Henry V

Sir William Turner Walton OM (29 March 1902 – 8 March 1983) was a British composer and conductor. His style was influenced by the works of Stravinsky and Prokofiev as well as jazz music, and is characterized by rhythmic vitality, bittersweet harmony, sweeping Romantic melody and brilliant orchestration. His output includes orchestral and choral works, chamber music and ceremonial music, as well as notable film scores, like Henry V (1944). His earliest works, especially Edith Sitwell's Façade, brought him notoriety as a modernist, but it was with orchestral symphonic works and the oratorio Belshazzar's Feast that he gained international recognition.

Patrick Doyle is a classically trained and internationally respected film composer, who has worked with many of modern cinema's most prolific film directors. Born in 1953, outside Glasgow, Doyle benefited from a very musical upbringing. He studied music at The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and graduated in 1975. He is a now a Fellow of the RSAMD. His first score was written in 1978, and subsequently he has written the music for a host of radio, television, theatre and film productions.

This insightful look at the life of Henry V and the Battle of Agincourt casts new light on a period in history often held up as legend. A great English hero, Henry V was lionized by Shakespeare and revered by his countrymen for his religious commitment, his sense of justice, and his military victories. Here, noted historian and biographer Ian Mortimer takes a look at the man behind the legend and offers a clear, historically accurate, and realistic representation of a ruler who was all too human.