Craig Armstrong, (born 29 April 1959) is a Scottish composer of modern orchestral music, electronica and

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to e ...

s. He graduated from the Royal Academy of Music in 1981, and has since written music for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the

Royal Scottish National Orchestra The Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO) ( gd, Orcastra Nàiseanta Rìoghail na h-Alba) is a British orchestra, based in Glasgow, Scotland. It is one of the five national performing arts companies of Scotland. Throughout its history, the O ...

and the

London Sinfonietta The London Sinfonietta is an English contemporary chamber orchestra founded in 1968 and based in London. The ensemble has headquarters at Kings Place and is Resident Orchestra at the Southbank Centre. Since its inaugural concert in 1968—givi ...

. Armstrong's score for

Baz Luhrmann Mark Anthony Luhrmann (born 17 September 1962), known professionally as Baz Luhrmann, is an Australian film director, producer, writer and actor. With projects spanning film, television, opera, theatre, music and recording industries, he is re ...

's ''

Romeo + Juliet Romeo Montague () is the male protagonist of William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. The son of Lord Montague and his wife, Lady Montague, he secretly loves and marries Juliet, a member of the rival House of Capulet, through a pries ...

'' earned him a BAFTA for Achievement in Film Music and an Ivor Novello. He would collaborate with Luhrmann again on his next two films, ''

Moulin Rouge! ''Moulin Rouge!'' (, ) is a 2001 jukebox musical romantic drama film directed, co-produced, and co-written by Baz Luhrmann. It follows a young English poet, Christian, who falls in love with the star of the Moulin Rouge, cabaret actress and cour ...

'' and ''

The Great Gatsby ''The Great Gatsby'' is a 1925 novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in the Jazz Age on Long Island, near New York City, the novel depicts first-person narrator Nick Carraway's interactions with mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby ...

''. His score for the former earned him the 2001 American Film Institute's composer of the Year award, a

Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score The Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score is a Golden Globe Award presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), an organization of journalists who cover the United States film industry, but are affiliated with publications ...

and a BAFTA. Armstrong was awarded a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

for Best Original Score in 2004 for the biopic '' Ray''. His other feature film scoring credits include ''

Love Actually ''Love Actually'' is a 2003 Christmas romantic comedy film written and directed by Richard Curtis. It features an ensemble cast, composed predominantly of British actors, many of whom had worked with Curtis in previous film and television proje ...

'', Oliver Stone's ''

World Trade Center World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may refer to: Buildings * List of World Trade Centers * World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...

'', '' Elizabeth: The Golden Age'' and ''

The Incredible Hulk The Hulk is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of '' The Incredible Hulk'' (May 1962). In his comic book a ...

''.

Life and career

Armstrong was born in

Shettleston Shettleston ( sco, Shuttlestoun, gd, Baile Nighean Sheadna) is a district in the east end of Glasgow in Scotland. Toponymy The origin of the name 'Shettleston' is not clear and, like many place-names of possibly medieval origin, has had a mult ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, Scotland He studied musical composition, violin and piano at the Royal Academy of Music from 1977 to 1981, where he was awarded the Charles Lucas prize and the Harvey Lohr scholarship for composition. He was also awarded the FTCL Fellowship in composition, and won the GLAA Young Jazz Musician of the Year in 1982. Upon completing his studies, Armstrong served as music and dance specialist at the

Strathclyde Regional Council Strathclyde ( in Gaelic, meaning "strath (valley) of the River Clyde") was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government ...

in 1984. 1985 Armstrong toured with Midge Ure on his Gift World Tour, and with

Ultravox Ultravox (earlier styled as Ultravox!) were a British new wave band, formed in London in April 1974 as Tiger Lily. Between 1980 and 1986, they scored seven Top Ten albums and seventeen Top 40 singles in the UK, the most successful of which was ...

on their european U-Vox Tour winter 1986. Between 1994–2002 he was commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company to write music for ''

The Broken Heart ''The Broken Heart'' is a Caroline era tragedy written by John Ford, and first published in 1633. "The play has long vied with Tis Pity She's a Whore'' as Ford's greatest work...the supreme reach of his genius...." The date of the play's authorshi ...

'' and '' The Tempest'', both directed by Michael Boyd. He sees no difference in credibility between popular and classical forms and this respect for the pop genre was cemented in 1994 with a one-off collaboration with the Bristol band

Massive Attack Massive Attack are an English trip hop collective formed in 1988 in Bristol by Robert "3D" Del Naja, Adrian "Tricky" Thaws, Andrew "Mushroom" Vowles and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall. The debut Massive Attack album '' Blue Lines'' was releas ...

on their album ''Protection'', after which the band formed their ''Melankolic'' vanity record label releasing his first two solo albums. In 2001, Armstrong received BAFTA, Golden Globe, and American Film Institute Award, as well as World Soundtrack Award and a Golden Satellite Award for ''

''. In 2002 he wrote the meditative piece ''Visconti'', commissioned by Barbican Centre Elektronika festival for the

. In 2004 Armstrong collaborated with visual artists

Dalziel + Scullion Dalziel and Scullion are Scottish based artists. Matthew Dalziel and Louise Scullion whom have worked in collaboration since 1993, their studio creates artworks in photography, video, sound and sculpture that explore new artistic languages surr ...

on ''One Minute'' to celebrate the opening of Perth's Horsecross Hall. In 2005 he received a

for Best Score Soundtrack album for the film Ray, directed by Taylor Hackford. In 2008 his first classical release, Memory Takes My Hand, featuring a violin concerto for Clio Gould, was released on

EMI Classics EMI Classics was a record label founded by Thorn EMI in 1990 to reduce the need to create country-specific packaging and catalogues for internationally distributed classical music releases. After Thorn EMI demerged in 1996, its recorded mus ...

. Armstrong has had many collaborations including recording and performing the album Dolls with the Berlin laptop artist AGF and Vladislav Delay. He has worked with a wide variety of more well-known musical artists, including U2,

Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an American-born Swiss retired singer and actress. Widely referred to as the " Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue before ...

, Madonna,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, and Luciano Pavarotti. Armstrong has written several classical commissions for the

, the

, the Hebrides Ensemble and the Scottish Ensemble. In 2006, Armstrong collaborated with the visual artists

for the reopening of the

Kelvingrove Art Gallery Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum is a museum and art gallery in Glasgow, Scotland. It reopened in 2006 after a three-year refurbishment and since then has been one of Scotland's most popular visitor attractions. The museum has 22 galleries, h ...

in Glasgow with a joint exhibition called Once. In 2007 Armstrong's first opera was premiered as part of the Scottish Opera, titled '5:15 – Opera's made in Scotland', a 15min opera with a libretto by

Ian Rankin Sir Ian James Rankin (born 28 April 1960) is a Scottish crime writer, best known for his Inspector Rebus novels. Early life Rankin was born in Cardenden, Fife. His father, James, owned a grocery shop, and his mother, Isobel, worked in a sch ...

Honours

Order of the British Empire (Civil) Ribbon

Armstrong was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2010

New Year Honours The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark this ...

for his contribution to music.

Key works

* 1994: ''Slow Movement'' (strings) * 1998: ''20 Movements'' (orchestra) * 1999: ''If Time Must Pass'' (violin, strings) * 1999: ''Escape'' (orchestra, vocal). * 2000: ''When Morning Turns to Light'' (mezzo-soprano, orchestra) * 2002: ''Northern Sounds ... Islands'' (orchestra) * 2005: ''One Minute'' (orchestra) * 2007: ''Immer (violin concerto no. 1)'' (violin, orchestra) * 2012: ''The Lady from the Sea'' (opera) * 2015: ''

Far from the Madding Crowd (2015 film) ''Far from the Madding Crowd'' is a 2015 British romantic drama film directed by Thomas Vinterberg and starring Carey Mulligan, Matthias Schoenaerts, Tom Sturridge, Michael Sheen, and Juno Temple. An adaptation by David Nicholls of the 1874 no ...

Recordings

Armstrong has released two solo records on

's label Melankolic, followed by '' Piano Works'' on Sanctuary in 2004 and Film Works on Universal in 2005. In 2007 Armstrong recorded his first classical record, "Memory Takes My Hand", for

with the

BBC Symphony Orchestra The BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC SO) is a British orchestra based in London. Founded in 1930, it was the first permanent salaried orchestra in London, and is the only one of the city's five major symphony orchestras not to be self-governing. T ...

. It was released in 2008 and includes a violin concerto "Immer" for Clio Gould. Rosebud was released from a new co written and co produced project of Craig Armstrong and Scott Fraser – Winona. September 2009: "Without You (Deal Soul Brothers Remix)" – Format: 12" Vinyl single * 1998: '' The Space Between Us'' * 2002: ''

As If to Nothing ''As If to Nothing'' is the second independent album by Scottish composer Craig Armstrong, featuring collaborations with Bono of U2, Mogwai, Photek, Evan Dando, King Crimson, and former Big Dish vocalist Steven Lindsay. It was released on 19 ...

'' * 2004: '' Piano Works'' * 2005: ''Film Works 1995–2005'' * 2005: ''The Dolls'' by the Dolls (Armstrong with Antye Greie and Vladislav Delay) * 2008: ''Memory Takes My Hand'' * 2014: ''It's Nearly Tomorrow'' * 2018: ''Sun On You''

Film scores

His score to

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's ''

'' (with Baz Luhrmann) earned him a BAFTA for Achievement in Film Music and an Ivor Novello. Armstrong's score for

's groundbreaking musical ''

'' earned him AFI's Composer of the Year award, a

of the Year and a BAFTA for Achievement in Film Music. His score for Phillip Noyce's '' The Quiet American'' garnered him the

Ivor Novello Award The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and composing. They have been presented annually in London by the Ivors Academy (formerly the BASCA) since 1956, and over 1,000 statuettes have been ...

for Best Original Film Score. His other feature film scoring credits include the Oliver Stone drama ''

'', the Oscar-winning bio-pic '' Ray'' for which Armstrong was awarded a

for Best Original Score and the worldwide ensemble comedy smash ''

''. His scores can also be heard in ''

The Magdalene Sisters ''The Magdalene Sisters'' is a 2002 drama film written and directed by Peter Mullan, about three teenage girls who were sent to Magdalene asylums (also known as 'Magdalene Laundries') homes for women who were labelled as "fallen" by their familie ...

'', ''

Kiss of the Dragon ''Kiss of the Dragon'' (''Le Baiser mortel du dragon'' in French) is a 2001 French-American action film directed by Chris Nahon, written and produced by French filmmaker Luc Besson, and starring an international cast of Jet Li, Bridget Fonda, an ...

'', '' The Bone Collector'', '' The Clearing'', '' Best Laid Plans'', ''

Orphans An orphan (from the el, ορφανός, orphanós) is a child whose parents have died. In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents due to death is called an orphan. When referring to animals, only the mother's condition is usuall ...

'', '' Elizabeth: The Golden Age'' and ''

''.

Escape

One of the most popular tracks composed by Armstrong is "Escape" from ''

Plunkett & Macleane ''Plunkett & Macleane'' is a 1999 British historical action comedy film directed by Jake Scott, and starring Robert Carlyle, Jonny Lee Miller and Liv Tyler. Gary Oldman was executive producer. The story was co-written by Neal Purvis and Rob ...

''.Craig Armstrong Online- Plunkett & Macleane
"One of the most popular tracks composed by Armstrong is 'Escape'. Here, all the elements of the score are drawn together – the epic choir, the orchestra, and the driving electronic beat". The composition was used in the pilot of the 2000 science fiction series '' Dark Angel, as well as having been used in various film trailers and sports broadcasts due to the emotional buildup caused by its rising

crescendo In music, the dynamics of a piece is the variation in loudness between notes or phrases. Dynamics are indicated by specific musical notation, often in some detail. However, dynamics markings still require interpretation by the performer dependin ...

and choir. It was used in the trailer for 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. ...

...

Life and career

Honours

Key works

Recordings

Film scores

Escape

Filmography

References

External links