...
), by the Sir Winston Churchill Endowment Fund. There he studied composition,
musical analysis
Musical analysis is the study of musical structure in either compositions or performances. According to music theorist Ian Bent, music analysis "is the means of answering directly the question 'How does it work?'". The method employed to answer ...
and more advanced orchestration with the Danish composer Jörgen Jersild. Returning to England in 1958, he became music editor to Mills Music Ltd in Denmark Street ('Tin Pan Alley'), a position he held for five years.
From June 1963 he freelanced as a composer,
arranger
In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...
,
music editor
A music sequencer (or audio sequencer or simply sequencer) is a device or application software that can record, edit, or play back music, by handling note and performance information in several forms, typically CV/Gate, MIDI, or Open Sound Cont ...
, and
lecturer
Lecturer is an List of academic ranks, academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. T ...
. He was
Professor
Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...
of Harmony, Counterpoint & Orchestration at Trinity College of Music (London) from 1963 to 1973, and Visiting Professor of Composition for Film, Television & Radio at the
Guildhall School of Music and Drama
The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a conservatoire and drama school located in the City of London, United Kingdom. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz ...
(London) from 1972 to 1983, where he pioneered the first course of tuition in these specialised aspects of musical composition at a musical conservatory in this country. In September 1964, he was appointed music editor to the Music Department of Faber & Faber Ltd (now
Faber Music Ltd), a position he held until 1974. While at Faber's he was
Benjamin Britten's personal editor; after that, from 1963 to 1971, he was responsible for the editorial work on Britten's works from
Curlew River
''Curlew River – A Parable for Church Performance'' (Op. 71) is an English music drama, with music by Benjamin Britten to a libretto by William Plomer. The first of Britten's three 'Parables for Church Performance', the work is based on the ...
to
Owen Wingrave
''Owen Wingrave'', Op. 85, is an opera in two acts with music by Benjamin Britten and libretto by Myfanwy Piper, after a short story by Henry James. It was originally written for televised performance.
Britten had been aware of the story sin ...
, and on many works by
Gustav Holst
Gustav Theodore Holst (born Gustavus Theodore von Holst; 21 September 1874 – 25 May 1934) was an English composer, arranger and teacher. Best known for his orchestral suite ''The Planets'', he composed many other works across a range ...
.
Career development
Blyton was primarily a miniaturist, composing mainly songs,
chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...
and short orchestral scores. His works include a series of guitar pieces for the
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
guitarist,
Angelo Gilardino, published by Edizioni Bèrben, and about a dozen works for the London Saxophone Quartet, mainly involving wind instruments and works reflecting his life-long interest in the music and art of the East - particularly
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
-. He was also interested in writing, as shown in various commissions from the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
(British Broadcasting Corporation) for schools cantatas in the series Music Workshop, the incidental music for three Dr Who serials, the Victorian mini-melodramas, and a number of books for children, including ''Bananas in Pyjamas: a book of nonsense songs and poems''.
Blyton enjoyed something of an 'Indian Summer' of creativity in his last years, though generally, he was prolific throughout his life. Late works of particular note nearly all exhibit his leanings toward