Richard Blackford PhD studied composition with John Lambert at the Royal College of Music and conducting with Norman Del Mar . He was awarded the Mendelssohn Scholarship and the Tagore Gold Medal . He spent a number of years as Hans Werner Henze 's assistant in Italy on a Leverhulme scholarship , where he received his first commissions while immersed in the European avant-garde . He returned to London in 1977 to turn his sights to the dramatic potential of music , combining teaching at LAMDA with commissions for theatre scores along with concert commissions . After becoming first Composer in Residence at Balliol College , Oxford , he was commissioned to write the opera '' Metamorphoses '' for the Centenary of the Royal College of Music . Further collaborations with Ted Hughes and Tony Harrison led to international film and theatre projects , including '' The Prince 's Play '' and '' Fram '' at the Royal National Theatre . In all he has composed four operas , two musicals , much concert music and the scores to over two hundred films , being nominated for an Emmy Award in 2001 for Outstanding Achievement In Music . The mid-1990s saw a renewed focus on lyrical and dramatic works for the concert hall , notably '' Mirror of Perfection '' and '' Voices of Exile '' , both subjects of television documentaries . 2011 saw the premiere of Not In Our Time , a 55-minute choral and orchestral work commissioned to mark the Centenary of the Bournemouth Symphony Chorus and for performance on the tenth anniversary of 9/11 . It was subsequently performed in Chicago and Bremen to standing ovations
9/11
September 11 attacks
Richard Blackford