Vernon Pelling Elliott (27 July 1912 – 12 October 1996) was a British

bassoon The bassoon is a musical instrument in the woodwind family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuosity ...

ist, conductor and composer. Born into a musical family in 1912, Elliott took up the bassoon at a very early age. From then on he had an eventful, busy and very musical life, one which saw him as a founder member of the

Philharmonia Orchestra The Philharmonia Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It was founded in 1945 by Walter Legge, a classical music record producer for EMI Classics, EMI. Among the conductors who worked with the orchestra in its early years were Rich ...

, a regular player at the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...

, a much-valued member of Benjamin Britten's English Opera Group orchestra, a conductor of the

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, England. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable recording contracts and important engagemen ...

, longtime professor at

Trinity College of Music Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music, dance, and musical theatre conservatoire based in South East London. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. Trini ...

, London and occasional writer. In 1959 he was asked to help

Oliver Postgate Richard Oliver Postgate (12 April 1925 – 8 December 2008) was an English Animation, animator, puppeteer, and writer. He was the creator and writer of some of Britain's most popular children's television programmes. ''Bagpuss'', ''Pingwings' ...

by writing a bassoon theme for ''

Ivor the Engine ''Ivor the Engine'' is a British cutout animation television series created by Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin's Smallfilms company. It follows the adventures of a small green steam locomotive who lives in the "top left-hand corner of Wales ...

''. He went on to compose the highly evocative music to the Smallfilms productions of ''

Noggin the Nog ''Noggin the Nog'' is a fictional character appearing in a BBC Television animated series (of the same name, originally broadcast 1959–1965 and 1982) and a series of illustrated books (published 1965–1977), created by Oliver Postgate and P ...

'', '' The Seal of Neptune'', '' Pogles' Wood'', '' Pingwings'' and ''

Clangers ''Clangers'' (usually referred to as ''The Clangers'') is a British stop motion, stop-motion Animated series, animated children's television series, consisting of short films about a family of mouse, mouse-like creatures who live on, and inside ...

''. A compilation album of his work for ''Clangers'' was released in 2001 and an album of his music for ''Ivor the Engine'' and ''Pogles' Wood'' followed in 2007. Elliott was a keen sailor, skier and bee-keeper.

References

External links

The Independent – ''Obituary: Vernon Elliott'' – (John Pilgrim) – 30 November 1996 – (Accessed: 21 September 2009)

1912 births 1996 deaths English classical bassoonists British male conductors (music) Contrabassoonists 20th-century British conductors (music) 20th-century British composers 20th-century British male musicians Players of the Philharmonia Orchestra {{UK-composer-stub