Date of Birth: 1931/11/21
Place of Birth: Sydney, Australia
Date of Death: 2003/3/2
Mini Biography:
Williamson began his musical studies at the age of 11. He attended the Sydney Conservatory where he studied piano, violin, French horn and composition under Sir Eugene Goosens. He moved to London in 1950 and converted to Roman Catholicism two years later. He had his first two works published under the guidance of Benjamin Britten and Sir Adrian Boult. Much of his music is religious in nature. He also wrote 11 operas. In 1975, he was appointed England's Master of the Queen's Music, the musical equivalent of poet laureate, and was the first non-Englishman to be given that post. Along with concert works, he also composed the scores to four Hammer films; "Bride of Dracula"(1960), "Crescendo"(1970), "The Horror of Frankenstein"(1970), and "Nothing but the Night"(1975). His last score was for the TV movie "Mask of Death", which featured Peter Cushing's final performance as Sherlock Holmes.
Copyright (C) 2001 - 2003 Hitoshi Sakagami. All Rights Reserved.