Freddie Phillips (Frederick Phillips) (2 August 1919 – 4 October 2003)England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007 Register Number ESC7 Entry Number 38 via ancestry was a British musician and composer, best known for his work on television

theme music Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at so ...

, particularly the children's programmes, ''

Camberwick Green ''Camberwick Green'' is a British children's television series that ran from January to March 1966 on BBC1, featuring stop motion puppets. ''Camberwick Green'' is the first in the ''Trumptonshire'' trilogy, which also includes ''Trumpton'' and ...

'', ''

Trumpton ''Trumpton'' is a British stop-motion children's television series from the producers of ''Camberwick Green''. First shown on the BBC from January to March 1967, it was the second series in the Trumptonshire, ''Trumptonshire'' trilogy, which com ...

'' and ''

Chigley ''Chigley'' (1969) is the third and final stop-motion children's television series in Gordon Murray's ''Trumptonshire'' trilogy. Production details are identical to ''Camberwick Green''. As in ''Camberwick Green'' and ''Trumpton'', the action c ...

''. Mainly a

classical guitar The classical guitar (also known as the nylon-string guitar or Spanish guitar) is a member of the guitar family used in classical music and other styles. An acoustic wooden string instrument with strings made of gut or nylon, it is a precursor o ...

ist, Phillips worked and performed in the fields of opera and ballet, including with

The Royal Ballet The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded in ...

, and with the

BBC Symphony Orchestra The BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC SO) is a British orchestra based in London. Founded in 1930, it was the first permanent salaried orchestra in London, and is the only one of the city's five major symphony orchestras not to be self-governing. T ...

. His television career began with providing musical scores for a pair of short films by

Lotte Reiniger Charlotte "Lotte" Reiniger (2 June 1899 – 19 June 1981) was a German film director and the foremost pioneer of silhouette animation. Her best known films are ''The Adventures of Prince Achmed'', from 1926, the first feature-length animated fil ...

, and composing short pieces for use in television continuity. Around this time he began his involvement with the animator

Gordon Murray Ian Gordon Murray (born 18 June 1946 in Durban, Union of South Africa), is a South African-born British designer of Formula One racing cars and the McLaren F1 road car. He is the founder and CEO of Gordon Murray Automotive. Early life Born t ...

, firstly with ''

A Rubovian Legend ''A Rubovian Legend'' is a British children's television series created by Gordon Murray. It centers around a fictional kingdom ruled by King Rufus XIV and Queen Caroline, assisted by Albert Weatherspoon and the Lord Chamberlain. Premise The sh ...

'', and later the

Trumptonshire Trumptonshire is a fictional county created by Gordon Murray, in which the ''Trumptonshire Trilogy'' of ''Camberwick Green (1966), Trumpton'' (1967), and ''Chigley'' (1969) are located. Trumptonshire is populated by characters portrayed by 8-inch ...

trilogy of children's TV programmes. Phillips wrote individual songs for the characters in the latter programmes for

Brian Cant Brian Cant (12 July 1933 – 19 June 2017) was an English actor of stage, television and film, television presenter, voice artist and writer. He was best known for his work in BBC television programmes for children from 1964 onward, most notably ...

to perform, as well as the title music. Phillips also provided many of the sound effects for the programmes, and was known for his experimental attitude towards creating the sounds he wanted, including use of an early

multitrack recording Multitrack recording (MTR), also known as multitracking or tracking, is a method of sound recording developed in 1955 that allows for the separate recording of multiple sound sources or of sound sources recorded at different times to create a ...

system,

reverb Reverberation (also known as reverb), in acoustics, is a persistence of sound, after a sound is produced. Reverberation is created when a sound or signal is reflected causing numerous reflections to build up and then decay as the sound is abso ...

, and adjustment of tape speed to create different effects. Many of Phillips' recordings were made available as vinyl records, particularly the Trumptonshire and Rubovia series. Phillips died in

Ewell Ewell ( , ) is a suburban area with a village centre in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, approximately south of central London and northeast of Epsom. In the 2011 Census, the settlement had a population of 34,872, a majority of wh ...

, Surrey, in October 2003.

Filmography

*'' Prince Achmed'' (1954 – revision of the original 1926 film by

) *''Hansel and Gretel'' (1955 animated film by Lotte Reiniger) *''The Gallant Little Tailor'' (1957) *''

Peeping Tom Lady Godiva (; died between 1066 and 1086), in Old English , was a late Anglo-Saxon noblewoman who is relatively well documented as the wife of Leofric, Earl of Mercia, and a patron of various churches and monasteries. Today, she is mainly reme ...

'' (1960) *''Barbara Hepworth'', a film by John Read (BBC) (1961) *''

'' or ''Rubovia'' (1955–60) *''

'' (1966) *''

Man in a Suitcase ''Man in a Suitcase'' is a British television private eye thriller series produced by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment. It originally aired in the United Kingdom on ITV from 27 September 1967 to 17 April 1968. ABC broadcast episodes of ''Man in a ...

'' (1967 – one episode ''The Man Who Stood Still'') *''

'' (1967) *''

'' (1969) *'' The Gublins'' (1977)

References

External links

Biography of Freddie Phillips
{{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Freddie BBC people English television composers English male composers British classical guitarists British male guitarists 2003 deaths People from Ewell Year of birth missing