Martin Phipps
Encyclopedia
Martin Phipps is an award-winning British composer, who has garnered critical acclaim for his work on numerous film and television projects.
, and went on to score the BBC period dramas North and South and Elizabeth - The Virgin Queen for which he was recognised with the Ivor Novello Award for Best Original Score.
Phipps scored Low Winter Sun for Channel 4
, starring Mark Strong
and Brian McCardie
and Persuasion
, the most recent ITV
adaptation of Jane Austen
’s novel, as well as Grow Your Own
, a feature for Warp Films
. He also scored the BBC adaptation of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility
, adapted by Andrew Davies
. Phipps was then commissioned to score the BBC's most recent Oliver Twist adaptation, for which he was recognised with the Ivor Novello Award 2008 for Best Television Soundtrack.
Phipps went on to score the Rowan Joffe
helmed drama, Hurndall for Talkback Thames followed by Wallander for Yellow Bird/Left Bank Pictures, starring Kenneth Branagh
, for which he was recognised with the BAFTA Craft Award 2009 for Best Original TV Score. He then went onto write the music for the feature film, Endgame, starring William Hurt
, Derek Jacobi
, Mark Strong
, Johnny Lee Miller and Chiwitel Ejiofor, chronicling the breakdown of S. African apartheid, directed by Pete Travis
. It was entered into competition at the Sundance Film Festival
. Martin scored Small Island
for Ruby Films/BBC, winning the BAFTA Craft Award 2010 for Best Original Television Music.
In the summer of 2005 Phipps wrote the score to the film Pierrepoint, directed by Adrian Shergold. Other credits include The Wife of Bath from the BBC’s contemporary adaptation of the Canterbury Tales, and the acclaimed contemporary drama Dirty Filthy Love
. He also scored the British feature film, The Flying Scotsman
, and the BBC adaptation of the 2004 Man Booker prize winning The Line Of Beauty
by Alan Hollinghurst
.
for Cutting Edge/Marv Films, starring Michael Caine
, as well as Rowan Joffe
's feature adaptation of Graham Greene
's Brighton Rock
. Mike Diver
described Phipps' score as "rich and sumptuous of tone and depth". Martin has recently completed the score (co-written with recording-artist Emily Barker
) for the hugely intriguing and successful BBC drama The Shadow Line
. Autered by Hugo Blick for the BBC, its intensity, depth and complexity has captivated both critics and the viewing public alike, described by one critic as "a maddening, stylish experiment in doing something completely, admirably different with television".
Career
Having read drama at Manchester University, Phipps enjoyed early critical success with Eureka StreetEureka Street
Eureka Street is an Australian magazine concerned with public affairs, arts, and theology started in 1989 by Michael Kelly SJ, Morag Fraser, and Adrian Lyons SJ. It was published in paper format for 15 years and was an opinion-forming magazine for many of those years...
, and went on to score the BBC period dramas North and South and Elizabeth - The Virgin Queen for which he was recognised with the Ivor Novello Award for Best Original Score.
Phipps scored Low Winter Sun for Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
, starring Mark Strong
Mark Strong
Mark Strong is an English actor, with a body of work in both films and television. He has performed in films as varied as Body of Lies, Syriana, The Young Victoria, Sherlock Holmes, RocknRolla, Stardust, and Kick-Ass...
and Brian McCardie
Brian McCardie
Brian McCardie is a Scottish actor. He has appeared in several movies, including Speed 2: Cruise Control , playing the role as Merced. He also appeared in the mini series of Titanic.-Early life:...
and Persuasion
Persuasion (2007 TV drama)
Persuasion is an adaptation of the classic Jane Austen novel of the same name published in 1818. The TV-film premiered on 1 April 2007 on the UK channel ITV at 9pm, as part of their Jane Austen Season...
, the most recent ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
adaptation of Jane Austen
Jane Austen
Jane Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature, her realism and biting social commentary cementing her historical importance among scholars and critics.Austen lived...
’s novel, as well as Grow Your Own
Grow Your Own
Grow Your Own is the fourth album and third studio album released by the folk rock band ThaMuseMeant in 2000. Most of the songs were written by Nathan Moore, with two exceptions; "My Love" and "Take A Drink", which were written by Aimee Curl....
, a feature for Warp Films
Warp Films
Warp is one of the foremost and most respected creative independent companies, now composed of Warp Records, Warp Films and Warp Music Videos & Commercials. It is based in London, England and Sheffield, with a further office now in Melbourne, Australia...
. He also scored the BBC adaptation of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility
Sense and Sensibility (2008 TV serial)
Sense and Sensibility is a 2008 British television serial adapted by the BBC from Jane Austen's novel of the same name. It was written by Andrew Davies and directed by John Alexander. The serial was aired on BBC One in three parts on 1, 6 and 13 January 2008. It aired the United States in two...
, adapted by Andrew Davies
Andrew Davies
Andrew Davies may refer to:*Andrew Davies *Andrew Davies , Welsh Labour politician*Andrew R. T. Davies, Welsh Conservative politician*Andrew Davies , Welsh darts player*Andrew Davies , English defender...
. Phipps was then commissioned to score the BBC's most recent Oliver Twist adaptation, for which he was recognised with the Ivor Novello Award 2008 for Best Television Soundtrack.
Phipps went on to score the Rowan Joffe
Rowan Joffé
Rowan Marc Joffé is a British screenwriter and director. He is the son of director Roland Joffé and actress Jane Lapotaire, and half-brother of actress Nathalie Lunghi....
helmed drama, Hurndall for Talkback Thames followed by Wallander for Yellow Bird/Left Bank Pictures, starring Kenneth Branagh
Kenneth Branagh
Kenneth Charles Branagh is an actor and film director from Northern Ireland. He is best known for directing and starring in several film adaptations of William Shakespeare's plays including Henry V , Much Ado About Nothing , Hamlet Kenneth Charles Branagh is an actor and film director from...
, for which he was recognised with the BAFTA Craft Award 2009 for Best Original TV Score. He then went onto write the music for the feature film, Endgame, starring William Hurt
William Hurt
William McGill Hurt is an American stage and film actor. He received his acting training at the Juilliard School, and began acting on stage in the 1970s. Hurt made his film debut as a troubled scientist in the science-fiction feature Altered States , for which he received a Golden Globe nomination...
, Derek Jacobi
Derek Jacobi
Sir Derek George Jacobi, CBE is an English actor and film director.A "forceful, commanding stage presence", Jacobi has enjoyed a highly successful stage career, appearing in such stage productions as Hamlet, Uncle Vanya, and Oedipus the King. He received a Tony Award for his performance in...
, Mark Strong
Mark Strong
Mark Strong is an English actor, with a body of work in both films and television. He has performed in films as varied as Body of Lies, Syriana, The Young Victoria, Sherlock Holmes, RocknRolla, Stardust, and Kick-Ass...
, Johnny Lee Miller and Chiwitel Ejiofor, chronicling the breakdown of S. African apartheid, directed by Pete Travis
Pete Travis
Pete Travis is an English television and film director. His work includes Cold Feet , The Jury and Omagh for television, and Vantage Point and Endgame for cinema...
. It was entered into competition at the Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
. Martin scored Small Island
Small Island (television drama)
Small Island is a two-part 2009 BBC One television drama adapted from the 2004 novel of the same title by Andrea Levy. The programme stars Naomie Harris and Ruth Wilson as joint respective female protagonists Hortense Roberts and Queenie Bligh, two women who struggle to fulfil their personal...
for Ruby Films/BBC, winning the BAFTA Craft Award 2010 for Best Original Television Music.
In the summer of 2005 Phipps wrote the score to the film Pierrepoint, directed by Adrian Shergold. Other credits include The Wife of Bath from the BBC’s contemporary adaptation of the Canterbury Tales, and the acclaimed contemporary drama Dirty Filthy Love
Dirty Filthy Love
Dirty Filthy Love is a British single television drama starring Michael Sheen as an architect living with obsessive-compulsive disorder and Tourette syndrome....
. He also scored the British feature film, The Flying Scotsman
The Flying Scotsman (film)
The Flying Scotsman is a 2006 British drama film, based on the life and career of Scottish amateur cyclist Graeme Obree. The film covers the period of Obree's life that saw him take, lose, and then retake the world one-hour distance record...
, and the BBC adaptation of the 2004 Man Booker prize winning The Line Of Beauty
The Line of Beauty
The Line of Beauty is a 2004 Booker Prize-winning novel by Alan Hollinghurst.-Plot introduction:Set in Britain in the early to mid-1980s, the story surrounds the post-Oxford life of the young gay protagonist, Nick Guest....
by Alan Hollinghurst
Alan Hollinghurst
Alan Hollinghurst is a British novelist, and winner of the 2004 Man Booker Prize for The Line of Beauty.-Biography:Hollinghurst was born on 26 May 1954 in Stroud, Gloucestershire, the only child of James Hollinghurst, a bank manager, and his wife, Elizabeth...
.
Recent work
Phipps scored the gripping UK thriller feature Harry BrownHarry Brown
Harry Brown may refer to:*Harry Brown , Canadian radio and television host*Harry W. Brown , Canadian recipient of the Victoria Cross*Harry W...
for Cutting Edge/Marv Films, starring Michael Caine
Michael Caine
Sir Michael Caine, CBE is an English actor. He won Academy Awards for best supporting actor in both Hannah and Her Sisters and The Cider House Rules ....
, as well as Rowan Joffe
Rowan Joffé
Rowan Marc Joffé is a British screenwriter and director. He is the son of director Roland Joffé and actress Jane Lapotaire, and half-brother of actress Nathalie Lunghi....
's feature adaptation of Graham Greene
Graham Greene
Henry Graham Greene, OM, CH was an English author, playwright and literary critic. His works explore the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world...
's Brighton Rock
Brighton Rock
Brighton Rock is a novel by Graham Greene, published in 1938, and later made into films, a 1947 film and a 2010 film. The novel is a murder thriller set in 1930s Brighton. The title is a reference to a confectionery traditionally sold at seaside resorts, used as a metaphor for human character...
. Mike Diver
Mike Diver
Mike Diver is a British music journalist. He started his career at music website Drowned in Sound, where he became editor, before moving on in 2008 to become editor of Clash magazine's website. He has contributed to several magazines including NME and Rock Sound.Diver is currently album reviews...
described Phipps' score as "rich and sumptuous of tone and depth". Martin has recently completed the score (co-written with recording-artist Emily Barker
Emily Barker
Emily Barker is a guitarist and singer-songwriter born in Bridgetown, Western Australia. With chamber-folk trio The Red Clay Halo, she has recorded three albums: Photos.Fires.Fables. , Despite The Snow and Almanac...
) for the hugely intriguing and successful BBC drama The Shadow Line
The Shadow Line (TV series)
The Shadow Line is a seven-part British television drama serial produced by Company Pictures/Eight Rooks Ltd/Baby Cow/CinemaNX production for BBC Two...
. Autered by Hugo Blick for the BBC, its intensity, depth and complexity has captivated both critics and the viewing public alike, described by one critic as "a maddening, stylish experiment in doing something completely, admirably different with television".
External links
- http://www.coolmusicltd.com/composers_detail.asp?id=14 Martin Phipps at COOL Music Ltd.
- http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0681040/ Martin Phipps on IMDb