Carey > Timeline

Timeline


World history


Carey’s life


George VUK

  • George V is on the throne
  • Ramsay MacDonald is Prime Minister (1929–35)
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     1932 1932 
  • Baby Carey14th March: Carey Blyton is born in Beckenham, Kent
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    Mickey MouseUSA

  • Franklin D. Roosevelt is President
  • The Great Depression is just ending
  • Walt Disney creates Mickey Mouse
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    Music

  • Bax is 49
  • Bliss is 41
  • Britten is 19
  • Cage is 20
  • de Falla is 56
  • Gershwin is 34
  • Martinů is 42
  • Ravel is 57
  • Rubbra is 31
  • Shostakovich is 26
  • Sibelius is 67
  • Stockhausen is 4
  • Richard Strauss is 68
  • Tippett is 27
  • Vaughan Williams is 59
  • Walton is 30
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    Russia

  • Stalin’s ‘purges’ begin in Russia
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     1934 1934 
     

    Music

  • Peter Maxwell Davies is born
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    Stanley BaldwinUK

  • Stanley Baldwin becomes Prime Minister again (1923–24, 1924–29, 1935–37)
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     1935 1935 
     

    Porgy and BessMusic

  • Gershwin composes Porgy and Bess
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    George VIUK

  • George V dies and is succeeded by Edward VIII
  • Edward VIII abdicates over Mrs Wallace Simpson and is succeeded by George VI
  •  
     1936 1936 
     

    Europe

  • Hitler and Mussolini proclaim the Rome–Berlin Axis
  • Germany builds the Siegfried Line
  • Civil War in Spain
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    Neville ChamberlainUK

  • Neville Chamberlain becomes Prime Minister (1937–40)
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     1937 1937 
     

    The HobbitThe Arts

  • Orff composes Carmina Burana
  • Martinů composes Julietta
  • J. R. R. Tolkien writes The Hobbit
  • Picasso paints Guernica
  • Ravel dies
  • Gershwin dies
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    Adolf Hitler salutingEurope

  • Hitler invades Poland, starting World War II
  •  
     1939 1939 
     

    The Arts

  • Copland composes Billy the Kid
  • James Joyce writes Finnegan’s Wake
  • John Steinbeck writes The Grapes of Wrath
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    Sir Winston ChurchillUK

  • Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister for the first time (1940–45, 1951–55)
  •  
     1940 1940 
     

    The Arts

  • Many artists flee Europe for the USA, including Bartók, Hindemith and (later) Martinů
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    World

  • Japan attacks Pearl Harbour, bringing America into World War II; also invades the Philippines
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     1941 1941 
     

    Music

  • Shostakovich composes Symphony Nº7 (concerning Nazi invasion of Russia)
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     1944 1944 
  • Summer in the CountryCarey is a wartime evacuee, to a rectory in West Lydford, Somerset; subsequently writes about the experience in Summer in the Country
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    Clement AttleeUK

  • Clement Attlee becomes Prime Minister (1945–51)
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     1945 1945 
     

    World

  • The first and second atom bombs are deployed
  • World War II ends
  • The UN Charter is signed
  • Harry S. Truman becomes US President
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    Music

  • Britten composes Peter Grimes
  • Bartók composes Piano Concerto Nº3
  • Bartók dies
  • Webern dies
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    Manuel de FallaMusic

  • Manuel de Falla dies
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     1946 1946 
     

    Princess ElizabethUK

  • Princess Elizabeth marries Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh
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     1947 1947 
  • Carey contracts polio, convalescing in 1947 and 48
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    India

  • India gains independence
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    Music

  • Schoenberg composes A Survivor from Warsaw (concerning concentration camps)
  • Duruflé composes Requiem
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    TransistorScience

  • Invention of the transistor
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    World

  • NATO is established
  •  
     1949 1949 
  • Carey begins work on his first numbered opus, Four Diversions for Piano, which after later revision becomes Five Diversions, opus 1a
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    Richard StraussMusic

  • Richard Strauss dies
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    World

  • Korean War begins (1950–53)
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     1950 1950 
  • The Beckenham SalonCarey becomes a Zoology undergraduate in the Faculty of Natural Sciences, University College, London
  • Carey becomes a founding member of The Beckenham Salon; Arthur Bliss (later Sir Arthur Bliss, Master of the Queen’s Musick) agrees to become its President (Edmund Rubbra is also willing!)
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    Sir Winston ChurchillUK

  • Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister for the second time (1940–45, 1951–55)
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     1951 1951 
  • Three a.m.Carey abandons his Zoology studies at UCL and starts work as a Research Assistant for the Gas Council
  • 1951 is a prolific year for composition, with Carey writing numerous early works in the fields of song, piano and chamber music; works this year include Six Epigrams, Two Waltzes, Three a.m., Two Pensive Songs and Toi et Moi
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    Music

  • Stravinsky composes The Rake’s Progress
  • Schoenberg dies
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    Hydrogen bomb explosionWorld

  • First hydrogen bomb is exploded
  •  
     1952 1952 
     

    Music

  • Cage composes 4'33"
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    Elizabeth IIUK

  • George VI dies
  • Queen Elizabeth II accedes to the throne
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     1953 1953 
  • Carey marries Pat Dennis, but they are separated/divorced by around 1957
  • Carey is admitted to Trinity College of Music, London
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    Mount EverestWorld

  • Hillary & Tenzing conquer Everest for the first time
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    Sir Arnold BaxThe Arts

  • Samuel Beckett writes Waiting for Godot
  • Sir Arnold Bax dies
  • Sir Arthur Bliss replaces Bax as Master of the Queen’s Musick
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    Science

  • Colour television is introduced in the USA
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    USA

  • McCarthyism is rife at this point (c. 1950–1956)
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     1954 1954 
  • The Beckenham Salon gives its last public concert and is wound up
  • Carey wins the Sir Granville Bantock Prize for Composition
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    Anthony EdenUK

  • Anthony Eden becomes Prime Minister (1955–57)
  •  
     1955 1955 
     

    The Arts

  • Boulez composes Le marteau sans maître
  • Vladimir Nabokov writes Lolita
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     1956 1956 
  • Carey writes Overture: Fantasia on French Folk Songs as the ‘thesis’ for his Fellowship of Trinity College of Music, London
  • Other works from 1956 include The Owl, Two Sacred Songs, The Poetry of Dress and What then is Love?
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    Harold MacmillanUK

  • Harold Macmillan becomes Prime Minister (1957–63)
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     1957 1957 
  • GraduationCarey obtains his BMus (London) degree
  • Leaves Trinity College with not only his degree and composition prize, but also with all three available diplomas: Associate, Licentiate and Fellow of Trinity College of Music, London
  • Awarded scholarship by the Sir Winston Churchill Endowment Fund to study in Copenhagen
  • Writes Lyrics from the Chinese
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    Sputnik 1World

  • USSR launches the first artificial Earth satellite, Sputnik 1, on 4th October, beginning the Space Age and starting the Space Race
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    West Side StoryMusic

  • Bernstein composes West Side Story
  • Sibelius dies
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    Ralph Vaughan WilliamsMusic

  • Stravinsky composes Threni
  • Vaughan Williams dies
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     1958 1958 
  • Carey returns from Copenhagen
  • 1958–1963: Music Editor to Mills Music Ltd
  • Carey meets his future wife, Mary Mills (no relation to Mills Music!)
  • Completes the orchestral suite Cinque Port (Music for an Opera)
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    Bohuslav MartinuMusic

  • Martinů dies
  •  
     1959 1959 
     
     
     1960 1960 
  • Works completed this year include Lachrymae—In Memoriam John Dowland, Tower Hill, Humoresque and Patterns
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    World

  • Yuri Gagarin becomes the first man in space
  • Berlin Wall erected
  •  
     1961 1961 
  • 28th October: Carey Blyton marries Mary Josephine Mills in Beckenham Congregational Church
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    War RequiemMusic

  • Britten composes War Requiem
  • Stravinsky composes A Sermon, a Narrative and a Prayer
  •  
     1962 1962 
  • Enid BlytonThe Blytons move into Richard Rodney Bennett’s old flat in Marylebone High Street
  • First performance of the suite Cinque Port
  • Carey begins collaborating with Enid Blyton on Mixed Bag, which will be completed in 1963 and published in 1965
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    Theatre

  • Edward Albee writes Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
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    Alec Douglas-HomeUK

  • Alec Douglas-Home becomes Prime Minister (1963–64)
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     1963 1963 
  • Carey begins work in the field of Documentary Film and Television
  • 1963–1973: Carey is Professor of Harmony, Counterpoint and Orchestration at Trinity College of Music, London
  • 1963–1971: Carey writes the music for some thirty TV commercials during this period
  • Aside from commercial compositions, 1963 is also a highly prolific year for opus-numbered works…
  • Three Welsh Folk Songs
  • Peasant Dance
  • Six Regional Canadian Folk Songs
  • Fun with Figures
  • Three sets of Songs for Juniors: Three Food Songs, Three Insect Songs and Three Bird Songs
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    Martin Luther KingUSA

  • President John Fitzgerald Kennedy assassinated in Dallas, Texas
  • Martin Luther King makes “I have a dream” speech; is named TIME’s Man of the Year for 1963
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    QuasarScience

  • Quasars discovered by Maarten Schmidt
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    Harold WilsonUK

  • Harold Wilson becomes Prime Minister (1964–70, 1974–76)
  •  
     1964 1964 
  • Faber logoCarey becomes Music Editor to the Music Departement of Faber & Faber
  • 1964–1974: Carey is Benjamin Britten’s personal editor at Faber
  • The Silly Flea is published by Novello
  • New works this year include…
  • Three Musical Mishaps
  • Three Impressions
  • Seven Polyphonic Amens
  • Three Canadian Carols
  • Pantomime
  • A Woman’s World
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    Music

  • Stravinsky composes Elegy for J.F.K.
  • ‘Beatlemania’ sweeps the world
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     1965 1965 
  • Carey and Matthew BlytonThe Blytons move to Swanley, Kent
  • Matthew James Blyton, their first son, is born
  • Carey masterminds a concert in the Dartford Rural Arts Festival
  • Carey composes Prayers from the Ark
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    UK

  • England wins football’s World Cup
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     1966 1966 
  • Carey enters the world of documentary and film music with Julie’s Gone and Low Water
  • Other non-commercial works this year include A Catch for Wind Instruments, Three Fishy Tales and A Child was Born
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     1967 1967 
  • The Tufty Club badgeCarey provides music for a Tufty film, The Furryfolk on Holiday
  • Carey writes The Hobbit concert overture
  • Other music this year includes…
  • Robin Redbreast
  • The Bream
  • The Faber Book of Nursery Songs
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    USA

  • Martin Luther King is assassinated
  • Robert Kennedy is assassinated
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     1968 1968 
  • The Christmas SpiritIn a seemingly Christmas-themed year, Carey composes…
  • On Holiday
  • The Christmas Spirit
  • Blue Christmas
  • Stephen was a Stable-boy
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    Music

  • Britten composes The Prodigal Son
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    Neil Armstrong on the moon with the US flagWorld

  • Neil Armstrong is the first man to walk on the Moon
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     1969 1969 
  • TardisCarey is first approached to write incidental music for Doctor Who, and provides the music for three serials between 1969 and 1975: Doctor Who and the Silurians, Death to the Daleks and Revenge of the Cybermen
  • Other film and TV work this year comes in the form of The Goshawk, Before the Party and Sherlock Holmes
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    Edward HeathUK

  • Edward Heath becomes Prime Minister (1970–74)
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     1970 1970 
  • Film, TV and commercial work includes Footprints in the Jungle, Kites are Flying and Suite: Something in the Wind
  • Other music includes Ladies Only and A Little Nocturne
  • Carey writes a short story, The Carp, which goes on to win a competition in 1975
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    Doctor Who logoTV

  • Doctor Who and the Silurians, using Carey’s incidental music, is broadcast between 31st January and 14th March
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    World

  • Indo-Pakistani War
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     1971 1971 
  • Carey and Daniel BlytonDaniel Carey Blyton, the Blytons’ second son, is born
  • Carey writes the music for the TV play The Pigeon-Fancier
  • Other music written this year includes The Birds of the Air, In Memoriam Scott Fitzgerald, The Mistletoe Bough and In Lighter Mood
  • Carey writes four short stories: Old Sam and the Acorns, The Swan, A Fine Summer’s Day and Deadline
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    Igor StravinskyMusic   

  • Stravinsky dies
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    USA

  • Beginning of the Watergate scandal
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     1972 1972 
  • Bananas in Pyjamas (original)Carey writes Bananas in Pyjamas
  • Carey also writes a follow-up to Bananas in Pyjamas, Dr Shinfiddler’s Musical Zoo, which remains unpublished
  • Commercial film music this year includes The Box of Pandora, The Living River and Flying Birds
  • Concert music includes In Memoriam Django Reinhardt, Saxe Blue Flying Birds (a concert version of the film music composed this year)
  • 1972–1983: During this period, Carey is Visiting Professor of Composition for Film, Television and Radio at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London
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     1973 1973 
  • Bananas in Pyjamas (ABC version)The Australian Broadcasting Corporation takes up Bananas in Pyjamas
  • Carey produces music for the film Capital City
  • Concert music includes Fanfara Pian’ e Forte
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    Harold WilsonUK

  • Harold Wilson becomes Prime Minister again (1964–70, 1974–76)
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     1974 1974 
  • The Blytons move to ‘Hawthornden’ in Swanley, Kent
  • Death to the Daleks (see World history, under TV)
  • Works include Two Japanese Pieces, Mock Joplin and Rainbow Snake
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    USA

  • President Richard Nixon resigns over the Watergate scandal
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    DalekTV

  • Doctor Who: Death to the Daleks, using Carey’s incidental music, is broadcast between 23rd February and 16th March
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    Dmitri ShostakovichMusic

  • Philip Glass composes Einstein on the Beach
  • Shostakovich dies
  • Sir Arthur Bliss dies
  •  
     1975 1975 
  • Revenge of the Cybermen (see World history, under TV)
  • Works include God’s Gifts, A Newfoundland Posy, Dance Variations and Oceani Luni: The Oceans of the Moon
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    CybermanTV

  • Doctor Who: Revenge of the Cybermen, using Carey’s incidental music, is broadcast between 19th April and 10th May
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    James CallaghanUK

  • James Callaghan becomes Prime Minister (1976–79)
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     1976 1976 
  • Carey composes his one-act opera The Girl from Nogami
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    ConcordeWorld

  • First commercial transatlantic flight of Concorde
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    Benjamin BrittenMusic

  • Britten dies
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     1977 1977 
  • Sweeney Todd the BarberCarey writes the first of his trilogy of Victorian Melodramas, Sweeney Todd the Barber
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     1978 1978 

    Margaret ThatcherUK

  • Margaret Thatcher becomes the first woman Prime Minister (1979–1990)
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     1979 1979 
  • Noah and the UnicornsConcert music includes A Sherlock Holmes Suite and A Virginian Rhapsody
  • Carey writes a children’s book, Noah and the Unicorns
  • Carey returns to writing short stories with The Final Solution
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     1980 1980 
  • The Girl from Nogami receives its European première
  • Carey writes half a dozen short stories this year: First Prize to Miss Pettigrew, Little Mr Universe, The Great God Pan, The Spoils of War, The Golden Silence and Touchdown
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    Chares and DianaUK

  • The Royal Wedding: Prince Charles marries Lady Diana Spencer
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     1981 1981 
     

    ZX81Science

  • The £50 Sinclair ZX81 ignites the UK home computer boom of the 1980s
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    World

  • The Falklands War
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     1982 1982 
  • The Maiden DeceivedConcert works include The Maiden Deceived, Sweet and Sour Rag and Carp in the Rain
  • Carey revises a short story that he first wrote in 1957: Summit Meeting
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    Sir William WaltonMusic

  • Walton dies
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     1983 1983 
  • DraculaCarey writes Dracula!, the second of his Victorian Melodrama trilogy
  • Other new concert music includes A Shoal of Fishes, After Hokusai and Hark! The Merry Gentlemen
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     1984 1984 
  • Carey begins his extended trip to Sri Lanka and India, which will form the basis of In Search of Serendipity
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    Popular culture

  • Bob Geldof’s Live Aid raises £40 million
  •  
     1985 1985 
  • Carey spends most of the first half of the year on his extended trip to Sri Lanka and India, documenting his travels in a journal which will form the basis of In Search of Serendipity
  • Concert music: The Indian Coffee House Roof Garden Orchestra Tango and A Nursery Song Suite
  • Carey writes another short story, A Very Good Rate of Exchange
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    World

  • A meeting in Reykjavik, Iceland between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev paves the way for US–Soviet nuclear arms reduction programmes in future years
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     1986 1986 
  • Carey publishes a couple of articles (Serendipity articles) in Composer magazine, based on condensed journal entries from his previous year’s trip
  • Carey writes a piece for vibraphone: For the Delight of Shiva
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    Edmund RubbraMusic

  • Rubbra dies
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     1987 1987 
  • FrankensteinCarey writes Frankenstein!, the last in his trilogy of Victorian Melodramas
  • He also writes a short story, Beggar Your Neighbour, and his autobiographical fragment about his childhood summer spent as a wartime evacuee, Summer in the Country
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     1989 1989 
     

    John MajorUK

  • John Major becomes Prime Minister (1990–97)
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     1990 1990 
  • Carey composes Musica Mechanica
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    World

  • Operation Desert Storm (First Gulf War)
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     1991 1991 
  • Carey Blyton Miniatures CDCarey composes The Golden Road to Samarkand, his 100th numbered opus
  • Carey writes Homer’s Frogyssey (A Children’s Story for Grown-ups) and composes Eine Kleine Froschmusik
  • The first CD of Carey’s music appears: Carey Blyton: Miniatures (The Return of Bulgy Gogo)
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    John CageMusic   

  • John Cage dies
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     1992 1992 
  • Carey composes The Flea, opus 100½
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     1993 1993 
  • The 'Cellist and the NightingaleCarey composes three instrumental suites based on his Doctor Who music: Vogan Suite, Silurian Suite and Dalek Suite
  • Other concert music this year includes Indigo Blues, Two Pieces for Mandolin and Harp and The ’Cellist and the Nightingale
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    Nelson MandelaSouth Africa

  • Nelson Mandela is inaugurated as first democratically elected State President
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     1994 1994 
  • ArnoldCarey writes a series of stories under the heading The Doggy Tales of Arnold; although unpublished, one of the stories, Arnold and the Acorns, is illustrated and turned into a children’s TV programme presented by Willie Rushton
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     1995 1995 
  • The Rose and the NightingaleCarey writes an arrangement of Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Rose and the Nightingale
  • From 1995 onwards, more than a dozen CDs appear on the Apollo Sound and Upbeat Classics labels, devoted exclusively to Carey’s music; later, his music also starts appearing on CDs from other labels, notably including Dutton
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     1996 1996 
  • The Blytons move to Woodbridge, Suffolk
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    Tony BlairUK

  • Tony Blair is elected Prime Minister (1997–2007)
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     1997 1997 
  • Vale, Diana!Carey composes Vale, Diana!
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    World

  • Diana, Pricess of Wales is killed in a road traffic accident in Paris, France
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    Sir Michael TippettMusic

  • Tippett dies
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     1998 1998 
  • War Song of the SaracensCarey composes War Song of the Saracens
  • Carey is diagnosed as Type 2 Diabetic
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     1999 1999 
  • Composer Interviews no 1: Carey BlytonCarey composes In the Spice Markets of Zanzibar and Shadow-Play (Wayang Kulit)
  • 30th December: Carey Blyton grants an extended interview to his friend and former pupil Peter Thompson, who publishes the results as Composer Interviews Nº1: Carey Blyton
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     2000 2000 
  • El Tango UltimoCarey composes Lyrics from the East and Dirge for St Patrick’s Night
  • 26th March: Carey completes work on his final composition, El Tango Ultimo (opus 111)
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     2002 2002 
  • 70th Birthday Celebration14th March: Carey’s 70th Birthday Celebration is held in Beckenham Library; sadly, Carey is unable to be there in person because of ill health
  • 13th July: Carey dies at home in Woodbridge, Suffolk
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     2004 2004 
  • The first Carey Blyton website is launched at www.careyblyton.co.uk, designed by Paul Foster
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     2011 2011 
  • The Christmas Spirit (new arrangement)Fand Music Press publishes the first edition of The Christmas Spirit: in addition to the two existing versions for two voices and piano and choir and strings, a third new arrangement is published for four-part choir and piano (the first posthumous arrangement of a work by Carey)
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     2012 2012 
  • Carey Blyton and Friends19th May: Carey’s 80th Anniversary is celebrated by a commemorative concert in London, Carey Blyton & Friends
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     2013 2013 
  • Carey Blyton website icon (favicon)1st July: A new replacement Carey Blyton website is launched at www.careyblyton.com (but also retaining the old careyblyton.co.uk address), designed by Richard Hallas
  •