Christian Henson

Christian Henson (born 25 December 1971) is a British composer, primarily working on television and film soundtracks. Henson has also soundtracked video games, and is the co-founder of Spitfire Audio with fellow composer Paul Thomson.[1] Henson's work has been nominated for a BAFTA[2][3] and an Ivor Novello Award.[4]

Early life

Henson is the older son of actors Una Stubbs and Nicky Henson.[5][6] His younger brother Joe Henson is also a composer, as is his half-brother Keaton Henson. As a child, Henson acted in the 1980 film Never Never Land. His uncle was the farmer and tv presenter Joe Henson and Adam Henson is his cousin.[7] In his youth Henson worked for three years as a baker, with a home studio that he used in his spare time. He suffered a brain haemorrhage at 25, gave up his bakery job and moved into music and voiceover producing and engineering full time, as well as making music for porn videos.[8]

Composing

In the early 1990s Henson worked on drum and bass and breakbeat music with acts such as LTJ Bukem and the Freestylers.[3]

From 1997-2001 Henson worked as a composer's assistant, working for composers Anne Dudley, Harry Gregson-Williams, Rupert Gregson-Williams and Patrick Doyle. Henson can't read music, and taught himself how to orchestrate soundtracks.[9][10]

Selected works

Films

Television

Video games

Awards and nominations

Henson gained a 2007 Ivor Novello Awards nomination for 'Best Original Movie Score' for his work on the 2006 film Severance.[4] He received 2004 World Soundtrack Awards "Soundtrack Composer of the Year" and "Discovery of the Year" nominations for Les fils du vent.[11]

Henson was nominated, along with fellow composers Jerry Goldsmith and The Flight (his brother Joe Henson and Alexis Smith), for a BAFTA for the music of the Alien: Isolation video game in 2015.[2][3][12]

Spitfire Audio

Henson founded the British music technology company Spitfire Audio with fellow composer Paul Thomson in 2007. The company has become a leading producer of musical "virtual instruments", and has collaborated with noted film composer Hans Zimmer, as well as Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Olafur Arnalds, Roger Taylor of Queen, Eric Whitacre, posthumously with the explorer and musician David Fanshawe, and most recently with the BBC Symphony Orchestra.[13]

Personal life

Henson is married to Scottish singer and songwriter Dot Allison. They live in Edinburgh, Scotland.[7][10]

References
  1. "Orchestral manoeuverers: the 'virtual instruments' that allow anyone to be a composer". The Independent. April 24, 2019.
  2. "2015 Games Music | BAFTA Awards". awards.bafta.org.
  3. "Christian Henson". ADE.
  4. "Archive | The Ivors | The Ivors Academy | Champions of Music Creators". The Ivors Academy.
  5. Coveney, Michael (17 December 2019). "Nicky Henson obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  6. Power, Vicki (August 2, 2013). "Una Stubbs: My family values". the Guardian.
  7. "Christian Henson's New Social Channels". www.spitfireaudio.com.
  8. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmo8rIChiac
  9. "Christian Henson Interview | Co-Founder of Spitfire Audio". Pop Disciple | Film Music & Music Supervision Interviews | Music in Media News.
  10. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwFur5oMDis
  11. Awards, World Soundtrack. "Discovery of the Year - Awards". World Soundtrack Awards.
  12. "The Flight interview: Alien Isolation, composing for video games". Den of Geek. October 4, 2015.
  13. "About Spitfire Audio". Independent.
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