John W. Morgan(1946-2025)
- Composer
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
John Morgan is a film composer based in Los Angeles, California. After
receiving his Masters Degree in Music at San Diego State University,
and studying composition with David Ward-Steinman, he stayed on at the
University and taught orchestration, music theory and various film
music courses.
In the late '70s, Morgan moved to the Los Angeles area and secured work orchestrating for such composers as Fred Steiner, Bruce Broughton and Alex North. In 1979, Morgan composed and orchestrated his first feature film "The Aftermath," and in the ensuing years composed music for more than twenty feature films, as well as many television, radio and cable projects. Recently, he has written music for the fantasy feature "Demon in the Bottle," as well as co-composing music for the documentary "Trinity and Beyond" (with William Stromberg).
Morgan's love and passion for the great scores of Hollywood's golden age has led him to the arena of arranging and reconstructing many classic scores for new recordings. He has embarked on a long series of film music recordings for both Marco Polo (Naxos) and BMG Classics. Morgan's philosophy is to present the music in comprehensive and authentic Suites; rather than the trend to do bits and pieces in a "Greatest Hits" type of programming. Among the scores he has prepared are: Max Steiner's "King Kong", "The Charge of the Light Brigade", "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre", "The Beast With Five Fingers"; Erich Wolfgang Korngold's "Captain Blood" and "Devotion"; as well as several classic horror scores including Frank Skinner's "Son of Frankenstein"; Paul Dessau & Hans Salter's "House of Frankenstein"; and Salter's "The Wolf Man".
In the late '70s, Morgan moved to the Los Angeles area and secured work orchestrating for such composers as Fred Steiner, Bruce Broughton and Alex North. In 1979, Morgan composed and orchestrated his first feature film "The Aftermath," and in the ensuing years composed music for more than twenty feature films, as well as many television, radio and cable projects. Recently, he has written music for the fantasy feature "Demon in the Bottle," as well as co-composing music for the documentary "Trinity and Beyond" (with William Stromberg).
Morgan's love and passion for the great scores of Hollywood's golden age has led him to the arena of arranging and reconstructing many classic scores for new recordings. He has embarked on a long series of film music recordings for both Marco Polo (Naxos) and BMG Classics. Morgan's philosophy is to present the music in comprehensive and authentic Suites; rather than the trend to do bits and pieces in a "Greatest Hits" type of programming. Among the scores he has prepared are: Max Steiner's "King Kong", "The Charge of the Light Brigade", "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre", "The Beast With Five Fingers"; Erich Wolfgang Korngold's "Captain Blood" and "Devotion"; as well as several classic horror scores including Frank Skinner's "Son of Frankenstein"; Paul Dessau & Hans Salter's "House of Frankenstein"; and Salter's "The Wolf Man".
