Debbie Wiseman started to show her musical skills from an early age and began piano lessons at age 7. As well as her normal schooling she attended a Saturday class for gifted children at the Trinity College of Music. After leaving school she studied both piano and composition at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Following a spell playing for weddings and other functions, she was able to make a break on a documentary TV programme. Debbie Wiseman has been making her musical talents heard on British television shows ever since, from her work on "Timewatch" and "My Uncle Silas" to dramatic mini-series such as "The Churchills" and "P.O.W.".
With increasing frequency the composer's music can now be found on the big screen (with films such as "Tom & Viv", "Wilde", "Arsène Lupin" and "Lesbian Vampire Killers"), though it is still on British Television that you will find the majority of her work with shows like "Judge John Deed" and "The Inspector Lynley Mysteries". Wiseman also presented the series "Backtracks". In terms of style, Wiseman is prepared to experiment with modern rhythm tracks and electronics but seems most at home with classical orchestral forces, with her scores possessing a melodic heart. She has won critical acclaim for her classically-centred and often very moving score to "Wilde" starring Vanessa Redgrave and with Stephen Fry playing the title role. The association has been retained through her music for an audio book of "Oscar Wilde's Fairy Tales" narrated by Vanessa Redgrave and Stephen Fry, which includes "The Nightingale and the Rose" and "The Selfish Giant".
Debbie Wiseman was awarded an MBE in the Queen's Honours List in 2004 and since then has been very busy indeed. In 2005 she scored the films "Arsène Lupin" and "The Truth about Love", and conducted some of her music at the "Filmharmonic" Benefit Concert in the Royal Albert Hall, and she also appeared on TV commentating on the Youth Concert given by an orchestra comprising of students from London's Royal Academy of Music and NewYork's Juilliard School. Wiseman's own official website is at www.debbiewiseman.co.uk. The mini series The Promise saw Wiseman once more collaborating with acclaimed director Peter Kosminsky for a very human drama set in the Middle East.
A soundtrack album of music from the series "Land Girls" has just been released this April 2011. This contains several period songs and big band tracks, the series theme song composed by Wiseman with lyrics by Don Black, and selections of Wiseman's pastoral music for the series. The album can be found at this link from Amazon.co.uk. This Youtube Video shows Debbie Wiseman introducing her new album "Piano Stories", and here is the composer talking about it on BBC Breakfast TV. For the album the composer herself plays paino arrangements of many of her themes for television and cinema. The album is available at these links Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com, and there is also corresponding piano sheet music at Musicroom.com. Having previously contributed music for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Thames Pageant in 2012, Wiseman has more recently composed tracks for the Queen's 90th Birthday tribute in 2016. These will be included on an album conducted by the composer alongside various classical tracks with patriotic and regal associations - see this link at Amazon.co.uk.
A new concept album called "The Glorious Garden" features poems by TV Gardner Alan Titchmarsh and music by Debbie Wiseman, the tracks alternating Titchmarsh's poetry reading with Wiseman's musical depiction of the same flower. More about the album can be found at Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com. Another more recent celebrity collaboration was writing the music for Stephen Fry's "The Mythos Suite" album based on his book retelling various Ancient Greek stories. This is available at Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com. In her role as Composer in Residence for Classic FM, Wiseman composed "Together" during the Coronavirus "Lockdown" in 2020. Sheet music for this can be found at this link on the Classic FM website.
The following soundtracks are available on CD:
Here are some CD covers signed by Debbie Wiseman. Our thanks to Petr Kocanda for permission to use his collection of autographed CDs. Click on any thumbnail to see a full size version of the image in a separate window.
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