The Snowman composer Howard Blake pays tribute to Raymond Briggs

The Snowman composer Howard Blake has paid tribute to his friend and collaborator Raymond Briggs who died on Tuesday.

Blake wrote the music for the Channel 4 1981 film The Snowman, which has become a perennial favourite on television screens. It includes the classic song ‘Walking in the Air’.

Speaking to the Londoner, Blake said: “Raymond Briggs was an artist of a most rare and wonderful talent, whose keenly-observant water-colour drawings magically revealed the diversity and wonder of the world without the use of words.”

“This opened his appeal to all nations and ages but most of all to the very young. In his original storybook of the Snowman there was not one single word, but everybody could understand the story”.

Blake explained how they came to work on their famous collaboration. “This was 1981 and Channel 4 was just opening. Jeremy Isaacs asked Raymond if he might make a short test-film of The Snowman and it happened that I was asked to view it” he said.

“It was a film of the picture-book and was just 9-minutes long. For me it was a dream come true. ‘Would Raymond allow me to create music for it?’ He would! I recorded music on the piano which included ‘Walking in the Air’ and showed the film to CEO of Channel 4 Jeremy Isaacs,  suggesting I could extend it to a Television half-hour – but on no account could there be any words.  By agreeing to this Raymond had caused a whole new genre: A film whose dialogue is music.  And a most wonderful success.”

Blake added: “I shall miss you Raymond - and so will all the children of the world”.