R.I.P. William Davies

[Reza]

London Telegraph
William Davies
(Filed: 19/04/2006)

William Davies, who has died aged 84, was a composer and arranger as well as being a fine organist, harpsichordist and pianist; in a musical career spanning more than half a century, he played the organ in cinemas, composed for the BBC Light Orchestra and wrote the scores for films and television series.

William Arthur Davies was born at Bolton, Lancashire, on June 25 1921. At the age of seven he began taking piano lessons, and by the time he was 11 he was learning the organ with his uncle, who played at the local Methodist Chapel. William was soon to be found practising on the local Lido and Odeon cinema organs. He would, no doubt, have had a glorious career as a cinema organist had it not been for the outbreak of war; at the age of 18 he joined the RAF, and served in Ceylon.

Davies's professional career began at the Gaumont cinema, Wolverhampton, in 1946. By late 1947 he was playing at the Gaumont, Finchley, as the last resident organist, before moving to the West End of London. There, after a short spell at the Metropole, Victoria, he spent 18 months at the Dominion in Tottenham Court Road.

In 1950 he moved towards arranging and composition, and began writing for the BBC Light Music Unit. During this period Davies was also heard on programmes such as Strings by Starlight and Music Box with the London Studio Players; he also performed piano duets and played in his own quartet. He then embarked on his long association with the popular radio programme, Friday Night is Music Night, as conductor, arranger and featured piano soloist.

In 1956 Davies joined British Lion at Shepperton Studios and scored several films for them, during which time much of his library music was used for the American TV series Ozzie and Harriet and The Ann Southern Show. By the 1960s he was Musical Director for Southern Television, and in 1972 he provided the music for Alistair Cooke's epic radio series Letter from America.

In 1975 Davies worked with Alan Bennett on his television play Sunset Across the Bay, and three years later wrote the score for the film The Last Tasmanian, starring Leo McKern.

Throughout this time Davies could be heard on the BBC Theatre organ in London. He also played at various cinemas including, in 1960, the first organ broadcast in stereo, from the Trocadero at Elephant & Castle. It was fitting that Davies was invited to give the first concert on this Wurlitzer when it was re-installed at the University of the South Bank in 1979.

As well as introducing and playing the piano for Just William with the BBC Northern Ireland Orchestra, a programme that was reprised in the 1980s with the Langham Chamber Orchestra, in the 1970s Davies provided the backing for Gracie Fields. He later did a series of 15-minute programmes for BBC Radio 2, At the Piano.

Davies was a great raconteur, and liked to tell the story of how he got his friend and colleague Sidney Torch back at the organ. During rehearsals for Friday Night is Music Night, Davies intentionally and repeatedly played a passage on the organ incorrectly until an irate Torch sat himself at the keyboard and showed Davies how it was supposed to sound.

Davies played the theatre organ for numerous societies around the country from the 1950s onwards, delighting his audiences with his skill, not only as a keyboard artist but also as an arranger. Many of his arrangements were tongue-in-cheek, such as Lennon and McCartney's Yesterday in the style of JS Bach and Butterflies in the Rain in the style of George Shearing.

He was still working in the 1990s, and in 1992 he wrote a completely new score for Ernst Lubitsch's German film from 1919, The Oyster Princess.

More than 200 of his compositions and arrangements were published.

Davies played the organ in his local church, first at Stoke Poges, and then at Sutton, Surrey. He was also connected with the Carmelite Priory in Kensington, where he played the organ for special Sunday services, religious holidays and at Christmas.

Bill Davies married Eileen Watts in 1943. They had three daughters, to whom Davies dedicated three compositions, Minuet for Melinda, Duo for Caroline and Beguine for Alison. The marriage ended in 1987. In 1991 Davies married Felicity White, who survives him with his daughters.