Good Omens

Good Omens is an arrangement for band by Michael Brown (see below) of the Emmy-nominated theme music written by David Arnold (see also below) in 2019 for the BBC/Amazon fantasy comedy television series of the same name.

The television series Good Omens was created by Neil Gaiman based on his and Terry Pratchett's 1990 novel of the same name. Like the novel, Good Omens features various Christian themes and figures and follows various characters, all trying to either encourage or prevent an imminent Armageddon, seen through the eyes of the angel Aziraphale and the demon Crowley.

Good Omens features music written by Emmy winning composer David Arnold, along with quite a few Queen songs throughout the series. Arnold received two Emmy nominations for Outstanding Main Title theme and for the episode “In the Beginning”. He said his work on Good Omens was unlike any he had done. “It might be the hardest I've worked on anything.” He described the series as “a universe-sized show in need of a universe-sized score.” He called the opening theme “a kind of wicked, slightly, devilish, Mephistophelean waltz—it has a feeling of twirling, out-of-control-ness.” He rewrote the main theme for the end credits of each episode to reflect what happened in it.

David Arnold (b. 1962) is an English film composer whose credits include scoring five James Bond films, as well as Stargate (1994) , Independence Day (1996), Godzilla (1998), and the television series Little Britain and Sherlock. For Independence Day, he received a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition Written for a Motion Picture or for Television, and for Sherlock, he and co-composer Michael Price won a Creative Arts Emmy for the score of "His Last Vow", the final episode in the third series. Arnold is a fellow of the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors.

Arranger Michael Brown is currently staff arranger for the United States Army Band in Washington, D.C., having served previously as staff arranger for the United States Military Academy Band at West Point, New York. His arrangements have been heard on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and the Opening Ceremonies of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City, Utah, and with the National Symphony Orchestra and Kennedy Center Honors in Washington, D.C. He has over 200 arrangements published by Hal Leonard Corporation and the FJH Music Company. Prior to enlisting in the Army, he worked as a freelance arranger and trumpeter, having performed with Natalie Cole, Gladys Knight, Robert Goulet, Lou Rawls, Sam & Dave, the Temptations, and others. He earned a Bachelor’s in Music degree from Furman University and a Master’s in Music degree from The University of Texas at Austin. Brown draws upon his former experience as a high school band director, church orchestra director, and freelance trumpeter in his writing.