Muir Mathieson

Scottish composer/conductor Muir Mathieson was trained at London's Royal College of Music. After a brief period of composing for British quota quickies, the 23-year-old Mathieson was signed by Alexander Korda to work on the score for the important 1934 feature Catherine the Great. This one film launched Mathieson's distinguished career as the British film industry's premiere musical director and composer, a career that would flourish until his retirement in 1964. Mathieson's orchestrations of William Walton's music for Olivier's Henry V (1945) and Hamlet (1948) were released on record albums, a comparative rarity for the 1940s. Because of his single on-screen appearance as Sir Arthur Sullivan in the all-star film The Magic Box (1951), Muir Mathieson has occasionally had his movie credits confused with those of British actor Murray Matheson.

~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide