David Arnold (born January 23, 1962 in Luton in Bedfordshire, England) is a Grammy Award-winning British film composer, best known for scoring four James Bond films and cult television show Little Britain.
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James Bond
Arnold was a Bond fan from an early age and also a fan of Bond composer John Barry. In 1997 Arnold produced Shaken and Stirred: The David Arnold James Bond Project, an album featuring new versions of the themes from various James Bond films. The album featured a variety of contemporary artists including Jarvis Cocker, Chrissie Hynde and Iggy Pop; a version of You Only Live Twice by Björk was recorded but not included on the album. John Barry, the composer of many of the themes on the album, was complimentary about Arnold's interpretation of his work; "He was very faithful to the melodic and harmonic content, but he's added a whole other rhythmic freshness and some interesting casting in terms of the artists chosen to do the songs. I think it's a terrific album. I'm very flattered."[1] Barry contacted Barbara Broccoli, producer of the then upcoming Tomorrow Never Dies, to recommend Arnold as the film's composer.[2] He has scored the three subsequent films; The World Is Not Enough, Die Another Day and Casino Royale. As well as the scores Arnold also co-wrote the themes for The World Is Not Enough, Casino Royale and the end title music for Tomorrow Never Dies. He is set to return for Bond 22. [3]
Other work
David Arnold co wrote, with Björk and Jah Wobble, the Björk-performed song "Play Dead" for the 1993 movie The Young Americans (film) (his first film score). The following year he scored Stargate and Last of the Dogmen, with excerpts from the former ranking third in the most commonly-used soundtrack cues for film trailers. [4] Other projects David Arnold has worked on include: Independence Day (1996), A Life Less Ordinary (1997), Godzilla (1998), Wing Commander (1999) (Themes only), The Musketeer (2001), Zoolander (2001), Changing Lanes (2002), 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003), the remake of The Stepford Wives (2004), Four Brothers (2005), and Hot Fuzz (2007). David will be collaborating with director Michael Apted for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010). Arnold also composed the theme music for several British television series, including the 2000 remake of Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) and Little Britain. Arnold appeared in a Little Britain episode as one of the advisors of the Prime Minister (portrayed by Anthony Stewart Head). In 2001, he provided a new arrangement of Ron Grainer's Doctor Who theme music for a series of audio dramas from Big Finish Productions. He has recently completed work with Massive Attack, Natasha Bedingfield, Chris Cornell and Shirley Manson. On 26 October, 2007, he accompanied his friends, the Kaiser Chiefs, at the BBC Electric Proms. David arranged the orchestral parts of the performance. Arnold is the second cousin of Irish singer-songwriter Damien Rice. He is not related to British composer Sir Malcolm Arnold and should not be confused with David Arnold, a former player and current conductor for the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra who is also involved in writing, arranging and producing music for radio, television and films.
Film Scores
20th Century
- The Young Americans = 1993
- Stargate = 1994
- Last of Dogmen = 1995
- Independence Day = 1996
- A Life Less Ordinary = 1997
- Tomorrow Never Dies = 1997
- Godzilla = 1998
- The World is not Enough = 1999
21st Century
- Shaft = 2000
- Baby Boy = 2001
- The Musketeer = 2001
- Zoolander = 2001
- Changing Lanes = 2002
- Enough = 2002
- Die Another Day = 2002
- 2 Fast 2 Furious = 2003
- The Stepford Wives = 2004
- The Stepford Husbands = 2005
- Little Britain (7 Episodes) = 2003 - 2004
- Four Brothers = 2005
- Stoned = 2005
- Amazing Grace = 2006
- Casino Royale = 2006
- Hot Fuzz = 2007
- Grindhouse (fake trailer segment "Don't") = 2007
Upcoming
- Agent Crush = 2008
- Bond 22 = 2008
- The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader = 2010
Awards and Nominations
Nominations
- Grammy Award 2008 Best Song Written for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media - You Know My Name from Casino Royale (2006 film) (songwriter)
References
- ^ Burlingame, Jon. "Bonding with the Score: David Arnold blends the traditional with the modern in music for 'Tomorrow Never Dies.'", Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Company, 1997-12-18. Retrieved on 2007-01-01.
- ^ Macnee, Patrick (Narrator). The Bond Sound: The Music of 007 [DVD (Documentary)].
- ^ David Arnold Back For 'Bond 22'. commanderbond.net. Retrieved on 2007-10-08.
- ^ Top 100 Frequently Used Cues. soundtrack.net. Retrieved on 2007-08-14.
External links
- Stage and Screen Online Major new audio interview with David Arnold
- David Arnold at the Internet Movie Database
- David Arnold's official web-site
| Preceded by Éric Serra 1995 |
James Bond film score composer 1997–current |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
