Vince Pope

A composer of spare chamber music, spacier electronic soundscapes, and atmospheric film and television scores, Vince Pope centers the piano in many of his works. His critical breakthrough came early in his career with his BAFTA-nominated music for the sci-fi dark-comedy series Misfits in the early 2010s. That led to steady work in television over the next decade, mainly in his native U.K., until his spooky score for True Detective: Night Country hit (HBO) Max in 2024. Meanwhile, he released like-minded solo instrumental albums such as Together Apart (2022), an intentionally global, collaborative set featuring a dozen guests from the classical, jazz, and new age spheres. Vince Pope grew up in North London and gave into practical concerns by studying math instead of music at University College London. There, he played jazz off-hours and developed an interest in film music. After completing his studies, he joined an indie band called Ethereal. They had a brief flash of success, signing with Blur's Food Records, but soon imploded. Pope focused on working solo going forward, and soon launched his own commercial music business, leading to a series of major brand campaigns and industry awards. He began to seek out opportunities in scripted television and film in the late 2000s. In 2009, he was hired as composer for the superhero dark-comedy series Misfits, and the show became a surprise hit. It found Pope combining keyboards and electronics, including atmospheric electric guitar, in sparse, Hans Zimmer-descended arrangements. While that show was still in production, Pope provided the music for the heart-rending second-season finale (2010) of the popular series Wallander, starring Kenneth Branagh. A year later, Pope's work on Misfits resulted in a BAFTA nomination for Best Original Television Music, and he won the Royal Television Society (RTS) award for best original score. By the time Misfits aired its final episode in 2013, Pope had earned credits on series such as Bedlam and Black Mirror. While he continued to work primarily in television, he collected film credits as well, including scoring the German film tschick (2016) and Mexico's Tigers Are Not Afraid (aka Vuelven, 2017). In 2019, Pope released a piano-based album, Messages, credited to Vince Pope and the Bash Chapel Collective. A mostly acoustic album, it created cinematic landscapes with piano, strings, voices, and occasional percussion. Back on-screen, he provided music for episodes of the action series Bounty Hunters, the comedy This Way Up, and the 2021 crime series Wolfe, among several other shows. The year 2022 brought the release of the TV movie My Name Is Leon and episodes of Riches featuring music by Pope. That October, he delivered a somber album with the piano centered in various hushed, atmospheric soundscapes. Titled Together Apart, it consisted of collaborations with musicians from around the world, among them German pianist Lambert and Australian pianist Sophie Hutchings. Pope worked on his most wide-reaching and critically acclaimed project yet when he signed on as composer for the fourth season of HBO/Max's True Detective, True Detective: Night Country. His spooky, atmospheric score proved an effective accompaniment to a detective story set during a sunless winter in rural Alaska.
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