Jim Parker Recordings

JAMES MAVIN PARKER 1934-2023

After graduating as a silver medalist at the Guildhall School of Music, Jim Parker was a professional oboist before concentrating on composing and conducting. He had early recording success with BANANA BLUSH and three subsequent albums in which he set to music the poems of the late British Poet Laureate Sir John Betjeman; the recordings, spoken by the poet and conducted by the composer have achieved classic status.

Television programmes include HOUSE OF CARDS, THE HOUSE OF ELIOTT, FOYLE’S WAR and MIDSOMER MURDERS.

Commissions include pieces written for The Nash Ensemble, The Barrow
Poets, Philip Jones Brass, The Hilliard Ensemble, The Albion Ensemble, The Wallace Collection and Poems on the Underground. His published compositions include A LONDONER IN NEW YORK for ten brass, MISSISSIPPI FIVE for wind quintet, THE GOLDEN SECTION for brass quintet, BONJOUR M. GRAPPELLI for string quartet and a CLARINET CONCERTO. He is the recipient of an honorary degree from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and  won the British Academy Award for best original Television Music four times. Jim passed away on July 28, 2023.