Craig Armstrong | |
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.webp) | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Craig Mackenzie Armstrong (1959-04-29)29 April 1959 (age 66) |
| Origin | Shettleston,Glasgow, Scotland[1][2] |
| Genres | Classical Contemporary classical Electronic Alternative rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, composer |
| Years active | 1977–present |
| Website | www |
Craig Mackenzie ArmstrongOBE (born 29 April 1959)[3] is aScottish composer of modern orchestral music,electronica andfilm scores. He graduated from theRoyal Academy of Music in 1981, and has since written music for theRoyal Shakespeare Company, theRoyal Scottish National Orchestra and theLondon Sinfonietta.
Armstrong's score forBaz Luhrmann'sRomeo + Juliet earned him aBAFTA for Achievement in Film Music and anIvor Novello. He would collaborate with Luhrmann again on his next two films,Moulin Rouge! andThe Great Gatsby. His score for the former earned him the 2001American Film Institute's composer of the Year award, aGolden Globe Award for Best Original Score and aBAFTA. Armstrong was awarded aGrammy Award for Best Original Score in 2004 for the biopicRay. His other feature film scoring credits includeLove Actually,Oliver Stone'sWorld Trade Center,Elizabeth: The Golden Age andThe Incredible Hulk.
Armstrong was born inShettleston,Glasgow, Scotland.[1][2]
He studiedmusical composition, violin and piano at theRoyal Academy of Music from 1977 to 1981, where his teachers includedCornelius Cardew andMalcolm MacDonald[2] He was awarded the Charles Lucas prize and the Harvey Lohr scholarship for composition, the FTCL Fellowship in composition, and also won the GLAA Young Jazz Musician of the Year in 1982. Upon completing his studies, Armstrong served as music and dance specialist at theStrathclyde Regional Council in 1984. In 1985 Armstrong toured withMidge Ure on his Gift World Tour, and withUltravox on their european U-Vox Tour winter 1986. Between 1994–2002 he was commissioned by theRoyal Shakespeare Company to write music forThe Broken Heart andThe Tempest, both directed byMichael Boyd.
He sees no difference in credibility between popular and classical forms[4] and this respect for the pop genre was cemented in 1994 with a one-off collaboration with the Bristol bandMassive Attack on their albumProtection,[2] after which the band formed theirMelankolicvanity record label releasing his first two solo albums.
In 2001, Armstrong receivedBAFTA,Golden Globe, andAmerican Film Institute Award, as well as World Soundtrack Award and aGolden Satellite Award forMoulin Rouge!. In 2002 he wrote the meditative pieceVisconti, commissioned byBarbican Centre Elektronika festival for theLondon Sinfonietta. In 2004 Armstrong collaborated with visual artistsDalziel + Scullion onOne Minute to celebrate the opening of Perth's Horsecross Hall. In 2005 he received aGrammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack album for the filmRay, directed by Taylor Hackford. In 2008 his first classical release, Memory Takes My Hand, featuring a violin concerto forClio Gould, was released onEMI Classics. Armstrong has had many collaborations including recording and performing the album Dolls with the Berlin laptop artist AGF and Vladislav Delay. He has worked with a wide variety of more well-known musical artists, includingU2,Tina Turner,Madonna,Texas, andLuciano Pavarotti.[2]
Armstrong has written several classical commissions for theRoyal Scottish National Orchestra, theLondon Sinfonietta, the Hebrides Ensemble and theScottish Ensemble. In 2006, Armstrong collaborated with the visual artistsDalziel + Scullion for the reopening of theKelvingrove Art Gallery in Glasgow with a joint exhibition called Once. In 2007 Armstrong's first opera was premiered as part of the Scottish Opera, titled '5:15 – Opera's made in Scotland', a 15min opera with a libretto byIan Rankin. In 2020, The Edge of the Sea, a collaboration with Calum Martin of music inspired byGaelic psalm was released. Armstrong had experienced the tradition from church services atHilton, on visits to his mother’s family inBalintore inEaster Ross.[5][6][7]
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Armstrong was appointedOfficer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2010New Year Honours for his contribution to music.[8][9]
Armstrong has released two solo records onMassive Attack's label Melankolic, followed byPiano Works on Sanctuary in 2004 and Film Works on Universal in 2005. In 2007 Armstrong recorded his first classical record, "Memory Takes My Hand", forEMI Classics with theBBC Symphony Orchestra. It was released in 2008 and includes a violin concerto "Immer" forClio Gould.
Rosebud was released from a new co written and co produced project of Craig Armstrong and Scott Fraser – Winona.September 2009: "Without You (Deal Soul Brothers Remix)" – Format: 12" Vinyl single
His score toWilliam Shakespeare'sRomeo + Juliet (with Baz Luhrmann) earned him aBAFTA for Achievement in Film Music and anIvor Novello.[2] Armstrong's score forBaz Luhrmann's groundbreaking musicalMoulin Rouge! earned him AFI's Composer of the Year award, aGolden Globe Award for Best Original Score of the Year and a BAFTA for Achievement in Film Music. His score for Phillip Noyce'sThe Quiet American garnered him theIvor Novello Award for Best Original Film Score. His other feature film scoring credits include theOliver Stone dramaWorld Trade Center, the Oscar-winning bio-picRay for which Armstrong was awarded aGrammy Award for Best Original Score and the ensemble comedyLove Actually. His scores can also be heard inThe Magdalene Sisters,Kiss of the Dragon,The Bone Collector,The Clearing,Best Laid Plans,Orphans,Elizabeth: The Golden Age andThe Incredible Hulk.
One of the most popular tracks composed by Armstrong is "Escape" fromPlunkett & Macleane.[2][10] The composition was used in the pilot of the 2000 science fiction seriesDark Angel', as well as having been used in variousfilm trailers and sports broadcasts due to the emotional buildup caused by its risingcrescendo and choir.
It was used in the trailer for theBBC'sEuro 2012 coverage (the BBC had already used 'Balcony Scene' from the Romeo + Juliet soundtrack for theirEuro 2004 trailer), and has often been used in the BBC'sTop Gear series at the climax of the season finale "epic challenges". Armstrong lists the songs whichTop Gear has used on his web site.[11] "Escape" has been used in a number of action film trailers, includingSpider-Man 2 andDaredevil.[12]
"Escape" has also been used as entrance music by various sports teams, including theprofessional wrestlingstable Team Vision,Premier League football teamAston Villa when playing at their home groundVilla Park, as well as fellow Premier League teamWigan Athletic when at theDW Stadium. It has also been used as entrance music for theEngland rugby union team atTwickenham stadium, Premiership rugby union team Leeds Carnegie before home games, and Kent County Cricket Club inTwenty20 matches.
