One could be forgiven for imagining that Carl Davis’ headquarters are full of assistants running around valiantly attempting to arrange the schedule of the versatile veteran composer and conductor.  

After all, there is very little that Davis hasn’t achieved; from television to silent film scores to composing ballets and operas, he has even found time to work with one of popular music’s biggest figures, in his seventy-plus years.

Yet, the scene around chez Davis appears a little more serene, as the affable New York-born but long-time UK resident picks up a call from the Limerick Independent.

Despite moving to England in 1961, Carl still retains some slight elements of his native land’s accent as he talks about his upcoming visit to Limerick as part of this year’s Summer Music On The Shannon Festival performances.

“It is really because of Bob Creech (SMS founder) – he is a really marvellous man. We first meet in Liverpool when he was Chief Executive of the Liverpool Philarmonic; I remember that he was so innovative then,” recalls Davis.

Innovative is a word that can be bandied about when talking about Carl himself, and his activities as part of this year’s SMS performances. Mid-August will see a plethora of Davis-related performances Shannonside to somewhat compliment the Summer school, which kicked off this week.

“It is based on the play by Aristophanes. As with every Greek comedy or tragedy, there is a focus on a big community chorus. I’d hope in Limerick that they’d be of all ages, as it was devised originally for schools. He wrote it at the time that the Spartans were all-conquering, while the Athenians were more civilised, but while it is a plea for reconciliation, it is a comedy with a very serious theme–it is very funny, and it’s very rude!” explains Carl.

It’s a far cry from the sixties and seventies when he became renowned for television scores from programmes as varied as ‘The World At War’ and ‘Pride And Prejudice’. His obvious ability in this field led to what is perhaps the most cherished part of his career–composing music for silent film.

“It started as a television project (‘Hollywood: A Celebration Of Silent Film’) in 1980, and then it gradually grew. It wasn’t something I had planned or anything, but it led to live performances. When these films were originally shown, sometimes there would be an orchestra at the really big cinemas. Our idea then was to talk these out to the people,” says Carl.

While he admits that some of the big film studios were all about “living in the present”, Davis and his cohorts were firmly “digging into the past.” In the eighties, his fascination with the King of the silent era, Charlie Chaplain, grew.