Why Am I Only Hearing of William Alwyn now?

I just started watching this movie my friend Howard copied for me, I’ll Never Forget You, a 1951 time travel love story, but the movie barely started when I immediately and instantly fell in love with the music. Within seconds.  I stopped the movie and have been googling the guy who wrote the music, William Alwyn, ever since.  There’s a lot of him on itunes, and now I want to see the movie Odd Man Out, which he also scored apparently, just to hear the whole soundtrack.

The funniest thing just happened while going through Alwyn on itunes. I picked out a few I liked to begin with, but my favorite far and away was something called Mirages.  I thought it was so beautiful I couldn’t believe Alwyn wasn’t more famous.

Then I read the first review of it on itunes and the reviewer said it wasn’t Alwyn’s Mirages but Brahms Piano Concerto 2!  I listened to another recording of the Brahms and sure enough that’s what it was.  Itunes mixed it up. (Kinda proud it stood out for me.)

So now I have to buy the Brahms Piano Concerto 2 too, what a lovely concerto. And I have to go back and re-decide where to begin with Alwyn.  

(The picture is the cover of a recent biography.)

Stacy Horn

I've written six non-fiction books, the most recent is Damnation Island: Poor, Sick, Mad, and Criminal in 19th-Century New York.

View all posts by Stacy Horn →

4 thoughts on “Why Am I Only Hearing of William Alwyn now?

  1. Thanks for mentioning that Tyrone P flick. I love time travel movies. They had it on Netflix, so I’ll be watching it soon and we can compare notes.

  2. It wasn’t the best, in fact there was a lot that was unintentionally funny, but still. I also love time travel love stories, and this was okay, and the final scene was poignant.

  3. Glad I’m not the only person haunted by soundtracks and scores. Also, Brahms is highly underrated. One of his symphonies provides the core of the score to 1961’s “Goodbye Again” with Ingrid Bergman and Anthony Perkins.

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