ADRIAN MUNSEY - THE ARTIST

April 2005 sees the CD release of Incognito and Four Suites, two new orchestral scores by Adrian Munsey, the film producer and Managing Director of Odyssey Video and Television. Music, both classical and popular, has always been an important part of Adrian Munsey's life. While a history scholar at King's College, Cambridge, he was a devotee of the College's world-famous chapel choir. He put on Elton John's first paid gig, has recorded with top session musicians and orchestras, and was once offered a contract by EMI to compose film music. Despite spending most of his career in the film and video industry, he has continued composing, and this project is the realisation of Munsey's lifelong dream to develop his instinct for crafting pictures and moving images into music. "A growing sense that time was running out led me to re-evaluate the direction of my life," says Munsey. "At the advanced age of fifty-something I feel for the first time that I have achieved something that can be transmitted to others."

The arranger John Bell also provided vital inspiration. He encouraged Munsey to develop his natural instinct for multiple time signatures and temporal freedom. Bell has arranged the 16 tracks of Four Suites for small orchestra. The 10 tracks on Incognito have been arranged by Geoff Alexander, whom Munsey met through his business relationship with Merchant Ivory Productions (Alexander has arranged Richard Robbins' music for several Merchant Ivory films).

Munsey's music is unashamedly melodic and heart-warmingly nostalgic, capturing the emotions stirred by visual imagery. 'Incognito' and 'Forgotten' (tracks 5 and 7 from Incognito), for example, were inspired by images of the islands of Harris and Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, which also form the basis of the videos being released to accompany the CDs.

Adrian Munsey founded Odyssey Video and Odyssey Television in 1982. Odyssey Video is one of only two brand names in the British video industry and is presently releasing over 100 DVDs into the UK market. Munsey has also produced two feature films, Zina and Every Picture Tells A Story, and has made 22 documentaries on the Royal Family.