Carwithen, Doreen: Suffolk Suite

Doreen Carwithen was born in Haddenham, Buckinghamshire and had her first music lessons from her mother, a music teacher, starting both piano and violin at age 4. In 1941 she entered the Royal Academy of Music and played the cello in a string quartet and with orchestras. At age 16 she began composing and entered the harmony class of William Alwyn who began to teach her composition. She wrote scores for over 30 films. In 1961 she married William Alwyn, dropped the name Doreen Carwithen and became Mary Alwyn. (Mary was her middle name, and she hated Doreen). She was devoted to her husband and acted as his secretary and amanuensis. After he died in 1985, she resumed interest in her own music. In 1999 a stroke left her paralysed onone side and she died in January 2003.
This suite was written in 1964 at the request of the music master at Framlingham College, Suffolk, for the boys to perform when royalty came to open their new concert hall. The work was written to be within t he capabilities of the young performers. There are four movements which develop tunes the composer originally used in her music for the film ‘East Anglian Holiday’. The movements are The Prelude; Orford Ness; Suffolk Morris; Framlingham Castle. This is the work’s first publication.
Duration: 12 minutes