Maurice Murphy is a
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
musician, and was Principal
TrumpetThe trumpet is a musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BC...
of the
London Symphony OrchestraThe London Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra of the United Kingdom, as well as one of the best-known orchestras in the world. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in London's Barbican Centre.-History:...
from 1977 to 2007.
He was born in Hammersmith in 1935. He grew up playing in brass bands in Yorkshire, and notably was Principal
CornetThe cornet is a brass instrument very similar to the trumpet, distinguished by its conical bore, compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B. It is not related to the medieval cornett or cornetto....
of the world famous Black Dyke Mills Band from 1956 to 1961. His transition from brass bands to orchestral work was helped with stints with
the HalléThe Hallé is a symphony orchestra based in Manchester, England. It is the UK's oldest extant symphony orchestra , supports a choir and a youth orchestra, and releases its recordings on its own record label, though it has occasionally released recordings on Angel Records and EMI...
, the
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic OrchestraThe Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra based in Liverpool, England, is Britain's oldest established orchestra and one of the oldest in the world. It is owned and administered by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society , a registered charity. It is the only orchestral society in the United...
and La Mer Orchestra.
Maurice Murphy is a
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
musician, and was Principal
TrumpetThe trumpet is a musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BC...
of the
London Symphony OrchestraThe London Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra of the United Kingdom, as well as one of the best-known orchestras in the world. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in London's Barbican Centre.-History:...
from 1977 to 2007.
He was born in Hammersmith in 1935. He grew up playing in brass bands in Yorkshire, and notably was Principal
CornetThe cornet is a brass instrument very similar to the trumpet, distinguished by its conical bore, compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B. It is not related to the medieval cornett or cornetto....
of the world famous Black Dyke Mills Band from 1956 to 1961. His transition from brass bands to orchestral work was helped with stints with
the HalléThe Hallé is a symphony orchestra based in Manchester, England. It is the UK's oldest extant symphony orchestra , supports a choir and a youth orchestra, and releases its recordings on its own record label, though it has occasionally released recordings on Angel Records and EMI...
, the
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic OrchestraThe Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra based in Liverpool, England, is Britain's oldest established orchestra and one of the oldest in the world. It is owned and administered by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society , a registered charity. It is the only orchestral society in the United...
and La Mer Orchestra. He held the position of Principal Trumpet with the BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra (now the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra) from 1961 and in 1977 joined the
London Symphony OrchestraThe London Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra of the United Kingdom, as well as one of the best-known orchestras in the world. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in London's Barbican Centre.-History:...
(LSO) as Principal Trumpet, a position he held for 30 years until his retirement in 2007.
Murphy can be heard on film soundtracks including all six
Star WarsStar Wars is an epic space opera franchise initially conceived by George Lucas. The first film in the franchise was originally released on May 25, 1977, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, spawning two immediate sequels, released at three-year intervals...
films,
Superman: The Movie,
Raiders of the Lost ArkRaiders of the Lost Ark is a action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, produced by George Lucas, and starring Harrison Ford...
,
Gangs of New YorkGangs of New York is a 2002 American historical film set in the mid-19th century in the Five Points district of New York City. It was directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian and Kenneth Lonergan. The film is inspired by Herbert Asbury's 1928 nonfiction book The Gangs...
,
Johnny EnglishJohnny English is a 2003 British comic film parodying the James Bond secret agent genre. It starred Rowan Atkinson as the incompetent British spy of the title, with John Malkovich, Natalie Imbruglia, Tasha de Vasconcelos and Ben Miller...
,
Reign of FireReign of Fire is a 2002 action/science fiction film directed by Rob Bowman and starring Christian Bale, Matthew McConaughey, Izabella Scorupco, and Gerard Butler...
, a solo in
Mr. Holland’s OpusMr. Holland's Opus is a Technicolor 1995 drama film in which Richard Dreyfuss plays Glenn Holland, a musician and composer who takes a teaching job to pay the rent while trying to compose one memorable piece of music to make him famous...
,
Philadelphia,
BatmanBatman is a 1989 superhero film based on the DC Comics character of the same name, directed by Tim Burton. The film stars Michael Keaton in the title role, as well as Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger, Robert Wuhl and Jack Palance...
, the
AlienThe Alien film series is a science fiction horror film franchise, focusing on Lieutenant Ellen Ripley and her battle with an extraterrestrial lifeform, commonly referred as "the Alien"...
movies,
FrankensteinFrankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus, generally known simply as Frankenstein, is a novel written by Mary Shelley. Shelley started writing when she was 18 and the novel was published when she was 21. The first edition was published anonymously in London in . Shelley's name appears on the second...
,
Gladiator,
Who Framed Roger RabbitWho Framed Roger Rabbit is a 1988 fantasy comedy film directed by Robert Zemeckis, produced by Steven Spielberg and based on Gary K. Wolf's novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit?. It was released by Walt Disney Pictures, under the Touchstone banner and co-produced by Amblin Entertainment...
,
We Were SoldiersWe Were Soldiers is a 2002 American war film that dramatized the Battle of Ia Drang in November 1965, the first major engagement of United States military forces in the Vietnam War. The film was directed by Randall Wallace and stars Mel Gibson. It is based on the book We Were Soldiers Once… And...
and many more.
Maurice Murphy officially retired from the orchestra on October 16, 2000, but continually had his contract renewed between then and his real retirement on 3 June, 2007. His last concert as principal trumpet of the LSO was in a performance of Elgar's
The Dream of GerontiusThe Dream of Gerontius, popularly called just Gerontius, is an oratorio in two parts composed by Edward Elgar in 1900, to text from the poem by Cardinal Newman. It relates the journey of a pious man's soul from his deathbed to his judgment before God and settling into Purgatory. It is widely...
, conducted by
Richard HickoxRichard Sidney Hickox CBE was an English conductor of choral, orchestral and operatic music.-Early life:Hickox was born in Stokenchurch in Buckinghamshire into a musical family...
.
External links