Anthony James Keith "Tony" Hymas (born 23 September 1943) is an English keyboard player, pianist, and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

. In the Eighties he formed the band

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

, who had a Top 10 hit in the UK with the song " I Won't Let You Down" in 1982. He worked closely with

Jeff Beck Geoffrey Arnold Beck (24 June 1944 – 10 January 2023) was an English musician. He rose to prominence as the guitarist of the rock band the Yardbirds, and afterwards founded and fronted the Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice. In 1975, ...

, recording with him on his 1980 album '' There & Back'', and his 1989 album ''

Jeff Beck's Guitar Shop ''Jeff Beck's Guitar Shop'' is the sixth studio album by guitarist Jeff Beck, released in October 1989 through Epic Records.Astarita, Glenn"Jeff Beck's Guitar Shop - Jeff Beck" ''AllMusic''. RhythmOne. Retrieved 31 March 2020. The album reached ...

''.

Career

Hymas started as a

chorister A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

Exeter Cathedral School Exeter Cathedral School (ECS) is a 3–13 Mixed-sex education, mixed, Church of England, Private schools in the United Kingdom, private Day school, day and Boarding school, boarding Choir school, choir and Preparatory school (United Kingdom), pr ...

, where his contemporaries included composer and cathedral organist Barry Ferguson, percussionist

Tristan Fry Tristan Frederick Allan Fry (born 25 October 1946, London) is a British drummer and percussionist. Career Fry began his career by joining the London Philharmonic Orchestra as a timpanist at the age of 17. He was a founding member of a number of e ...

and singer and pianist Roger Cleverdon. After leaving school, Hymas studied piano with

Harold Rubens Harold Rubens (1918–2010) was a Welsh pianist and anti-apartheid activist. Early life Born in 1918 in Cardiff, Wales, the son of Eli and Molly Reuben, practising Orthodox Jews of Latvian origin, Harold was the eldest of four siblings, all of w ...

at 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 ...

. As company pianist for the

Ballet Rambert Rambert (known as Rambert Dance Company before 2014) is a leading British dance company. Formed at the start of the 20th century as a classical ballet company, it exerted a great deal of influence on the development of dance in the United Kingd ...

in its resurgent 'modern' form, Hymas wrote a substitute score for

Glen Tetley Glen Tetley (February 3, 1926 – January 26, 2007) was an American ballet and modern dancer as well as a choreographer who mixed ballet and modern dance to create a new way of looking at dance, and is best known for his piece ''Pierrot Lunair ...

's ''Rag Dances'' over the course of eight days. After his employment at Rambert, Hymas found work in the busy London session scene of the 1970s. In 1974 he co-composed the theme song with Joe Campbell to the UK television series ''

Mr. Men ''Mr. Men'' is a British series of children's books and media franchise written and illustrated by English author Roger Hargreaves which began publication in August 1971. From 1981, an accompanying series of Little Miss books by the same aut ...

'', based on the children's books by

Roger Hargreaves Roger Hargreaves (9 May 1935 – 11 September 1988) was a British cartoonist, illustrator and writer of children's books. He created the ''Mr. Men'' series, ''Mr. Men#"Little Miss" series, Little Miss'' series and ''Timbuctoo'' series, intended ...

. Hymas played with

Jack Bruce John Symon Asher Bruce (14 May 1943 – 25 October 2014) was a Scottish musician. He gained popularity as the primary lead vocalist and ‍bassist ‍of Rock music, rock band Cream (band), Cream. After the group disbanded in 1968, he pursued a ...

in the Jack Bruce Band between 1976 and 1978. He accompanied guitarist

, appearing with him on the 1980 album '' There & Back''. He also wrote songs for Beck, including "Angels (Footsteps)" and "Brush with the Blues". In 1980, Hymas and Beck's drummer Simon Philips hired Scottish singer Jim Diamond for the trio

The band had a Top 10 hit in the UK with the song " I Won't Let You Down" in 1982, but disbanded a year later after poor sales of their subsequent singles and Diamond's decision to return to his solo career. He also plays keyboards and synthesizers on Jeff Beck's 1989 album ''

''. Hymas continued to collaborate with Diamond on his solo projects; the duo released a third Ph.D. album in 2009 entitled ''Three'' and remained active until Diamond's death in 2015. Hymas composed and sang on the track "Desperate for Your Love", the opening song on the 1985 album, ''The Great Balloon Race'', by progressive rock band

Sky The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the planetary surface, surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from ...

. His albums include ''De l'origine du Monde'' (2010), ''Chroniques de resistance'' (2013), ''Hope Street'' (Nato), and ''I Will Not Take 'But' for an Answer'' (2010) with the band Ursus Minor. In 2016, he recorded ''Tony Hymas joue Léo Ferré'', an album of piano transcriptions of songs by

Léo Ferré Léo Ferré (; 24 August 1916 – 14 July 1993) was a Monégasque poet and composer, and a dynamic and controversial live performer. He released some forty albums over this period, composing the music and the majority of the lyrics. He released ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hymas, Tony People educated at Haydon School Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music English keyboardists English composers English pianists Living people 1943 births Ph.D. (band) members 21st-century British pianists People educated at Exeter Cathedral School