Sir Neville Marriner

The inscription on Sir Neville Marriner's headstone simply reads "Follow the beat". It's a modest but appropriate epitaph for a man whose illustrious career includes over 600 recordings covering more than 2000 different works. A violinist by trade, Marriner is widely acknowledged as one of the world's greatest ever conductors. He founded the Academy of St. Martin In The Fields in London and during his long tenure with the academy's orchestra recorded a greater body of work than any other comparable orchestra/conductor relationship. He studied at the Royal College Of Music before signing up for military service in 1941. After the war he became a professor of the Royal College Of Music and played violin in two London orchestras, The Philharmonia and the London Symphony Orchestra. In 1969 Marriner founded the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra leaving in 1978 to become the music director of the of the Minnesota Orchestra, a post held until 1986 when he moved to Germany to become the principal conductor of the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra. During his long career Marriner went on to conduct many famous orchestras including The New York Chamber Orchestra, the Gulbenkian Orchestra, the Israel Chamber Orchestra and the Vienna Philharmonic. In 2014 at the age of 90 he became the oldest ever conductor of a Proms concert. He died two years later leaving behind a musical legacy which earned him a knighthood and a CBE.