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

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that came to prominence in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mos ...

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 ...

s. He graduated from the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the firs ...

in 1981, and has since written music for the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and opens around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, Stratf ...

, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and the

London Sinfonietta The London Sinfonietta is an English contemporary chamber music, 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 ...

. Armstrong's score for

Baz Luhrmann Mark Anthony "Baz" Luhrmann (born 17 September 1962) is an Australian film director, producer, writer, and actor whose various projects extend from film and television into opera, theatre, music, and the recording industries. He is regarded by ...

's ''

Romeo + Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. Romeo and Juliet or Romeo & Juliet may also refer to: Ballets * ''Romeo and Juliet'', a ballet score by Constant Lambert * Romeo and Juliet (Prokofiev), ''Romeo and Juliet'' (Prokofiev), a ...

'' earned him a

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

for Achievement in Film Music and an

Ivor Novello Ivor Novello (born David Ivor Davies; 15 January 1893 – 6 March 1951) was a Welsh actor, dramatist, singer and composer who became one of the most popular British entertainers of the first half of the 20th century. He was born into a musical ...

. He would collaborate with Luhrmann again on his next two films, '' Moulin Rouge!'' 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 Jay Gatsby, a mysterious mi ...

''. His score for the former earned him the 2001

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the History of cinema in the United States, motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private fu ...

's composer of the Year award, a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score and a

. Armstrong was awarded a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

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 film, Christmas romantic comedy film written and directed by Richard Curtis. The film features an ensemble cast, composed predominantly of British actors, many of whom had worked with Curtis in previous pro ...

'',

Oliver Stone William Oliver Stone (born ) is an American filmmaker. Stone is an acclaimed director, tackling subjects ranging from the Vietnam War and American politics to musical film, musical Biographical film, biopics and Crime film, crime dramas. He has ...

's '' World Trade Center'', '' Elizabeth: The Golden Age'' and '' The Incredible Hulk''.

Life and career

Armstrong was born in

Shettleston Shettleston (, ) is an area in the Glasgow#East End, 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 multitude of spellings. A papal bu ...

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, Scotland He studied

musical composition Musical composition can refer to an Originality, original piece or work of music, either Human voice, vocal or Musical instrument, instrumental, the musical form, structure of a musical piece or to the process of creating or writing a new pie ...

, violin and piano at the

from 1977 to 1981, where his teachers included

Cornelius Cardew Cornelius Cardew (7 May 193613 December 1981) was an English experimental music composer, and founder (with Howard Skempton and Michael Parsons) of the Scratch Orchestra, an experimental performing ensemble. He later rejected experimental mu ...

and

Malcolm MacDonald Malcolm John MacDonald (17 August 1901 – 11 January 1981) was a British politician and diplomat. He was initially a Labour Party (UK), Labour Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP), but in 1931 followed his father ...

He was awarded the Charles Lucas prize and the Harvey Lohr scholarship for composition, the FTCL Fellowship in composition, and also 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 in 1984. In 1985 Armstrong toured with

Midge Ure James "Midge" Ure (; born 10 October 1953) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and record producer. His stage name, Midge, is a phonetic reversal of Jim. Ure enjoyed particular success in the 1970s and 1980s in bands including Slik, Thin Lizzy, ...

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 wa ...

on their european U-Vox Tour winter 1986. Between 1994–2002 he was commissioned by the

to write music for '' The Broken Heart'' and ''

The Tempest ''The Tempest'' is a Shakespeare's plays, play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1610–1611, and thought to be one of the last plays that he wrote alone. After the first scene, which takes place on a ship at sea during a tempest, th ...

'', 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, England, by Robert Del Naja, Robert "3D" Del Naja, Daddy G, Grant "Daddy G" Marshall, Tricky (musician), Adrian "Tricky" Thaws and Andrew Vowles, Andrew "Mushroom" ...

on their album ''Protection'', after which the band formed their ''Melankolic'' vanity record label releasing his first two solo albums. In 2001, Armstrong received

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Januar ...

, and

Award, as well as World Soundtrack Award and a

Golden Satellite Award The Satellite Awards are annual awards given by the International Press Academy that are commonly noted in entertainment industry journals and blogs. The awards were originally known as the Golden Satellite Awards. The award ceremonies take place ...

for '' Moulin Rouge!''. In 2002 he wrote the meditative piece ''Visconti'', commissioned by

Barbican Centre The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London, England, and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings a ...

Elektronika festival for the

. In 2004 Armstrong collaborated with visual artists Dalziel + Scullion 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 – May 24, 2023) was a singer, songwriter, actress, and author. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", her vocal prowess, raspy voice, and electrifyin ...

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, and

Luciano Pavarotti Luciano Pavarotti (, , ; 12 October 19356 September 2007) was an Italian operatic tenor who during the late part of his career crossed over into popular music, eventually becoming one of the most acclaimed tenors of all time. He made numerou ...

. Armstrong has written several classical commissions for the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the

, the Hebrides Ensemble and the

Scottish Ensemble Scottish Ensemble is a professional string orchestra based in Glasgow, Scotland and led by Artistic Director and violinist Jonathan Morton. Scottish Ensemble also collaborates with soloists. Recently guest artists have included trumpeter Alison ...

. In 2006, Armstrong collaborated with the visual artists Dalziel + Scullion for the reopening of the Kelvingrove Art Gallery 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 and philanthropist, 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 ...

. In 2020, The Edge of the Sea, a collaboration with Calum Martin of music inspired by Gaelic psalm was released. Armstrong had experienced the tradition from church services at Hilton, on visits to his mother’s family in Balintore in Easter Ross.

Honours

Armstrong was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(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)

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. The ...

. 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'' * 2004: '' Piano Works'' * 2005: ''Film Works 1995–2005'' * 2005: ''The Dolls'' by the Dolls (Armstrong with Antye Greie and

Vladislav Delay Vladislav Delay is the most frequently used pseudonym of Sasu Ripatti (born 1976), a Finnish electronic musician. He has also recorded as Luomo, Sistol, Uusitalo, Conoco, and Ripatti, working in styles such as minimal techno, glitch, and house ...

) * 2008: ''Memory Takes My Hand'' * 2014: ''It's Nearly Tomorrow'' * 2018: ''Sun On You''

Film scores

His score to

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 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

for Achievement in Film Music and an

. Armstrong's score for

's groundbreaking musical '' Moulin Rouge!'' earned him AFI's Composer of the Year award, a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score of the Year and a BAFTA for Achievement in Film Music. His score for Phillip Noyce's ''

The Quiet American ''The Quiet American'' is a 1955 novel by English author Graham Greene. Narrated in the first person by journalist Thomas Fowler, the novel depicts the breakdown of French colonialism in Vietnam and early American involvement in the Vietnam ...

'' garnered him the

Ivor Novello Award The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the Welsh entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and Musical composition, composing. They have been presented annually in London by the The Ivors Academy, Ivors Academy, formerly called the Britis ...

for Best Original Film Score. His other feature film scoring credits include the

drama '' World Trade Center'', the Oscar-winning bio-pic '' Ray'' for which Armstrong was awarded a

for Best Original Score and the ensemble comedy ''

''. 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 famil ...

'', ''

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

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

Orphans An orphan is a child whose parents have died, are unknown, or have permanently abandoned them. It can also refer to a child who has lost only one parent, as the Hebrew translation, for example, is "fatherless". In some languages, such as Swedis ...

'', '' Elizabeth: The Golden Age'' and '' The Incredible Hulk''.

Escape

One of the most popular tracks composed by Armstrong is "Escape" from '' Plunkett & Macleane''.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 are the variation in loudness between notes or phrases. Dynamics are indicated by specific musical notation, often in some detail. However, dynamics markings require interpretation by the performer depending ...

and choir. It was used in the trailer for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th European Championship for men's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held between 8 June and 1 ...

coverage (the BBC had already used 'Balcony Scene' from the Romeo + Juliet soundtrack for their

Euro 2004 The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football competition contested by the men's national teams of UEFA member associations. Th ...

trailer), and has often been used in the BBC's '' Top Gear'' series at the climax of the season finale "epic challenges". Armstrong lists the songs which ''Top Gear'' has used on his web site. "Escape" has been used in a number of action film trailers, including ''

Spider-Man 2 ''Spider-Man 2'' is a 2004 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of Spider-Man. Directed by Sam Raimi and written by Alvin Sargent from a story conceived by Michael Chabon and the writing team of Alfred Gough and Miles ...

'' and '' Daredevil''. "Escape" has also been used as entrance music by various sports teams, including the

professional wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...

stable A stable is a building in which working animals are kept, especially horses or oxen. The building is usually divided into stalls, and may include storage for equipment and feed. Styles There are many different types of stables in use tod ...

Team Vision,

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

football team

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

when playing at their home ground

Villa Park Villa Park is a association football, football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, with a seating capacity of 42,918. It has been the home of Premier League club Aston Villa F.C., Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witt ...

, as well as fellow Premier League team

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

when at the

DW Stadium The Brick Community Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Robin Park in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. It is used by Wigan Warriors rugby league club and Wigan Athletic F.C., Wigan Athletic association football, football club. The stadium is ...

. It has also been used as entrance music for the

England rugby union team The England national rugby union team represents the Rugby Football Union (RFU) in international rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. England have won the championshi ...

Twickenham stadium Twickenham Stadium (; usually known as Twickenham, and for sponsorship purposes known as the Allianz Stadium Twickenham) is a rugby union stadium in Twickenham, London, England. It is owned by the Rugby Football Union (RFU), the English rugby u ...

, Premiership rugby union team Leeds Carnegie before home games, and Kent County Cricket Club in

Twenty20 Twenty20 (abbreviated T20) is a shortened format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the county cricket, inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two t ...

matches.

Filmography

* 1995: ''Close (Short)'' * 1995: ''Fridge (Short)'' * 1995: ''Good Day for the Bad Guys'' * 1996: ''

'' –

and

awards. * 1997: ''Orphans'' * 1998: '' The Negotiator'' – Opening credit track ("Rise") * 1999: '' Plunkett & Macleane'' * 1999: '' Best Laid Plans'' * 1999: '' The Bone Collector'' * 2000: ''

Romeo Must Die ''Romeo Must Die'' is a 2000 American action film directed by Andrzej Bartkowiak in his directorial debut, and features fight choreography by Corey Yuen. The film stars Jet Li, Aaliyah (in her film debut), Isaiah Washington, Russell Wong, ...

'' * 2001: '' Moulin Rouge!'' – Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score * 2001: ''

'' * 2002: ''

'' * 2003: ''

'' * 2003: '' Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life'' – Track ("Lab Scene") * 2004: '' The Clearing '' * 2004: '' Ray'' –

for Best Original Score * 2004: ''

Layer Cake A layer cake (US English) or sandwich cake (UK English) is a cake consisting of multiple stacked sheets of cake, held together by a filling such as frosting, jam, or other preserves. Most cake recipes can be adapted for layer cakes; butte ...

'' – Track ("Ruthless Gravity") * 2005: '' Fever Pitch'' * 2005: '' Must Love Dogs'' * 2006: '' World Trade Center'' * 2007: '' Elizabeth: The Golden Age'' (with

A. R. Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967), also known by the initialism ARR, is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and philanthropist known for his works in Indian cinem ...

) * 2008: '' The Incredible Hulk'' * 2010: '' Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps'' * 2010: ''

Neds Ned directly translates to “Non Educated Delinquent” but can mean “Hooligan”.In Time ''In Time'' is a 2011 American science fiction action film written, produced, and directed by Andrew Niccol. Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried star as inhabitants of a society that uses time from one's lifespan as its primary currency, wi ...

'' * 2013: ''

'' * 2015: '' Far from the Madding Crowd'' * 2015: '' Victor Frankenstein'' * 2016: '' Me Before You'' * 2016: '' Snowden'' * 2016: '' Bridget Jones's Baby'' * 2019: '' Mrs Lowry & Son'' * 2019: '' The Burnt Orange Heresy'' * 2020: '' The One and Only Ivan'' * 2021: '' The Most Reluctant Convert'' * 2023: '' The Great Escaper''

References

External links

*
Craig Armstrong's Chester Music homepage
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Armstrong, Craig 1959 births 20th-century Scottish classical composers 20th-century Scottish male musicians 21st-century Scottish composers 21st-century British classical composers 21st-century Scottish male musicians Academics of the Royal Academy of Music Astralwerks artists Best Original Music BAFTA Award winners British electronic musicians Scottish male classical composers EMI Classics and Virgin Classics artists Golden Globe Award–winning musicians Grammy Award winners Living people British male film score composers British male opera composers Musicians from Glasgow Officers of the Order of the British Empire Scottish electronic musicians Scottish film score composers Scottish opera composers Virgin Records artists People from Shettleston