Barrington Somers James Pheloung (10 May 1954 – 1 August 2019) was an Australian composer based in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. He composed several television theme tunes and music, particularly for ''

Inspector Morse Detective Chief Inspector Endeavour Morse, GM, is the eponymous fictional character in the series of detective novels by British author Colin Dexter. On television, he appears in the 33-episode drama series '' Inspector Morse'' (1987–2000), ...

'' and its follow-up series, ''

Lewis Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * "Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...

'', and prequel '' Endeavour''.

Early life and studies

Pheloung was born 10 May 1954 in

Manly, New South Wales Manly is a beach-side suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is north-east of the Sydney central business district and is currently one of the three administrative centres of the Local government in Australia ...

, and grew up in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

's northern beaches suburbs. He was born to father John Pheloung who was of Irish and English descent, and mother Adel (nee Reber) Pheloung who was of German and Spanish descent. He began playing R&B guitar in clubs, but his discovery of

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

in his late teens drew him to the classical repertoire. In 1972 at age of 18, Pheloung moved to London where he studied guitar, double bass, and composition at the Chiswick Music Centre, then part of Chiswick Polytechnic (now

Brunel University Brunel University London is a public research university located in the Uxbridge area of London, England. It was founded in 1966 and named after the Victorian engineer and pioneer of the Industrial Revolution, Isambard Kingdom Brunel. In June 1 ...

), before proceeding to the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...

to study composition with John Lambert and guitar under

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (15 November 2022)Classic Connection review ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who wa ...

and

Julian Bream Julian Alexander Bream (15 July 193314 August 2020) was an English classical guitarist and lutenist. Regarded as one of the most distinguished classical guitarists of the 20th century, he played a significant role in improving the public per ...

. There he also took instruction in conducting. In his second year, he received his first commission for a ballet score.

Composer

Pheloung is best known for the theme and incidental music to the ''

'' television series, for which he was nominated for Best Original Television Music at the

British Academy Television Awards The BAFTA TV Awards, or British Academy Television Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the BAFTA. They have been awarded annually since 1955. Background The first-ever Awards, given in 1955, consisted of six categories. Until ...

in 1991; the sequel ''

'', and the prequel '' Endeavour''. He also composed for dance companies such as the

London Contemporary Dance Theatre The London Contemporary Dance Theatre (LCDT) was a contemporary dance company, based at The Place, founded by Robin Howard with Robert Cohan as its Artistic Director. Founded in 1967, and strongly influenced by the ideas of American modern and pos ...

, and for events including the opening night of the

Millennium Dome The Millennium Dome was the original name of the large dome-shaped building on the Greenwich Peninsula in South East (London sub region), South East London, England, which housed a major exhibition celebrating the beginning of the third millenn ...

. Pheloung also wrote the theme music for the BBC television series ''

Dalziel and Pascoe Detective Superintendent Andrew "Andy" Dalziel and Detective Sergeant, later Detective Inspector, Peter Pascoe are two fictional Yorkshire detectives featuring in a series of novels by Reginald Hill. Characterisation and style Dalziel is ...

''. His film work included ''

Hilary and Jackie ''Hilary and Jackie'' is a 1998 British biographical film directed by Anand Tucker, starring Emily Watson and Rachel Griffiths as the British classical musician sisters Jacqueline du Pré (cello) and Hilary du Pré (flute). The film covers Jacqu ...

'' (1998), based on the life of the

cellist The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, D3 ...

Jacqueline du Pré Jacqueline Mary du Pré (26 January 1945 – 19 October 1987) was a British cellist. At a young age, she achieved enduring mainstream popularity. Despite her short career, she is regarded as one of the greatest cellists of all time. Her care ...

, for which he was nominated for the Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music at the 52nd British Academy Film Awards. Other works include ''

Truly, Madly, Deeply ''Truly, Madly, Deeply'' is a 1990 British fantasy drama film made for the BBC's ''Screen Two'' series, by BBC Films, Lionheart and Winston Pictures. The film, written and directed by Anthony Minghella, stars Juliet Stevenson and Alan Rickman. ...

'' (1990), ''

Twin Dragons ''Twin Dragons'' (also known as ''Shuang long hui'' and ''Brother vs. Brother'') is a 1992 Hong Kong action comedy film directed by Ringo Lam and Tsui Hark, and starring Jackie Chan in a double role as identical twin brothers separated at bir ...

'' (1992), ''

Shopping Shopping is an activity in which a customer browses the available goods or services presented by one or more retailers with the potential intent to purchase a suitable selection of them. A Retail#Shopper profiles, typology of shopper types ha ...

'' (1994), ''

Nostradamus Michel de Nostredame (December 1503 – July 1566), usually Latinised as Nostradamus, was a French astrologer, apothecary, physician, and reputed seer, who is best known for his book ''Les Prophéties'' (published in 1555), a collection o ...

'' (1994), '' The Mangler'' (1995), ''Touching Wild Horses'' (2002), ''

Shopgirl ''Shopgirl'' is a 2005 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Anand Tucker and starring Steve Martin, Claire Danes, and Jason Schwartzman. The screenplay by Steve Martin is based on his 2000 novella of the same title. The film is about ...

'' (2005), '' Little Fugitive'' (2006) and ''A Previous Engagement'' (2008). He also composed the scores to

Revolution Software Revolution Software Limited is a British video game developer based in York, founded in 1989 by Charles Cecil, Tony Warriner, David Sykes, and Noirin Carmody. Company history 1992–1994: ''Lure of the Temptress'' and ''Beneath a Steel Sky'' ...

adventure game An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and/or Puzzle video game, puzzle-solving. The Video game genres, genre's focus on story allows it to draw ...

s ''

In Cold Blood ''In Cold Blood'' is a non-fiction novel by American author Truman Capote, first published in 1966. It details the 1959 murders of four members of the Clutter family in the small farming community of Holcomb, Kansas. Capote learned of the qua ...

'' and three ''

Broken Sword ''Broken Sword'' is a series of adventure games. The first game in the series, '' Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars'', was released and developed in 1996 by British developer Revolution Software. Its sequel, '' Broken Sword II: The Smok ...

'' video games. Pheloung's other work included music for the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architec ...

's Twentieth Birthday Celebrations and he contributed to the music for the film ''

'', in which he also appeared. He composed the incidental music for the first series of ''

Boon Boon may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Boon (game), a trick-taking card game * ''Boon'' (novel), a 1915 satirical work by H. G. Wells * ''Boon'' (TV series), a British television series starring Michael Elphick * The Ultimate Boo ...

''. In 2009 he composed the music for ''1983'', the concluding episode of the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

drama series ''

Red Riding ''Red Riding'' is a British crime drama limited series written by Tony Grisoni and based on the book series of the same name by David Peace. The series comprises the novels ''Nineteen Seventy-Four'' (1999), ''Nineteen Seventy-Seven'' (2000), ' ...

''.

Personal life and death

Pheloung married Anita Griffin in 1979, the couple had two children together, but the marriage ended in divorce. He later married Heather Lovejoy with whom he had a further two children. He died in August 2019 at the age of 65 of

respiratory failure Respiratory failure results from inadequate gas exchange by the respiratory system, meaning that the arterial oxygen, carbon dioxide, or both cannot be kept at normal levels. A drop in the oxygen carried in the blood is known as hypoxemia; a rise ...

.The Times obituary
/ref> He was survived by his second wife and his four children.

Discography

* ''Red Riding'', 2009 * ''Lewis'', Music from Series 1 & 2, 2008 * ''And When Did You Last See Your Father?'' 2007 * ''Shopgirl'', 2006 * ''The Magic of Inspector Morse'', 2000 * ''Inspirations'', 2001 * ''Hilary and Jackie'', 1998 * ''The Passion of Morse'', 1997 * ''The Essential Inspector Morse Collection'', 1995 * ''Shopping'', 1994 * ''Nostradamus'', 1994 * ''Days of Majesty'', 1993 * ''Inspector Morse'' Vol. 3, 1992 * ''Inspector Morse'' Vol. 2, 1992 * ''Inspector Morse'' Vol. 1, 1991

Credits

*'' Endeavour'', 2012–19 *''

'', 2009 *'' Incendiary'', 2008 *''

And When Did You Last See Your Father? ''And When Did You Last See Your Father?'' is a 2007 British drama film directed by Anand Tucker. The screenplay by David Nicholls is based on the 1993 memoir of the same title by Blake Morrison. Plot While Blake Morrison, his mother, and ...

'' 2007 *''

'', 2006–2015 *''

'', 2005 *''Touching Wild Horses'', 2002 *''

'', 1998 *''

'', 1996-98 *''

'', 1996 *'' Saint-Ex'', 1995 *'' The Mangler'', 1994 *''

'', 1994 *''

The Legends of Treasure Island ''The Legends of Treasure Island'' is a British animated television series. It had two series of 13 episodes each and each episode runs for 22–25 minutes. The series was loosely based on Robert Louis Stevenson's original 1883 novel ''Treasure ...

'', 1993 *''

'', 1991 *''

Portrait of a Marriage ''Portrait of a Marriage: Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson'' is the 1973 biography of writer and gardener Vita Sackville-West compiled by her son Nigel Nicolson from her journals and letters. Synopsis The book relates to Sackville-West ...

'', 1990 *''Friendships’s Death'', 1987 *''

'', 1987–2000

Video games

* '' Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars'', 1996. * '' Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror'', 1997. *''

'', 2000. * '' Broken Sword 5: The Serpent's Curse'', 2013–2014.

References

External links

* *
Barrington Pheloung
at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pheloung, Barrington 1954 births 2019 deaths Australian composers Australian male composers Australian emigrants to England Inspector Morse Musicians from Sydney People educated at St Aloysius' College (Sydney)