Ilan is a British film composer who has established himself as an exciting young talent in the world of film music. Born in London into a musical family, Ilan grew up playing violin and later took up playing guitar in bands. He studied Music and English literature at Leeds University, during which time he also worked with film composer Ed Shearmur learning first-hand the technique of film composition. After graduating, he went on to work with other film composers such as Michael Kamen and Hans Zimmer. At this time Ilan began scoring his own projects, and his talent for creating cinematic music on a limited budget soon gained him recognition within the film industry.
Colourful cellist in spotlight in Radio 4 documentary
George Kennaway, a PhD student in the School, presented a BBC Radio 4 feature in April 2009 which celebrated the life and work of the cellist Auguste van Biene.Van Biene was a musician who came to London from Rotterdam as a teenager and who made not one, but several careers.
As a cellist he was principal cello at Covent Garden under Costa, and he appeared throughout the country as a soloist and chamber musician. In the 1880s he started to move in to the world of the theatre, in which he eventually became an impresario actor-manager.
He achieved international fame for his role as a cellist-composer in a play, The Broken Melody, written for him as a vehicle. This was performed nearly 6,000 times before his death on stage in 1913.
Says Kennaway: I first encountered him in a passing reference to his histrionic playing style, while researching my PhD thesis on cello performance practice. I soon discovered a rich seam of material.
I spoke about him at the British music conference in Birmingham in 2007, and in the same year I contributed to the conference on Victorian Soundscapes hosted by the Leeds Centre for Victorian Studies, which resulted in the publication of my work on him to date.
He adds: The radio programme provoked a great response from other descendants, so that for a while I have been acting as an agent for van Biene genealogists. Many cellists have said how much they enjoyed the programme, and others have been in touch with additional material which greatly expands the picture of this extraordinary figure.
Date Published: 01 August 2009
Keywords: research, kennaway, auguste van biene
Keywords: research, kennaway, auguste van biene
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