Paul Englishby


Paul Englishby is a film and theatre composer, orchestrator, conductor, and pianist. He is best known for his Emmy Award-winning jazz score for David Hare's Page Eight, his orchestral score for the Oscar nominated An Education, his BAFTA nominated score for the BBC's Luther and his many theatre scores for the Royal Shakespeare Company, with whom Paul is an associated artist.

Biographical summary

Englishby was born in Preston, Lancashire in 1970. He was musically active by his teenage years, performing as a pianist in big bands and jazz ensembles as well as writing and composing his own works. He studied at Goldsmiths' College and at the Royal Academy of Music, where he received the Charles Lucas Prize for Composition and the Arthur Hervey Scholarship, as well as receiving a BBC Sound on Film Commission.
The Last Clarinet for orchestra and narrator was Englishby's first published work, and continues to be performed internationally. His other works include Short Symphony, String Quartet and Blackpool Lights for Orchestra. Aside from these Englishby composed pieces for his own group, The Paul Englishby Big Band, which has performed at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club.

Scores and compositions

In recent years, Englishby has written the original scores for a number of films and television programmes. In 2012 he won the Emmy Award for Best Original Main Title Theme Music for Page Eight, starring Bill Nighy and Rachel Weisz. He also received an Ivor Novello nomination.
Englishby is a prolific composer for the BBC, scoring all five series of the critically acclaimed drama Luther, starring Idris Elba, for which he received a BAFTA nomination. He has also scored two series of the hit series The Musketeers.
He won the ASCAP Award in 2009 for his film score to Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, directed by Bharat Nalluri. He also wrote the score for Lone Scherfig's Oscar nominated feature An Education, starring Carey Mulligan, and A Royal Night Out, starring Rupert Everett and Bel Powley. He was also music director and composer for the 2013 film Sunshine On Leith, featuring songs by The Proclaimers, and directed by Dexter Fletcher.
Englishby has collaborated with world-class film directors, including Stephen Mangan on critically acclaimed Brit-flick Confetti, and on the film Ten Minutes Older featuring works from directors Spike Lee, Werner Herzog, Bernardo Bertolucci, Mike Figgis and Jean-Luc Godard.
As well as commissions for film and TV, he has composed classical works for various ensembles. His credits include The Last Clarinet for solo clarinet, orchestra and narrator in 1995, Byron for large orchestra and Weep No More for string orchestra.
Englishby also recently completed a large public arts commission entitled Fireworks, several pieces for choir, orchestra, chamber group and school children, in commemoration of the Combe Down Stone Mines Project in Bath.

Theatre/Dance

Englishby has worked on over twenty productions for the Royal Shakespeare Company. Recent credits include Gregory Doran's The Hollow Crown, starring David Tennant as Richard II, and Anthony Sher as Falstaff in Henry IV. Other credits for the RSC include Death of a Salesman, Twelfth Night, Hamlet, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Love's Labour's Lost and A Midsummer Night's Dream.
In 2013, Englishby scored Peter Morgan's The Audience, starring Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II. The Audience, with Mirren, transferred to Broadway in 2015, with Kristin Scott Thomas taking up the role in the West End. In 2014, Englishby wrote the music for David Hare's Skylight, starring Bill Nighy and Carey Mulligan, which also transferred to Broadway from the West End in 2015.
Other notable credits include Red Velvet, starring Adrian Lester, which played at the Garrick Theatre in early 2016, Hedda Gabler, starring Sheridan Smith at the Old Vic, and Emil and the Detectives at the National Theatre.

Musical credits

As orchestrator, conductor, and pianist, Englishby has worked with The London Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, London Musici, Tallis Chamber Choir, Fibonacci Sequence and BBC Concert Orchestra to name a few. He has conducted on studio sessions and film scores both in the UK and abroad, as well as on recordings and broadcasts for radio and television. Credits include Richard Eyre's The Other Man and Michael Radford's Flawless in 2008. He worked on the Universal movie Your Highness, starring Natalie Portman and James Franco, released in 2011. Englishby orchestrated and conducted Tony Banks's classical album Six: Pieces for Orchestra, released in 2012.

Credits

Scores

2023Now and Then – The Last Beatles Song
2020The Yellow Dress
  • THE VISIT
  • Royal Hunt of The Sun Conversations at a Dinner Table
2019Queens of MysteryLUTHER s5THE INHERITANCE TONY NOMINATIONPETER GYNT Measure for Measure
2018Le Canard
  • WHITE TEETH
  • IMPERIUM
2017PINOCCHIO
2015/16The MusketeersLutherUndeniableSalting the BattlefieldTurks and Caicos
2013/14Sunshine On LeithThe Great Train RobberyThe Guilty
2012A Mother's Son Good Cop Inside Men Page EightLuther
2011Outcasts
2009Hamlet An Englishman in New York An Education
2008Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
2007MagiciansBehind the Tricks: Making "Magicians"
2006Death of the RevolutionConfetti
2002Ten Minutes Older: The CelloTen Minutes Older: The TrumpetThe History of Football: The Beautiful Game

Orchestrator

2012
2010Your Highness
2008Miss Pettigrew Lives For A DayThe Other Man
2007Becoming Jane
2004Deux Frères
  • ''Love's Brother''

Musical director/conductor

2013Sunshine On Leith
2012
2010The Wolfman
2009SkelligZomerhitte
2008Miss Pettigrew Lives For A DayThe Secret of MoonacreFrench Film
2007Becoming JaneFreakdogFlawlessMiguel y William
2006Alpha Male
2005ProofAnimal
2004Love's BrotherIf Only
2001
  • ''Captain Corelli's Mandolin''

Other musical credits

2006Niagara Motel
2002About A Boy Hart’s War
2001
  • ''Birthday Girl''

Theatre credits

2016Red Velvet
2015The Moderate SopranoDeath of a Salesman - RSC
2014Skylight
2013Richard II – RSCThe Audience – The Gielgud TheatreEmil and the Detectives - The National Theatre
2012Children's Children – The AlmeidaHedda Gabler – The Old VicSouth Downs – Chichester Festival Theatre
2008The Thief of Baghdad – Royal Opera HouseHamlet – RSCLove's Labours Lost – RSCA Midsummer Night's Dream – RSCWuthering Heights – Birmingham RepertoryMarianne Dreams – AlmeidaThe Merchant Of Venice – RSCThe Taming of the Shrew – RSC
2007Coriolanus – RSCMerry Wives The Musical – RSCMuch Ado About Nothing – RSCThe Giant – Hampstead
2006Twelfth Night – RSCSejanus – RSCSugar Mummies – Royal Court TheatreYellowman – Liverpool EverymanFabulation – Tricycle Theatre
2005Longitude – Greenwich Theatre
2004All's Well That Ends Well – RSCAnna in the Tropics – Hampstead
2003Blood – Royal Court Theatre
2002Romeo and Juliet – Festival Theatre, ChichesterBedroom Farce – West End
2001Three Sisters – Festival Theatre, Chichester