George Richard Ian Howe Fenton (born 19 October 1949), known professionally as George Fenton, is an English composer. Best known for his work writing film scores and music for television, he has received five Academy Award nominations, several Ivor Novello, BAFTA, Golden Globe, Emmy and BMI Awards, and a Classic BRIT. He is one of 18 songwriters and composers to have been made a Fellow of the Ivors Academy (formally BASCA).
He has frequently collaborated with the directors Richard Attenborough, Nora Ephron, Alastair Fothergill, Stephen Frears, Nicholas Hytner, Ken Loach, Andy Tennant, Neil Jordan and Terry Gilliam.
Early life and career
George Fenton was born in 1949 in Bromley, Kent, one of five siblings. He was educated at Carn Brea School and St. Edward's School, Oxford. He began learning the guitar at the age of 8 and at St. Edwards studied the organ with Peter Whitehouse. He did not attend music college but continued to study with Pete Whitehouse and subsequently with the ethnomusicologist and composer, John Leach.
In 1968 he appeared in Alan Bennett's first West End play Forty Years On. The following year he was offered a place at the Central School of Speech and Drama but had by then decided to continue with his music and had a record contract with MCA Records. For the next few years, he continued to work in theatre playing small parts and playing and writing music. In 1969, his cover of the Beatles "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" was released and became a large hit in Sweden, reaching number six on Kvällstoppen and number one for two weeks on Tio i Topp in late January 1970.
Theatre
In 1974, Fenton received his first major commission, as composer and musical director for Peter Gill's theatre production of Twelfth Night by the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon. Beat The Devil and Racing Demon.
In 1992, George Fenton was credited with the soundtrack to Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show at Disneyland, Paris.
Television drama
Fenton wrote his first television score in 1976. This was a continuation of his collaboration with Peter Gill and it was for Gill's production of Hitting Town written by Stephen Poliakoff.
By the late 1970s, Fenton was working regularly in television. His television work has included the regular role of soldier Martin Gimbel in Emmerdale Farm (1975-1976), LWT's Six Plays by Alan Bennett, Objects Of Affection, An Englishman Abroad, Talking Heads (2003), Bloody Kids, Going Gently, Walter, Saigon: Year of The Cat, Fox, Out, Telling Tales, The History Man (TV series), Shoestring (TV series), The Monocled Mutineer and the multi BAFTA winning The Jewel In The Crown.
Wildlife television documentaries
Fenton has composed for a number of notable wildlife television programmes, often collaborating with the wildlife broadcaster David Attenborough and the nature documentary filmmaker Alastair Fothergill. He started on the BBC's long-running series Wildlife on One and Natural World.
Since 1990, he has written the music for a number of wildlife series including The Trials of Life, Life in the Freezer, The Blue Planet, Planet Earth, and Frozen Planet. Other documentaries include Beyond The Clouds, Shanghai Vice and Between Clouds and Dreams (for Director Phil Agland).
In 2003, he composed and conducted the music for the feature documentary film, Deep Blue. It was performed by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra – the first film score the orchestra had recorded in its history. In 2007 they repeated the collaboration for the feature documentary film, Earth.
In 2022 George partnered up with Alastair Fothergill and David Attenborough again, this time for BBC One’s Wild Isles series.
Television and radio themes
Fenton has composed the jingles or theme music to dozens of British television and radio programmes,
Feature films
Fenton has written the music for over one hundred feature films.
His first major break came in 1982
Fenton's long-standing collaboration with Stephen Frears has not been limited to television productions. Fenton has scored four of Frear's feature films: Dangerous Liaisons, Hero, Mary Reilly and Mrs Henderson Presents. He also worked with the director Neil Jordan, scoring The Company of Wolves, High Spirits and We're No Angels.
Fenton has scored more feature films for Ken Loach than for any other filmmaker, by 2023, a total of 18. This started in 1994 with Ladybird, Ladybird followed by Land and Freedom, Carla's Song, My Name Is Joe, Bread and Roses, The Navigators, Sweet Sixteen, Ae Fond Kiss..., The Wind That Shakes the Barley which won the Palme d'Or at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, It's a Free World..., Looking for Eric, The Angels' Share, the documentary film The Spirit of '45, Jimmy's Hall, I, Daniel Blake and, most recently, Sorry We Missed You and The Old Oak.
Fenton has developed other long-standing collaborations with filmmakers, scoring several films each for directors as diverse as Harold Ramis, Nora Ephron, Phil Joanou and Andy Tennant, including Multiplicity, Groundhog Day, Mixed Nuts, You've Got Mail, Final Analysis, The Fisher King, Heaven's Prisoners, Ever After: A Cinderella Story, Sweet Home Alabama (film), Anna and the King, Hitch, Bewitched and The Secret: Dare to Dream and Andy Tennant's new thriller Unit 234.
Live
Fenton won an Ivor Novello Award, BAFTA and Emmy Award for Best Television Score for The Blue Planet and, in October 2002, he created "The Blue Planet in Concert" which was premiered at the Royal Festival Hall in London. He subsequently created Planet Earth In Concert and Frozen Planet In Concert and took these concerts to venues such as Hollywood Bowl, Sydney Opera House, Wembley Arena and the Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam.
In 2003, he scored and conducted the music for the documentary film Deep Blue, which was performed by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, the first film score the orchestra had recorded in its history. In 2007, they repeated the collaboration for the documentary film, Earth. With the producer Jane Carter, Fenton turned each of the scores into concert works. His live film scores continue to be performed by orchestras worldwide.
Honours
Fenton was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2023 New Year Honours for services to music.
Discography
Films
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Director
! Studio(s)
! Notes
|-
| 1971
| Private Road
| Barney Platts-Mills
|
|-
| 1977
| A Lustful Lady
| Hal E. Woode
|
| Short film
|-
| rowspan=3| 1978
| Me! I'm Afraid of Virginia Woolf
| rowspan=2|Stephen Frears
|
| rowspan=2|Television film
|-
| Doris and Doreen
|-
| The Waterloo Bridge Handicap
| Ross Cramer
|
| Short film
|-
| 1979
| Afternoon Off
| rowspan=2|Stephen Frears
|
| Television film
|-
| rowspan=5|1980
| Bloody Kids
|
|-
| Hussy
| Matthew Chapman
| First Run Features
|
|-
| Rain on the Roof
| Alan Bridges
| Pennies From Heaven Ltd.
| Television film
|-
| The Tumour Principle
| Arthur Ellis
| NFTS
| rowspan=2| Short film
|-
| Dead End
| Alan Birkinshaw
|
|-
| 1981
| No Country for Old Men
| Tristram Powell
|
| Television film
|-
| rowspan=3|1982
| Gandhi
| Richard Attenborough
| Columbia Pictures
|
|-
|-
| Walter
| Stephen Frears
|
| rowspan=3| Television film
|-
| Parole
| Michael Tuchner
|
|-
| rowspan=4|1983
| Walter and June
| Stephen Frears
|
|-
| Runners
| Charles Sturridge
|
|
|-
| Saigon: Year of the Cat
| Stephen Frears
|
| rowspan=2| Television film
|-
| An Englishman Abroad
| John Schlesinger
|
|-
| 1984
| The Company of Wolves
| Neil Jordan
| ITC Entertainment
|
|-
| 1985
| Past Caring
| Richard Eyre
|
| Television film
|-
| 1986
| Clockwise
| Christopher Morahan
| Universal Pictures
|
|-
| rowspan=4|1987
| 84 Charing Cross Road
| David Jones
| Columbia Pictures
|
|-
| Billy the Kid and the Green Baize Vampire
| Alan Clarke
| ITC Entertainment
|
|-
| Cry Freedom
| Richard Attenborough
| Universal Pictures
|
|-
| White Mischief
| Michael Radford
| Columbia Pictures
|
|-
| rowspan=4|1988
| A Handful of Dust
| Charkes Sturridge
| New Line Cinema
|
|-
| High Spirits
| Neil Jordan
| Palace Pictures
|
|-
| Dangerous Liaisons
| Stephen Frears
| Warner Bros. Pictures
|
|-
| The Dressmaker
| Jim O'Brien
| Euro American Pictures
|
|-
| 1989
| We're No Angels
| Neil Jordan
| Paramount Pictures
|
|-
| rowspan=3|1990
| Memphis Belle
| Michael Caton-Jones
| Warner Bros. Pictures
|
|-
| The Long Walk Home
| Richard Pearce
| Miramax Films
|
|-
| White Palace
| Luis Mandoki
| Universal Pictures
|
|-
| 1991
| The Fisher King
| Terry Gilliam
| TriStar Pictures
|
|-
| rowspan=2|1992
| Final Analysis
| Phil Joanou
| Warner Bros. Pictures
|
|-
| Hero
| Stephen Frears
| rowspan=2| Columbia Pictures
|
|-
| rowspan=3|1993
| Groundhog Day
| Harold Ramis
|
|-
| Born Yesterday
| Luis Mandoki
| Hollywood Pictures
|
|-
| Shadowlands
| Richard Attenborough
| Savoy Pictures
|
|-
| rowspan=3|1994
| China Moon
| John Mailey
| Orion Pictures
|
|-
| Ladybird, Ladybird
| Ken Loach
| Samuel Goldwyn Company
|
|-
| Mixed Nuts
| Nora Ephron
| TriStar Pictures
|
|-
| 1995
| Land and Freedom
| Ken Loach
| Gramercy Pictures
|
|-
| rowspan=6|1996
| Mary Reilly
| Stephen Frears
| TriStar Pictures
|
|-
| Heaven's Prisoners
| Phil Joanou
| New Line Cinema
|
|-
| Multiplicity
| Harold Ramis
| Columbia Pictures
|
|-
| Carla's Song
| Ken Loach
| Universal Pictures
|
|-
| The Crucible
| Nicholas Hytner
| 20th Century Fox
|
|-
| In Love and War
| Richard Attenborough
| New Line Cinema
|
|-
| 1997
| The Woodlanders
| Phil Agland
|
|
|-
| rowspan=6|1998
| Dangerous Beauty
| Marshall Herskovitz
| Warner Bros. Pictures<br />20th Century Fox
|
|-
| The Object of My Affection
| Nicholas Hytner
| 20th Century Fox
|
|-
| My Name Is Joe
| Ken Loach
| Artisan Entertainment
|
|-
| Ever After
| Andy Tennant
| 20th Century Fox
|
|-
| Living Out Loud
| Richard LaGravenese
| New Line Cinema
|
|-
| You've Got Mail
| Nora Ephron
| rowspan=2| Warner Bros. Pictures
|
|-
| rowspan=3|1999
| Entropy
| Phil Joanou
|
|-
| Grey Owl
| Richard Attenborough
| rowspan=2| 20th Century Fox
|
|-
| Anna and the King
| Andy Tennant
|
|-
| rowspan=3|2000
| Bread and Roses
| Ken Loach
| Lionsgate
|
|-
| Center Stage
| Nicholas Hytner
| Columbia Pictures
|
|-
| Lucky Numbers
| Nora Ephron
| Paramount Pictures
|
|-
| rowspan=2|2001
| Summer Catch
| Mike Tollin
| Warner Bros. Pictures
|
|-
| The Navigators
| rowspan=2| Ken Loach
|
|
|-
| rowspan=2|2002
| Sweet Sixteen
| Icon Film Distribution
|
|-
| Sweet Home Alabama
| Andy Tennant
| Touchstone Pictures
|
|-
| rowspan=2|2003
| Imagining Argentina
| Christopher Hampton
| Arenas Entertainment
|
|-
| Deep Blue
| Alastair Fothergill<br />Andy Byatt
| Miramax Films
|
|-
| rowspan=2|2004
| Ae Fond Kiss...
| Ken Loach
| Icon Film Distribution
|
|-
| Stage Beauty
| Richard Eyre
| Lionsgate
|-
| rowspan=5|2005
| Hitch
| Andy Tennant
| Columbia Pictures
|-
| Tickets
| Ermanno Olmi<br />Abbas Kiarostami<br />Ken Loach
|
|
|-
| Valiant
| Gary Chapman
| Buena Vista Pictures
|
|-
| Bewitched
| Nora Ephron
| Columbia Pictures
|
|-
| Mrs Henderson Presents
| Stephen Frears
| Pathé<br />The Weinstein Company
|
|-
| rowspan=3|2006
| Last Holiday
| Wayne Wang
| Paramount Pictures
|
|-
| The Wind That Shakes the Barley
| Ken Loach
| Pathé<br />IFC First Take
|
|-
| The History Boys
| Nicholas Hytner
| Fox Searchlight Pictures
|
|-
| rowspan=2|2007
| Earth
| Alastair Fothergill<br />Mark Linfield
| Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
|
|-
| It's a Free World...
| Ken Loach
|
|
|-
| 2008
| Fool's Gold
| Andy Tennant
| Warner Bros. Pictures
|
|-
| 2009
| Looking for Eric
| Ken Loach
| Icon Film Distribution
|
|-
| rowspan=2 | 2010
| The Bounty Hunter
| Andy Tennant
| Columbia Pictures
|
|-
| Route Irish
| Ken Loach
| Sixteen Films <br /> Why Not Productions <br /> Wild Bunch
|
|-
| 2011
| One Life
| Michael Gunton<br />Martha Holmes
| Magic Light Pictures
|
|-
| 2012
| The Angels' Share
| rowspan=2| Ken Loach
| Entertainment One
|
|-
| rowspan=3|2013
| The Spirit of '45
|
|
|-
| Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight
| Stephen Frears
| HBO Films
|
|-
| The Zero Theorem
| Terry Gilliam
| Stage 6 Films
|
|-
| rowspan=2|2014
| Bears
| Alastair Fothergill<br />Keith Scholey
| Disneynature
|
|-
| Jimmy's Hall
| Ken Loach
| Entertainment One
|
|-
| rowspan=2|2015
| Absolutely Anything
| Terry Jones
| Lionsgate
|
|-
| The Lady in the Van
| Nicholas Hytner
| TriStar Pictures
|
|-
| rowspan=2|2016
| I, Daniel Blake
| Ken Loach
| eOne Films
|
|-
| Wild Oats
| Andy Tennant
| The Weinstein Company<br />RADiUS-TWC
|
|-
| 2017
| Woman Walks Ahead
| Susanna White
| A24<br />DirecTV Cinema
|
|-
| 2018
| Red Joan
| Trevor Nunn
| Lionsgate
|
|-
| rowspan=2|2019
| Cold Pursuit
| Hans Petter Moland
| Summit Entertainment
|
|-
| Sorry We Missed You
| Ken Loach
|
|
|-
| 2020
| The Secret: Dare to Dream
| Andy Tennant
|
|-
| rowspan=2|2021
| The United Way
| Mat Hodgson
| Ad Hoc Films <br /> Cantilever Media <br /> Embankment Films <br /> Ingenious Media <br /> Maddem Films
|
|-
| The Duke
| Roger Michell
| Pathé <br /> Ingenious Media <br /> Neon Films <br /> Screen Yorkshire
|
|-
| rowspan=2|2022
| Allelujah
| Richard Eyre
| Pathé <br /> Ingenious Media <br /> BBC Films <br /> DJ Films <br /> Redstart Media
|
|-
| Elizabeth: A Portrait in Parts
| Roger Michell
| Ingenious Media <br /> Free Range Films
|
|-
| 2023
| The Old Oak
| Ken Loach
| Le Pacte <br /> StudioCanal
|
|-
| 2024
| Unit 234
| Andy Tennant
| Brainstorm Media
|
|-
| 2025
| The Choral
| Nicholas Hytner
| Sony Pictures Classics
|
|}
Awards and nominations
Academy Awards
- 1983 Nominated Best Original Score for Gandhi (shared with Ravi Shankar)
- 1988 Nominated Best Original Score and Best Original Song both for Cry Freedom (both shared with Jonas Gwangwa)
- 1989 Nominated Best Original Score for Dangerous Liaisons
- 1992 Nominated Best Original Score for The Fisher King
BAFTA Awards
- 1981 Nominated BAFTA TV Award Best Original Television Music for Shoestring (Also for: Bloody Kids, Fox)
- 1982 Won BAFTA TV Award Best Original Television Music for Bergerac (also for The History Man, Going Gently, the BBC News theme)
- 1983 Nominated BAFTA Film Award for Best Score for Gandhi
- 1985 Nominated BAFTA TV Award Best Original Television Music for The Jewel in the Crown
- 1987 Won BAFTA TV Award Best Original Television Music for The Monocled Mutineer
- 1988 Nominated BAFTA Film Award for Best Score for Cry Freedom
- 1989 Nominated BAFTA TV Award Best Original Television Music for Talking Heads
- 1990 Nominated BAFTA Film Award for Best Original Film Score for Dangerous Liaisons
- 1991 Nominated BAFTA Film Award for Best Original Film Score for Memphis Belle
- 1991 Nominated BAFTA TV Award Best Original Television Music for The Trials of Life
- 1994 Nominated BAFTA TV Award Best Original Television Music for Life in the Freezer
- 1996 Nominated BAFTA Film Award for Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music for The Madness of King George
- 2002 Won BAFTA TV Award Best Original Television Music for The Blue Planet
- 2006 Nominated BAFTA Film Award for Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music for Mrs Henderson Presents
- 2007 Nominated BAFTA TV Award Best Original TV Music for Planet Earth
- 2012 Nominated BAFTA TV Award Best Original Tv Music for Frozen Planet
Emmy Awards
- 2002 Won Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore) for The Blue Planet - Seas of Life: Ocean World
- 2005 Nominated Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Music Composition for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special (Dramatic Underscore) for Pride
- 2007 Won Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Original Dramatic Score) for Planet Earth – From Pole to Pole
Golden Globes
- 1988 Nominated Golden Globe for Best Original Score - Motion Picture for Cry Freedom (shared with Jonas Gwangwa)
- 2000 Nominated Golden Globe for Best Original Score - Motion Picture for Anna and the King
- 2000 Nominated Golden Globe for Best Original Song - Motion Picture for Anna and the King
Grammy Awards
- 1984 Nominated Grammy for Best Album of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television Special for Gandhi (shared with Ravi Shankar)
- 1989 Nominated Grammy for Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or for Television for Cry Freedom (shared with Jonas Gwangwa)
Ivor Novello Awards
- 1980 Nominated Best Best Theme from A TV or Radio production for Shoestring
- 1981 Nominated Best Best Theme from A TV or Radio production for Fox
- 1983 Nominated Best Best Theme from A TV or Radio production for Omnibus
- 1983 Won Best Film Theme or Song for Gandhi (shared with Ravi Shankar)
- 1985 Won Best Theme from A TV or Radio production for The Jewel in the Crown
- 1985 Nominated Best Theme or Song for The Company of Wolves
- 1987 Won Best Best Theme from A TV or Radio production for The Monocled Mutineer
- 1988. Won Best Film Score for Cry Freedom (shared with Jonas Gwangwa)
- 1993 Nominated Best Film Theme or Song for Final Analysis
- 1995 Nominated for Best Theme from A TV or Radio production for Beyond The Clouds
- 1995 Won Best Film Score for Shadowlands
- 1999 Nominated Best Film Score for Ever After
- 2000 Nominated Best Film Score for Anna and the King
- 2002 Nominated Best Original TV Music for The Blue Planet
- 2005 Nominated Best Original Film Score for Deep Blue
- 2010 Nominated Best TV Soundtrack for Life
Classical Brit Awards
- 2007 Winner Best Soundtrack for Planet Earth
EFA Awards (European Film Awards)
- 2012 Nominated European Composer for The Angels' Share
IFMCA Awards (Film Music Critics)
- 1998 Nominated Film Score of the Year for Dangerous Beauty
- 1998 Nominated Best Original Score for a Drama Film for Dangerous Beauty
- 1998 Nominated Film Composer of the Year
- 1998 Nominated Best Original Score for a Drama Film for Ever After: A Cinderella Story
- 1999 Nominated Film Composer of The Year
- 2007 Winner Best Original Score for Television for Planet Earth
- 2008 Winner Best Original Score for a Documentary for Earth
- 2009 Nominated Best Original Score for a Comedy Film for Fool’s Gold
- 2010 Nominated Best Original Score for a Television Series for Life
- 2012 Nominated Best Original Score for a Documentary for Frozen Planet
- 2015 Nominated Best Original Score for a Documentary for Bears
- 2016 Nominated Best Original Score for a Comedy Film for The Lady in the Van
World Soundtrack Awards
- 2015 Winner Lifetime Achievement
BMI Awards
- 1994 Winner Film Music for Groundhog Day
- 1999 Winner Film Music for You’ve Got Mail
- 2003 Winner Film Music for Sweet Home Alabama
- 2005 Winner Film Music for Hitch
- 2010 Winner Film Music for The Bounty Hunter
Other work
Fenton founded the Association of Professional Composers which later amalgamated with the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors and with the Composers' Guild of Great Britain to become the British Academy of Composers & Songwriters. He is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and is a visiting professor at the Royal College of Music and the University of Nottingham.
In 2020, he and Simon Chamberlain released the album, The Piano Framed. Available digitally and on CD and vinyl, it has solo piano arrangements by Chamberlain of many of Fenton's scores including The Blue Planet, Dangerous Liaisons, The Lady in the Van and Groundhog Day.
References
External links
- British Film Institute, Film and TV credits
- The Gorfaine / Schwartz Agency PDF file
- George Fenton's The Blue Planet Live! (archived 2008)