Synopsis

The late Australian composer Barrington Pheloung’s music might not be familiar to concertgoers, but if you watch public television’s Mystery series, you’ve probably heard a lot of his work.

Pheloung composed music for the British Inspector Morse TV series, chronicling the cases of a Thames Valley police inspector and his loyal assistant, Robbie Lewis, and once explained how he came up with the haunting “Inspector Morse” theme:

“Morse is a very melancholic character ... and he was a lover of classical music ... He has a very cryptic mind and loves doing crosswords; we came up with the obvious idea – his name is Morse and so we used Morse code in the [theme] music.” Pheloung said the tapped code for M-O-R-S-E created a rhythm and even suggested a harmonic structure: “I picked up my guitar and there was the tune.”

Barrington Pheloung was born on today’s date in 1954 in Sydney, Australia, played drums and guitar as a kid, discovered Bach as a teen, and ended up earning a scholarship to the Royal College of Music in London. He composed music for dance, films, and TV, including “Lewis,” the sequel to the successful Inspector Morse series.

Music Played in Today's Program

Barrington Pheloung (1954-2019) Theme (From "Inspector Morse") The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra; James Fitzpatrick, conductor Silva Screen Records 4729