Barrington Pheloung facts for kids

Barrington Pheloung (born May 10, 1954, died August 1, 2019) was a talented composer from Australia. He lived and worked in the United Kingdom. He is famous for writing the music for popular TV shows like Inspector Morse, Lewis, and Endeavour.

Early Life and Musical Journey

Barrington Pheloung was born on May 10, 1954, in Manly, New South Wales, Australia. He grew up in the northern beach areas of Sydney. As a teenager, he started playing R&B guitar in clubs.

Later, he discovered the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, a famous classical composer. This discovery made him interested in classical music. In 1972, when he was 18, Pheloung moved to London, England. There, he studied guitar, double bass, and how to compose music. He also learned how to conduct, which means leading an orchestra.

While studying, he received his first job to write music for a ballet. This was an exciting start to his career.

Composing for TV and Film

Pheloung is most well-known for the theme music and background scores for the TV series Inspector Morse. He also wrote music for its follow-up shows, Lewis, and the prequel Endeavour. His music for Inspector Morse was so good that he was nominated for a British Academy Television Award in 1991. He also composed the theme music for another BBC show called Dalziel and Pascoe.

He also composed music for several films. One of his notable film works was Hilary and Jackie (1998). This film was about the life of a famous cellist named Jacqueline du Pré. For this movie, he was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Film Music. Other films he worked on include Truly, Madly, Deeply (1990), Twin Dragons (1992), and Shopgirl (2005).

Music for Video Games

Barrington Pheloung also created music for video games. He composed scores for several adventure games by Revolution Software. These include In Cold Blood and three games from the popular Broken Sword series.

Personal Life and Passing

Barrington Pheloung was married twice. He first married Anita Griffin in 1979, and they had two children together. This marriage later ended. He then married Heather Lovejoy, and they had two more children.

Pheloung passed away in August 2019 at the age of 65. He was survived by his second wife and his four children.

Discography

Credits

Video Games

• Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars, 1996.
• Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror, 1997.
• In Cold Blood, 2000.
• Broken Sword 5: The Serpent's Curse, 2013–2014.