William Alwyn was an English composer, conductor, and music teacher.

William Alwyn was born in Northampton where he showed an early interest in music and began to learn to play the piccolo. At age 15 he entered the Royal Academy of Music in London where he studied flute and composition. He was a virtuoso flutist and for a time was the principal flutist of the London Symphony Orchestra. Alwyn served as professor of composition at the Royal Academy from 1926 to 1955.

William Alwyn had a remarkable range of talents. He was a distinguished linguist, poet, and artist, as well as musician.

His compositional output was varied and large and included five symphonies, two operas, several concertos and string quartets.

Alwyn wrote over 70 film scores from 1941 to 1962. His classic film scores included Odd Man Out, Desert Victory, Fires Were Started, The History of Mr Polly, The Fallen Idol and The Black Tent.

Alwyn was a Romantic composer of a unique sort. He devised his own alternative to twelve-tone serialism and he relished dissonance.

Alwyn's concerto for harp and string orchestra, Lyra Angelica, became popularly known when figure skater Michelle Kwan performed to it at the 1998 Winter Olympics.

William Alwyn died in Southwold, England. He was survived by his second wife, the composer Doreen Carwithen, and two sons.

Music By William Alwyn Recordings by William Alwyn