Geoffrey Burgon was 69

Geoffrey Burgon, who composed the score for Monty Python's Life of Brian has died at the age of 69.

His work also included the classic TV series Brideshead Revisited, Doctor Who and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.

His publisher, James Rushton, said Burgon died Tuesday after a short illness.

He said: ‘Geoffrey Burgon was one of very few composers in recent times whose music has truly touched the hearts of the international public. The music and unforgettable melodies that Geoff wrote for the great classic BBC and ITV TV series over the past forty years have established themselves as standards, both within their genre and as pure music.

‘His ability to capture in a moment the character of the screen drama on which he was working was of the very highest order.’

But he added that Burgon’s was ‘much more than simply a media composer,’ and spent more than ten months a year on concert music.

In a 2006 radio interview with Miles Jupp, Burgon said he wrote a traditional, serious score to counteract the comedy, and complained that no one ever picked up on the musical references he made in the music, such as Mozart and Wagner.

Published: 23 Sep 2010