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Paul Leonard-Morgan

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Paul Leonard-Morgan
white male wearing black pants and jacket with white shirt and a scarf, standing with awards-ceremony stage background, smiling at camera
Leonard-Morgan in 2019
Background information
Born1974 (age 49–50)
Scotland
GenresFilm score, classical
OccupationComposer
InstrumentPiano
Years active1997–present
Labels
Websitepaulleonardmorgan.com

Paul Leonard-Morgan (born 1974) is a Scottish composer particularly known for his work in scoring for television and film. He won a Scottish BAFTA for the film Reflections upon the Origin of the Pineapple (2000), which was his first film score.[1][2]

Early life

Leonard-Morgan's mother was a music teacher. As a child, he learned to play the piano, violin, and recorder.[3] He studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, graduating in 1995 with a BA in musical studies.[4]

Career

Leonard-Morgan's first album, Filmtales, was released in 2007. Between 2006 and 2011, he wrote scores for the BBC spy drama Spooks.[5] In 2007, he worked on the documentary J.K. Rowling: A Year in the Life, providing the backing music that went with the film that showed the author working on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.[6]

In 2008, he was chosen by the U.S. Olympic Committee to compose a new U.S. Olympic Team anthem.[7] In the same year, he also wrote the music for Neil Oliver's BBC television series A History of Scotland.[8] His score was performed by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in 2009.[9]

In 2011, Leonard-Morgan composed the soundtrack for the sci-fi thriller Limitless,[10][11] and he also wrote music for the television series based on the film. In 2012, he scored the sci-fi film Dredd,[12] for which he was shortlisted at the 2013 World Soundtrack Public Choice Award.[13] Also in 2012, Leonard-Morgan composed the queue music for Test Track at Epcot.[14]

Leonard-Morgan first became involved with video game soundtracks by composing material for Battlefield Hardline, which was released in March 2015.[15][16] In May 2016, a trailer for Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III was released, which included his composition;[17] the game came out in 2017, with a score by Leonard-Morgan.[18]

Leonard-Morgan cowrote the score for the video game Cyberpunk 2077. In an interview with Headliner Magazine on creating the score and soundtrack for the game, he said, "Writing dark music is relatively easy. Writing dark music like nobody else has ever written before is a little bit harder".[19]

Awards and honours

Selected discography

Film
Year Title Director(s) Studio
2007 Popcorn Darren Paul Fisher Moviehouse Entertainment
2011 Limitless Neil Burger Relativity Media
2012 Dredd Pete Travis Lionsgate
2013 The Numbers Station Kasper Barfoed Image Entertainment
2013 Walking with Dinosaurs Neil Nightingale
Barry Cook 		20th Century Fox
2014 Legendary Eric Styles
2016 Amateurs in Space Max Kestner One Filmverleih
The B-Side: Elsa Dorfman's Portrait Photography Errol Morris
2017 Accidental Anarchist John Archer
Clara Glynn 		TVF International
2018 American Dharma Errol Morris Utopia
2019 The Tomorrow Man Noble Jones Bleecker Street
Last Breath Richard da Costa
Alex Parkinson 		Dogwoof
2021 Best Sellers Lina Roessler Screen Media
2022 Gigi & Nate Nick Hamm Roadside Attractions
2023 Boston Strangler Matt Ruskin 20th Century Studios
The Pigeon Tunnel Errol Morris Apple TV+
2024 Separated Errol Morris MSNBC Films
Television
Year Title Studio Notes
2004–2005 The Brief ITV Composed with John E. Keane
2006 Galápagos BBC Two Documentary TV series
2006–2011 Spooks BBC One
2008 A History of Scotland BBC One TV series documentary
2012 How to Grow a Planet BBC Two TV series documentary
2012 Falcón Sky Atlantic TV miniseries
2012–2016 Murder BBC Two TV miniseries
2015–2016 Limitless CBS
2017 Wormwood Netflix TV docudrama miniseries
2017–2022 Dynasty The CW Theme music composed with Bill Conti and Troy Nõka
2016–present The Grand Tour Amazon Studios
2019 Designated Survivor Netflix Composed for season 3
2020 Tales from the Loop Amazon Studios Composed with Philip Glass
The Nest BBC One
2021 Myth & Mogul: John DeLorean Netflix TV docudrama miniseries
2023 Fellow Travelers Showtime TV miniseries
Video games
Year Title Studio Notes
2015 Battlefield Hardline Visceral Games
2017 Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III Relic Entertainment
2020 Cyberpunk 2077 CD Projekt Red Composed with Marcin Przybyłowicz and P. T. Adamczyk
Solo
Year Title Notes
2007 Filmtales Studio album

References

  1. ^ Murray, Graeme (16 March 2011). "Scot Scores With New DeNiro Movie's Music". Daily Star. p. 17. It is the latest milestone for BAFTA award-winner Paul Leonard-Morgan who also wrote the music for BBC TV spy series Spooks
  2. ^ "Reflections Upon the Origin of the Pineapple (2000) - IMDb". IMDb.
  3. ^ Melville, Jonathan (18 January 2013). "Interview: Paul Leonard-Morgan on scoring Dredd". www.reelscotland.com. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
  4. ^ "RSAMD". The Herald. 6 July 1995. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
  5. ^ Sweeting, Adam (31 January 2008). "Why British composers are calling the tune in Hollywood". The Daily Telegraph. p. 27. The theme is amplified by Paul Leonard-Morgan, creator of the ultra-atmospheric album Filmtales and a regular TV name thanks to his music for series including Spooks, Fallen and Galapagos
  6. ^ ""Limitless"? I Had Three Weeks to Come Up with the Soundtrack". News of the World. 3 April 2011. p. 9. It's your music on the documentary A Year In The Life Of JK Rowling
  7. ^ Davidson, Vicky (6 November 2007). "Secret City Music Star Set for Global TV Fame; Going for Gold Glasgow composer gets the chance of Olympic glory by creating the US team's anthem". Evening Times. p. 16. But now the Bafta-winning Glasgow composer is set to take his compositions on to a world stage after recording the American Olympic team's anthem for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
  8. ^ Bruce, Keith (1 December 2009). "REVIEW; Music". The Herald. p. 17. The BBC's main reason for the concert was to promote the music Paul Leonard Morgan has written for the History of Scotland TV series
  9. ^ "Classical review: BBC SSO". The Scotsman. 30 November 2009. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  10. ^ Koehler, Robert (14 March 2011). "Film Reviews: Limitless". Variety. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
  11. ^ Murray, Graeme (16 March 2011). "Scot Scores With New DeNiro Movie's Music". Daily Star. p. 17. A Scots composer has written the musical score for a new Hollywood movie starring screen Legend Robert De Niro.
  12. ^ Child, Ben (3 September 2012). "No-nonsense Dredd gives fans nothing to fear". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
  13. ^ Loxton, Rachel (7 August 2013). "City composer up for film award". Evening Times. p. 3. Paul Leonard-Morgan was shortlisted for World Soundtrack Public Choice Award 2013 for the music he composed for the film Dredd.
  14. ^ Heaton, Dan (21 June 2018). "45. Composer Paul Leonard-Morgan on Creating the Score for Test Track". Tomorrow Society. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  15. ^ "Interview: Paul Leonard-Morgan". M Magazine. PRS for Music. 25 August 2014. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
  16. ^ Tiedemann, Garrett (24 April 2015). "Interview: 'Battlefield: Hardline' composer Paul Leonard-Morgan". www.classicalmpr.org. Minnesota Public Radio. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
  17. ^ Mackie, Gareth (10 May 2016). "Glasgow studio wades into battle with Warhammer trailer". The Scotsman. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  18. ^ "Live Interview with Dawn of War III Composer Paul Leonard-Morgan". 19 October 2016. Retrieved 23 December 2016.
  19. ^ "Cyberpunk 2077: Inside the Score". headlinermagazine.net. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  20. ^ "From the East End to top Scots award, via Tinsel Town Former soap star rewarded with Bafta for her television directorial debut". The Herald. 27 November 2000. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
  21. ^ "WSA Discovery of the Year nominees announced". www.worldsoundtrackawards.com. Archived from the original on 29 October 2020.
  22. ^ "Paul Leonard-Morgan".
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