Composer Of The Week

Marking the centenary of her birth, Donald Macleod delves in to the little known world of 20th century British composer Doreen Carwithen.Doreen Carwithen is one of only a handful of female British composers who worked in the film industry in the 1940s and 1950s. Dramas, mysteries, horror flicks, documentaries, the thirty plus films she scored form a substantial part of her musical legacy.An award winning student, Carwithen first came to critical attention in the concert hall, with the catchily titled ODTAA, One damn thing after another, in 1947. Predictably, newspaper headlines made much of her gender and her youth. She was just 24. It seemed as if a bright future lay ahead, yet, at the beginning of the 1960s Carwithen would stop writing music, a situation which perhaps in part explains why her music dropped off the radar for many years. One hundred years since her birth, Donald Macleod brings to light the little-known yet fascinating story of this 20th century British composer.This week Donald Macleod is joi