..and the arrogant headmaster showed little compunction in promptly dismissing me from my post at his school. This was in November 1926..."(Alwyn, 1983; cited in: Culot, 1985)
Alwyn was appointed a position as a professor of composition at the RAM in 1926 and as well, "he became a flautist in the London Symphony Orchestra." (Culot, 1985) Alwyn began music composition for films in 1936. In 1939 acknowledged were the works: (1) Rhapsody for Piano Quartet; and (2) Divertimento for Solo Flute. Culot (1985) states: "1955 was an important year for Alwyn; it saw the completion of the beautifully nostalgic Autumn Legend, inspired by Pre-Raphaelite painters, and also of the String Quartet in D minor (in fact, No 1) and the first important piano work Fantasy Waltzes." The slow movement within the First String Quartet is stated by Culot to be "the emotional climax and the very core of the whole work, the scherzo providing for its physical charm." (1985) Alwyn's later compositions from approximately 1976 forward were focused almost entirely upon the voice.
Culot states that among the best film scores of Alwyn are: (1) Odd Man Out (1947); and (2) Shake Hands with the Devil (1959). The work of Johnson (2005) entitled: "William Alwyn: The Art of Film Music"...
According to Alwyn in his work entitled: "How Not to Write Film Music" "Sound...can only makes its effect by contrast with silence." (1954)
III. MATTHIJS VERMEULEN (1888-1967)
Vermeulen was born in 1888 to a Dutch blacksmith and as he was growing up, he aspired to work with his father in the shop. However, Vermeulen had an accident and the result is that he forgot entering the family business and sent to a Jesuit seminary and it was there that he discovered music. When Vermeulen was fourteen years old, he began his journey toward music composition. Due to a statement Vermeulen made following an orchestra performance his Second Symphony, which was originally composed in the years of 1919-1920, entitled Prelude a la nouvelle journee did not premier until sometime in the 1950s. The work of Vermeulen is such that his symphonies "give therefore beginning to end a stream of melodies heard in a very different appearance and character." It is stated that Vermeulen "draws a parallel between melody and individuals: 'The melody is a strong show affection.' (Sixth Symfonie Les Minutes
