William Alwyn (1905–1985)

Born in Northampton and trained at the Royal Academy of Music (where he later became a professor), Alwyn’s prolific output included five symphonies, four operas, several concertos and string quartets. He also composed the soundtrack for around seventy feature films including ‘The Winslow Boy’, ‘The History of Mr Polly’, ‘The Mudlark’, ‘The Smallest Show on Earth’ and ‘A Night to Remember’ – the story of the ill-fated Titanic. Alwyn was also a virtuoso flautist and was for a time a member of the London Symphony Orchestra.