Death of UK composer, 59
mainThe prolific film and TV composer Jonathan Whitehead has died of a heart attack.
His TV shows included Green Wing, Nathan Barley, Smack the Pony and the Graham Norton Show.
He was fond of quoting his Bristol University tutor, Derek Bourgeois, who greeted new students with the declaration: ‘Music is dead – there’s nothing after Stravinsky.’ Bourgeois enjoyed phenomenal success as a TV composer and phenomenal failure as composer of 116 symphonies.
Bourgeois was also hugely successful as a composer for brass band. His Concerto Grosso, originally for brass ensemble and later rescored for band, is fantastic. https://youtu.be/TKedHXB8VEo
This is very sad to read. The music in Green Wing was excellent. But this is also hugely disrespectful to Derek Bourgeois to refer to him in those terms.