Voting Station

Neville Marriner

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Conductor

The Resume

    (April 15, 1924-October 2, 2016)
    Born in Lincoln, England, United Kingdom
    Second violinist in the London Symphony Orchestra (1954-69)
    Founding member and music director of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields (1958-2011) and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (1969-78)
    Recorded over 600 albums, including 500 with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
    Conducted the Mozart selections for the ‘Amadeus’ soundtrack (1984)
    Named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (1979), Knight Bachelor (1985) and Companion of Honour (2015)

Why he might be annoying:

    He said about his career as a musician, ‘I was a decent violin player, but never of virtuoso caliber. I was not gifted enough to be able to say something important with an instrument in my hand.’
    The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields was originally intended to be a democratic, conductor-free chamber orchestra; he called himself a ‘turncoat’ when he became their full-time conductor (1969).
    He described the 18th-century composers whose works the Academy originally specialized in – such as Vivaldi, Corelli and Albicastro – as ‘ice cream composers’: ones whose works were popular with audiences without being very demanding of the musicians.
    He and the Academy were so ubiquitous on classical radio that ‘Stereo Review’ ran a cartoon in which a radio announcer says, ‘That was the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields . . .’ to which a nearby parrot adds, with a glazed look in its eyes, ‘…Neville Marriner conducting.’

Why he might not be annoying:

    He won a full scholarship to the Royal College of Music at age 15.
    He served in the Royal Navy in a reconnaissance unit during World War II.
    His marriage to Mary ‘Molly’ Sims lasted 59 years until his death.
    He and the Academy sparked a revival of interest in 18th century music.
    He was unusually modest and self-effacing for a conductor.
    A critic called him ‘a recording manager’s dream, because he understands technical problems as well as most technicians, and accepts the necessity of retakes.’
    At 80, he became the oldest conductor of Britain’s Proms summer music festival (2014).

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 88 Votes: 52.27% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 8 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 12 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 72 Votes: 52.78% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 11 Votes: 63.64% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 32 Votes: 65.62% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 4 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 164 Votes: 60.37% Annoying