Music in Midsomer Murders

Already watched: Pilot, Seasons 01-11, as well as information that I have already compiled before.

Note: There isn’t much to discover just yet – essays will be published gradually from late May. Until autumn, think of this more as a gateway than a library.

•

 

A wide variety of music is played in Midsomer Murders. I’m collecting all of it – except for the background score. First, I’ll list all pieces composed specifically for the series, regardless of genre. Then I’ll sort them by genre.

 

Music composed specifically for Midsomer Murders

  • Agnus Dei (Jim Parker) (01×02: Death of a Hollow Man)
  • NN (‚Find your life / Why should all my love just turn away? / Pretending it’s not needed in my life / And why is love a game. / Even if I show…‘) (07×04: Sins of Commission)
  • NN (‚… banished from our heart is she / Firelight and sing refrain / Vanquish darkness with her name / Evil spirits…‘) (07×06: The Straw Woman)
  • Libera Me (Jim Parker) (08×06: Hidden Depth)
  • Midsomer Rhapsody (probably Jim Parker) (08×08: Midsomer Rhapsody)
  • NN (‚You gotta rock it in the cradle / Roll under the table / Never take it easy / Gotta live it nice and sleazy / Party till you’re drunk / Ain’t never gonna stop / Got nothing to lose / Sing the doll house blues with me / Well ,yeah, yeah, yeah,…‘)  (After these ‚yeahs‘, Mimi dies from electric shock) (10×04: The Axeman Cometh)
  • The Ballad of Midsomer County (Seth Lakeman) (17×03: The Ballad of Midsomer County)

 

Traditionals and children’s songs

  • Auld Lang Syne (06×02: Death and Dreams)
  • Sumer is icumen (Medieval English round) (02×01: Death‘s Shadow, 09×01: The House in the Woods)
  • Calon Lân (walisisches traditional hymn) (10×05: Death and Dust)
  • And the Green Grass Grows All Around (folk song from the Appalachians) (12×05: Small Mercies) – it’s not a British song, but US-American

 

Songs that were popular during the Great War and World War II

  • Give Me the Moonlight: Give Me the Girl (And Leave the Rest to Me) (Albert von Tilzer) (08×03: Orchis Fatalis)
  • We’ll Meet Again (Ross Parker, Hughie Charles) (08×08: Midsomer Rhapsody)
  • Hokey Cokey (Hokey Pokey) (Al Tabor) (10×01: Dance with the Dead)
  • Goodnight Sweetheart all my prayers are for you) (Ray Noble) (10×01: Dance with the Dead)
  • I‘ll Be Seeing You (Sammy Fain) (10×01: Dance with the Dead)
  • Chattanooga Choo Choo (Harry Warren) (10×01: Dance with the Dead)
  • Mademoiselle from Armentières (Traditional French army song) (11×01: Shot at Dawn) – sung by “Lionel Hicks” before he picks up the RC car rigged with explosives
  • The Galloping Major (Fred W. Leigh) (11×01): Shot at Dawn) – sung by “Kate Hammond” during the re-eanctment
  • Colonel Bogey March Kenneth Alford) (11×01: Shot at Dawn) – whistled by the soldiers of the Yeomanry 
  • Soldiers of the Queen (Leslie Stuart) (11×01: Shot at Dawn) – sung by “Lionel Hicks” at the very end

Brass Band

  • Blue Tail Fly (Traditional) (08×01: Things That Go Bump in the Night) – it’s not a British song, but US-American
  • A brass band performing a swing number I can’t identify (08×03: Orchis Fatalis)

 

Blues, Rock, Swing

  • I‘m Walkin‘ (Fats Domino) (01×01: Written in Blood)
  • Tangerine (Jack Dorsey) (04×05: Dark Autumn)
  • When You Lose the One You Love (David Whitfield) (04×05: Dark Autumn)
  • The Creep (Ken Mackintosh) – runs in the background with every murder (04×05: Dark Autumn)
  • Witchcraft (Frank Sinatra) (07×06: The Straw Woman)
  • Don‘t Woory, Be Happy (Mobby McFerrin) (08×06: Hidden Depths)
  • Dimples – I love the way you walk (Delroy Wilson); In this case, intoned by Tom Barnaby and Jack McKinley (10×04: The Axeman Cometh)

 

Church Hymns

  • For those in Peril on the sea (Tom Barnaby mentions it as a possible hymn that could be sung at a silver wedding anniversary service – and sings it) (02×01: Death‘s Shadow)
  • All Things Bright and Beautiful (Joyce Barnaby mentions it as a possible hymn that could be sung at a silver wedding anniversary service) (02×01: Death‘s Shadow)
  • There is a Green Hill (Joyce Barnaby mentions it as a possible hymn that could be sung at a silver wedding anniversary service) (02×01: Death‘s Shadow)
  • Onward, Christian Soldiers (Joyce Barnaby mentions it as a possible hymn that could be sung at a silver wedding anniversary service) (02×01: Death‘s Shadow)
  • Glory to thee, my God, this night (Thomas Tallis) (08×01: Things That Go Bump in the Night)

 

Christmas Carols

  • God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (uncredited) – Carol Singers mit Joyce (11×06: Days of Misrule)
  • Hark, the Herald Angels Sing (Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy) – Carol Singers mit Joyce (11×06: Days of Misrule)
  • O Come All Ye Faithful (disputed authorship) – Carol Singers mit Joyce (11×06: Days of Misrule)
  • Joy to the World (Lowell Mason) (11×06: Days of Misrule)
  • We Wish You a Merry Christmas (uncredited) (11×06: Days of Misrule)
  • Good King Wenceslas (Thomas Helmore) (11×06: Days of Misrule)

 

Choral Works

  • Jerusalem (Hubert Parry) (05×04: Murder on St Malley‘s Day)
  • unknown piece at the beginning (09×07: Death in Chorus)
  • Fair Phyllis (John Farmer) (09×07: Death in Chorus)
  • Calon Lân (Welsh traditional) (10×05: Death and Dust)
  • Daisy Bell (Harry Dacre) – programmed into an IBM 704 in 1961 at Bell Labs as the earliest demonstration of computer speech synthesis“ (IMDB) (12×04: The Glitch)
  • Dies irae (from Requiem by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) (24×01: The Devil‘s Work)
  • Lacrimosa (from Requiem by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) (24×01: The Devil‘s Work)

 

Arias

  • An aria from Madame Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini (03×01: Death of a Stranger)
  • Habanera from Carmen by Georges Bizet (01×02: Death of a Hollow Man)

 

Classical, instrumental music

  • The Wedding March (A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy) (Pilot: The Killings at Badger’s Drift)
  • See the Conqu‘ring Hero Comes (from Judas Maccabaeus by Georg Friedrich Handel) (03×03: Judgement Day)
  • Rondo Alla Turca („Turkish March“) (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) (06×02: Death and Dreams)
  • Nocturne op. 9 no. 1 in B flat minor (Frédéric Chopin) (09×01: The House in the Woods)
  • Plaisir d‘Amour (Jean-Paul-Égide Martini) (09×01: The House in the Woods)
  • Für Elise (For Elise) (Ludwig van Beethoven) (09×02: Dead Letters)
  • Au fond du temple saint (Tenor-baritone duet from Georges Bizet‘s Les pêcherurs de perles/The Pearl Fishers) (09×04: Down Among the Dead Men)
  • Prelude and Fugue in C major (Johann Sebastian Bach) (09×04: Down Among the Dead Men)
  • Zadok the Priest (George Frederic Handel) (09×05: Four Funerals and a Wedding)
  • Bridal Chorus („Treulich gefuehrt“ from Lohengrin by Richard Wagner) (11×02: Blood Wedding – two times: First for Beth Porteous & Sir Edward „Ned“ Fitzroy, at the end for Cully Barnaby & Simon Dixon)
  • Vestri La Giubba (from Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo) (19×02: Crime and Punishment)
  • Cellosuite Nr. 1 in G-Dur (Johann Sebastian Bach) (23×02: The Debt of Lies)

 

Other Music

  • Who Killed Cock Robin (nursery rhyme used as a reference for the title of an episode) (04×04: Who Killed Cock Robin?)
  • We Shall Overcome (Protest song that played an important role in the US civil rights movement) (11×03: Left For Dead)
  • Soul Limbo (Booker T. & the M.G.s) – typical tune of the BBC’s coverage of Test matches (12×04: The Glitch)

 

Back to the overview

 

🤓 Read more about Midsomer Murders & History

The Chronology of Midsomer County by Year or by Episodes • Deep Dives into Midsomer & History • History of Midsomer Murders Film Locations

I would like to point out that this is an unofficial fan site. I am not connected to Bentley Productions, ITV or the actors.