JONNY GREENWOOD Suite from There Will Be Blood
“ Composers are influenced by all the important music in their lives – and I suppose since radio started popular music , that ’ s as likely to be The Beatles or Aphex Twin as it is to be Verdi or Ravel .” – Greenwood .
ABOUT THE COMPOSER
Born 1971 in Oxford , U . K .
• Greenwood started playing music at age four when he was given a recorder . He took the instrument very seriously , playing it into adulthood with a Baroque ensemble . He also learned the viola growing up and played in his local youth orchestra .
• His family listened to classical music at home , and he credits his older brother with getting him into rock bands . In high school , he and his brother formed a band called On a Friday with Thom Yorke . That very same band turned into what we now know as Radiohead .
• Radiohead has sold more than 30 million albums , been inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame , and has won three Grammy Awards .
• Greenwood has often crossed the boundaries of musical genres by simultaneously writing for his band , composing classical music , and writing film scores . In 2004 , Greenwood was appointed Composer in Residence for the BBC Concert Orchestra . He cites Penderecki , Messiaen , Miles Davis , and Steve Reich as some of his influences .
FUN FACT
Greenwood admittedly hates guitar solos . He once told Rolling Stone , “ I ’ ve always hated guitar solos . There ’ s nothing worse than hearing someone cautiously going up and down the scales of their guitar .”
THE WORLD AT A GLANCE
2005
MUSIC Shakira ’ s “ La Tortura ”
FILM Hitch
LITERATURE Stephen J . Dubner ’ s and Steven Levitt ’ s Freakonomics
ABOUT THE PIECE
• Jonny Greenwood wrote the score for the Oscar-winning film There Will Be Blood in 2005 , which was turned into a concert piece in 2007 .
• This was only the second time that Greenwood had scored a film , and it was a huge success . Rolling Stone said Greenwood provided a “ sonic explosion that reinvented what film music could be ,” and Hans Zimmer has said that Greenwood is his favorite film composer .
SPORTS Rafael Nadal wins his first title
HISTORY Greek government-debt crisis
20 BALTIMORE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA