Neil Grant Richardson (5 February 1930 – 8 October 2010)[1] was an English composer and conductor.
Richardson composed "Approaching Menace" (theMastermind theme tune) and "The Riviera Affair". During the 1960s–1990s, he was an arranger and conductor of variousBBC Radio Orchestras, working on programmes such asString Sound andThe Radio Orchestra Show.[2] He was a prolific composer of library music for companies such asKPM, and his music has been used in numerous TV, film and radio productions.[2]
The son of a Worcestershire clergyman, Neil Richardson was born inStourport-on-Severn, and grew up in the village ofHartlebury.[3] Aged eight, he went to become a chorister atWestminster Abbey.[2] After leaving the Abbey school, he became a music scholar atLancing College, Sussex, and continued his musical studies at theRoyal College of Music, studying clarinet, piano and composition with professorWilliam Lloyd Webber.[2] During hisnational service, he played soloclarinet with the band of theRoyal Air Force atCranwell.
After completing his national service, Richardson began a career as an arranger, writing and conducting for the BBC, particularly the then-numerous BBC Radio and concert orchestras.[2] He was instrumental in creating theBBC Northern Radio Orchestra in 1975 and was its conductor for many years.[2] He died, aged 80, inNerja,Spain.
As a composer, Richardson was best known for hislibrary music – incidental music for use in films and television, for example his "Approaching Menace", used as the theme toMastermind.[3] In the 1960s he often composed under thepseudonym "Oscar Brandenburg", a name he shared withJohnny Pearson and Alan Moorhouse, also well known in this area.[4] For example, he co-composed thetest card piece "Scotch Broth".
Another of his library music compositions, "The Riviera Affair" (aka "Prestige Production," from the 1970 KPM albumImpact and Action, Vol. II), is best known toNew Yorkers as the openingtheme music forWOR-TV's late-afternoonmovieprogram,The 4 O'Clock Movie, in the late 1970s and early 1980s.[5] The song was also used as part of an homage ofThe 4 O'Clock Movie in the opening logo sequence for the 2007heist film,Ocean's Thirteen.[2] NFL Films also used some of his compositions in its American football highlight films. His library theme "Another Happening" was used for the 2012BBC Scotland seriesBritain on Film, which featured footage from theRank Organisation's 1960sLook at Lifenewsreels.
Richardson also orchestrated and conducted some ofRichard Rodney Bennett's film music, such as for the 1994 filmFour Weddings and a Funeral andEnchanted April. He also appeared as conductor in the 1980 albumA Sure Thing, featuring Bennett's arrangements ofJerome Kern songs, alongside Bennett as piano soloist andFrench horn playerBarry Tuckwell. He was also an arranger for numerous television productions includingAgatha Christie's Poirot andThe Charmer.[3]
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