Biography
Composer Christopher Gunning created numerous film and television scores that earned widespread recognition and enjoyed frequent airplay, while also producing an extensive catalog of concert works that encompassed a dozen symphonies.
Born on August 5, 1944, in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, U.K., Gunning pursued formal training at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London with the goal of establishing himself in the concert-music field. His instructors included Edmund Rubbra and Richard Rodney Bennett, both of whom enjoyed considerable popular success as composers. During the 1970s he partnered with rock musician Colin Blunstone to craft string arrangements for the 1972 hit “Say You Don’t Mind.” Around the same period he launched his screen-composing activities, supplying music for Goodbye Gemini (1970), Hands of the Ripper (1971), and Ooh... You Are Awful (1972). He gained particular prominence by scoring the majority of the Poirot television films drawn from Agatha Christie’s celebrated detective stories, and his distinctive theme for the series became especially well known. From the 1970s into the 2010s he sustained a steady output of film scores, among them In Celebration (1975), The Rise and Fall of Idi Amin (1981), and Grace of Monaco (2014). Over his career he received eight BAFTA awards, one of which was for Best Film Music for the 2007 release La Vie en Rose.
Alongside these screen assignments, Gunning continued to write concert music that featured concertos for saxophone—one of his most admired pieces—oboe, and clarinet, as well as the twelve symphonies already noted. Chandos Records released his Symphony No. 3 and Symphony No. 4, performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra together with the oboe concerto, and the same label issued the compilation The Film and TV Music of Christopher Gunning featuring the BBC Philharmonic under Rumon Gamba. The majority of recordings of his output appeared on the Discovery Music & Vision and Albany labels. Gunning was the father of four daughters, among them Chloe, who founded the British travel blog Wanderlustchloe. He died in Hertfordshire, England, on March 24, 2023, at the age of 78.
Born on August 5, 1944, in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, U.K., Gunning pursued formal training at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London with the goal of establishing himself in the concert-music field. His instructors included Edmund Rubbra and Richard Rodney Bennett, both of whom enjoyed considerable popular success as composers. During the 1970s he partnered with rock musician Colin Blunstone to craft string arrangements for the 1972 hit “Say You Don’t Mind.” Around the same period he launched his screen-composing activities, supplying music for Goodbye Gemini (1970), Hands of the Ripper (1971), and Ooh... You Are Awful (1972). He gained particular prominence by scoring the majority of the Poirot television films drawn from Agatha Christie’s celebrated detective stories, and his distinctive theme for the series became especially well known. From the 1970s into the 2010s he sustained a steady output of film scores, among them In Celebration (1975), The Rise and Fall of Idi Amin (1981), and Grace of Monaco (2014). Over his career he received eight BAFTA awards, one of which was for Best Film Music for the 2007 release La Vie en Rose.
Alongside these screen assignments, Gunning continued to write concert music that featured concertos for saxophone—one of his most admired pieces—oboe, and clarinet, as well as the twelve symphonies already noted. Chandos Records released his Symphony No. 3 and Symphony No. 4, performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra together with the oboe concerto, and the same label issued the compilation The Film and TV Music of Christopher Gunning featuring the BBC Philharmonic under Rumon Gamba. The majority of recordings of his output appeared on the Discovery Music & Vision and Albany labels. Gunning was the father of four daughters, among them Chloe, who founded the British travel blog Wanderlustchloe. He died in Hertfordshire, England, on March 24, 2023, at the age of 78.
Albums
Christopher Gunning: Concertino for Flute and Small Orchestra; Concerto for Clarinet & String Orchestra; Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra
2022
Christopher Gunning: Symphony No. 5 & String Quartet No. 1
2021
Christopher Gunning: Symphonies 6 & 7
2021
Gunning: Symphonies Nos. 6 & 7 - Night Voyage
2014
Gunning: Symphonies Nos. 3 and 4 & Oboe Concerto
2009
La Môme (Bande originale du film)
2007
Singles
