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Paul Leonard-Morgan

Scottish composer (born 1974) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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]

Born1974 (age 51–52)
Scotland
Genres
  • Film score
  • classical
OccupationComposer
InstrumentPiano
Quick facts Background information, Born ...
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 51–52)
Scotland
Genres
  • Film score
  • classical
OccupationComposer
InstrumentPiano
Years active1997–present
Labels
Websitepaulleonardmorgan.com
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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 2020 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] Since 2025, he has been the composer for the CBS series Watson.[20]

Awards and honours

Selected discography

Film

More information Year, Title ...
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
2025 Inheritance Neil Burger IFC Films
Last Breath Alex Parkinson Focus Features
Charlie Harper Mac Eldridge
Tom Dean
Row K Entertainment
2026 Pretty Lethal Vicky Jewson Amazon MGM Studios
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Television

More information Year, Title ...
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
2025 Watson CBS
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Video games

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Solo

More information Year, Title ...
Year Title Notes
2007 Filmtales Studio album
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References

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