Paul McCartney pays tribute to composer Carl Davis

7 August, 2023

Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney has led tributes to composer Carl Davis, who died aged 86.

Davis’ family announced last week (August 3) that the BAFTA-winning composer had died following a brain haemorrhage.

Sharing a photo of the two sitting together at the piano, McCartney said of his friend and collaborator: “I was very sad to hear that my friend Carl Davis had passed away.

“Carl and I wrote the ‘Liverpool Oratorio’ together. It was my first full-length classical venture and I really enjoyed working with him to make it happen. I would show up at his house and we would start writing.

“I would suggest an idea and he would write it down on the manuscript paper which made it easy for him to play the idea back to me and we progressed like that. He was a very skilful and fun man to be with.”

McCartney added: “When we came to perform the piece at Liverpool Cathedral it was very exciting for me who had once failed an audition for the choir at the cathedral to be back there with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.”

“I enjoyed my time with Carl very much and send my love and sympathies.”

Davis won a BAFTA and Ivor Novello award for his work on 1981’s The French Lieutenant’s Woman, and also worked on the BBC’s 1995 adaptation of Pride And Prejudice.

A statement from Davis’ family said: “We are heartbroken to announce that Carl Davis (CBE) passed away this morning, following a brain haemorrhage.

“We are so proud that Carl’s legacy will be his astonishing impact on music. A consummate all-round musician, he was the driving force behind the reinvention of the silent movie for this generation and he wrote scores for some of the most-loved and remembered British television dramas.”

Elsewhere, Paul McCartney has teased the possibility of embarking on an international tour, after announcing his first Australian tour in six years.

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