Soundtrack Music – ruminations, reviews and interviews
Well… it has been a while since I published in my blog – all due to breaking my wrist in May. After many months of physio I am able to commence with doing what I like best – listening, broadcasting and writing about film soundtracks. Click here for this month’s show: http://www.cinematicsound.net/filmic-with-ley-bricknell-episode-4/
It’s also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify and Google Podcasts. Here is this month’s playlist:
TRACK COMPOSER FILM
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Well, I have been somewhat lax in my blogging but I think I have an excellent reason why …… I have broken my wrist! And of course, it is my right wrist – my dominant hand!! I am either 3 or 5 weeks away from having the cast off depending on how quickly it is healing.
Life is slow and exhausting as doing the most simple of things brings on a tsunami of frustration. However I am currently sorting out tracks for my next Filmic show, so stick with me, and if you want to tease, why not suggest tracks from movie scores that allude to plaster casts or broken bones?
I look forward to hearing from you.
I am now nicely settled and very warmly welcomed into my new recording home at http://www.cinematicsound.net/ and this is my second show of the year. Moving to this fab network has been the main reason for not posting anything for a while, had to make some changes but all done now.
This first 3 months of this year have been pretty good for soundtrack releases, especially in the documentary category. Here are some I can highly recommend:
Dolphin Reef – Steven Price Elephant – Ramin Djawadi Stuffed – Ben Lovett – Les Ailes Pourpres – Steve McLaughlin & The Cinematic Orchestra – Melville, Le Dernier Samourai – Eric Demarsan.
Here is the playlist to this month’s show, I am always open to requests so please do contact me filmicradio@gmail.com. The show can be heard on most streaming platforms and direct from the Cinematic Sound Radio link above.
| Shankara Re Shankara | Ardarsh Shinde | Tanhaji:The Unsung Warrior |
| Measuring Locks | David Hirschfelder | Escape From Pretoria |
| Rough Dancing | Sally Potter | The Roads Not Taken |
| Dance Suite | Roy Webb | Notorious |
| Kwolock’s Malaise | Gareth Coker | Ori & The Will Of The Wisps |
| Kwolock’s Throne Room | Gareth Coker | Ori & The Will Of The Wisps |
| Opening | Robert Glasper | The Photograph |
| Unceasing | Carlo Rustichelli | Il Ragazzo Che Sorride |
| Mbouma | Roque Banos | Adu |
| A Traves de Africa | Roque Banos | Adu |
| Born Free | John Barry | Born Free [Movieola] |
| Enticelle | Evgueni & Sacha Galperine | Radioactive |
| Inventions For John | Ennio Morricone | A Fistful Of Dynamite |
| March of the Beggars | Ennio Morricone A Fistful Of Dynamite | |
| Treasure Ceremony | Christopher Wong, Ian Rees, Garrett Crosby | The Royal Bride |
| Franta’s Theme | Kristian Sensini | All Against All |
| Guilty Secrets | Kristian Sensini | All Against All |
| Snow | Volker Bertleman | Downhill |
| Roof Snow Dump | Volker Bertleman | Downhill |
| Bernards’ Theme | H Scott Salinas | The Banker |
| Matt Get’s It | H Scott Salinas | The Banker |
| Dance For Me Wallis | Abel Korzeniowski | W.E. |
With the awards season more or less at a close, it’s time for me to announce the scores which impressed me the most last year. As per last 2018, I found parts of 2019 difficult in as much as the first half of the year was quite bereft of both films and soundtracks that I liked so thank goodness it got going for the remainder of the year!
This year I have added scores [per category] which I feel should get a mention.
FILM SCORE OF THE YEAR
Joker – Hildur Gudnadottir
CLOSE: 1917, Little Women/Star Wars/The Rise Of Skywalker
FILM COMPOSER OF THE YEAR
Bear McCreary
BREAKTHROUGH COMPOSER OF THE YEAR
Wow, McCreary’s output in 2019 was phenomenal and each score was really good: Eli/Child’s Play/Outlander [series 4]/Godzilla: King Of The Monsters/Rim Of The World/The Professor And The Mad Man/ Happy Death Day 2.
Bobby Krilic [Minsommer]
BEST DRAMA SCORE
Joker – Hildur Gudnadottir
CLOSE: The Professor And The Mad Man/A Hidden Life/Motherless Brooklyn
BEST COMEDY SCORE
Le Mystere Henri Pik – Laurent Perez Del Mar
CLOSE: Blanche Comme Neige/Dolemite Is My Name
BEST SCORE ACTION ADVENTURE/ADVENTURE/THRILLER SCORE
1917 – Thomas Newman
CLOSE: The Man Who Killed Bigfoot and Then Hitler
BEST SCIENCE FICTION SCORE
Godzilla – Bear McCreary
BEST HORROR SCORE
Midsommer – Bobby Krilic
CLOSE: Us – Michael Abels
BEST ANIMATION SCORE
How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World – John Powell
CLOSE: Miniscule: Les Mandibules Du Bout Du Monde
BEST SCORE FOR DOCUMENTARY
Our Planet – Steven Price
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR TELEVISION
Chernobyl – Hildur Gudnadottir
BEST VIDEO GAME SCORE
Erica – Austin Wintory
Close: A Plaugue Tale: Innocence
BEST ARCHIVAL RELEASE
Dial M For Murder – Dimitri Tiomkin
BEST MUSIC COMPOSITION (CUE) OF THE YEAR
The Night Window from 1917 by Thomas Newman
CLOSE: A Hidden Life from A Hidden Life
FEBRUARY 20, 2020 — The International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA) announces its list of winners for excellence in musical scoring in 2019, in the 2019 IFMCA Awards.
The award for Score of the Year goes to legendary veteran John Williams for his score for the ninth and final Star Wars film, “The Rise of Skywalker,” which concluded the sequel trilogy of adventures about the scavenger Rey, heroic former Stormtrooper Finn, and Kylo Ren, the leader of the Imperial First Order. The film is directed by J.J Abrams, and stars Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, and Adam Driver. In describing the score, IFMCA member James Southall described “The Rise of Skywalker” as ‘one last brilliant piece of musical adventure to call time on his signature work … a triumphant conclusion to an extraordinary musical saga,’ and also said that ‘it’s simply impossible to overstate Williams’s contribution to the series’ success’. The score is also named Best Original Score for a Fantasy/Science Fiction/Horror Film, while the main theme “The Rise of Skywalker” is named Film Music Composition of the Year.
The IFMCA has also chosen to bestow a Special Award on Williams, primarily in recognition of his near-unparalleled achievement in scoring the 9-movie saga that began with the original Star Wars film in 1977. IFMCA member Jon Broxton opined that ‘no-one has achieved the holy triumvirate of musical excellence, peer respect, and pop culture recognition the way that John Williams has,’ and described the entire Star Wars saga as ‘works of staggering genius and beauty … his Ring Cycle, the work that will define his life and his legacy, a nine-movement 25-hour masterpiece of enduring musical brilliance that has taken a full 42 years to come to fruition’. Williams is, of course, the composer of other such landmark works as “Jaws,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” and “Schindler’s List,” among many other classics.
The IFMCA Roberto Aschieri Special Award, which is named in memory of the IFMCA member from Argentina who died in 2017, is not awarded every year, and is only given to projects or individuals that the membership deems worthy of significant recognition outside of the ‘regular’ IFMCA categories. These are the 23rd, 24th, 25th, and 26th IFMCA Award wins of Williams’s career; he previously won Score of the Year awards for “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” in 2015, “War Horse” in 2011, and “Memoirs of a Geisha” in 2005.
Bear McCreary is named Composer of the Year, having written music for an astonishing six films and four television series in 2019. The most lauded of these were “Godzilla: King of the Monsters” and “The Professor and the Madman”, both of which were nominated in their respective genre categories. Regarding Godzilla, IFMCA member Florent Groult noted that McCreary ‘takes up [existing themes] with great passion and turns them into a score that is massive and fantastic,’ while IFMCA member Randall Larson called it the score a ‘supremely impressive musical conception rich in agitato gestures and textured in dark, flaring colors; a magnificent work that will stay in memory for a long time’. McCreary’s other work in 2020 included the horror sequel “Happy Death Day 2U,” the children’s adventure “Rim of the World,” the reboot of “Child’s Play,” and the horror film “Eli,” as well as the TV shows “The Walking Dead,” “See,” and “Proven Innocent”. This is McCreary’s first Composer of the Year win, having previously won IFMCA awards in the TV category for “Battlestar Galactica” and “Human Target,” and in the Video Game category for “God of War”.
British composer Nainita Desai is named Breakthrough Composer of the Year, having enjoyed the most high-profile year of her career to date by far in 2019. Desai especially impressed members with her spectacular, colorful score for the nature film “Untamed Romania,” which was nominated in the Documentary category. IFMCA member Charlie Brigden called Untamed Romania ‘an impressive score that instantly grabs you in its talons and takes you on a swift journey,’ while IFMCA member Steven Kennedy called Desai herself ‘a rising voice in the film music scene’. Her other scores in 2019 included the Oscar-nominated Syrian civil war documentary “For Sama,” the Anglo-Indian thriller “Darkness Visible”, the WWII-set action drama “Enemy Within”, and the video game “Telling Lies”.
The various other genre awards are won by: Alexandre Desplat for his sumptuous score for the period literary drama “Little Women”; Michael Giacchino for his music for director Taika Waititi’s satirical Nazi-era comedy “Jojo Rabbit”; Thomas Newman for his spectacular musical contribution to the World War I action-drama “1917”; John Powell for his music for the third and final entry in the How to Train Your Dragon series, “The Hidden World”; and Steven Price for his expansive orchestral score for the nature documentary “Our Planet”.
In the non-film categories, composer Hildur Guðnadóttir won for her innovative score for the critically acclaimed TV series “Chernobyl,” while composer Neal Acree wins the award for Best Original Score for a Video Game or Interactive Media for his dynamic, imposing score for the action-adventure survival game “Rend”.
Burbank, California-based La-La Land Records is named Film Music Record Label of the Year, recognition their ongoing excellence in restoring and releasing the most beloved film scores of the past. Producers Roger Feigelson and Douglas Fake of Intrada Records receive the Archival Award for their new recording of Dimitri Tiomkin’s classic score for the 1954 noir thriller “Dial M for Murder,” conducted by William Stromberg with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. In the Compilation category, the award goes to producer Bernhard Güttler of the Deutsche Grammophon label for “Across the Stars,” a new compilation of classic John Williams film music pieces re-arranged for virtuoso violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, conducted by Williams himself with the Recording Arts Orchestra of Los Angeles.
The winners are:
FILM SCORE OF THE YEAR
FILM COMPOSER OF THE YEAR
BREAKTHROUGH COMPOSER OF THE YEAR
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A DRAMA FILM
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A COMEDY FILM
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR AN ACTION/ADVENTURE/THRILLER FILM
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A FANTASY/SCIENCE FICTION/HORROR FILM
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR AN ANIMATED FEATURE
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A DOCUMENTARY
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR TELEVISION
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A VIDEO GAME OR INTERACTIVE MEDIA
BEST NEW ARCHIVAL RELEASE – RE-RELEASE OR RE-RECORDING
BEST NEW ARCHIVAL RELEASE – COMPILATION
FILM MUSIC RECORD LABEL OF THE YEAR
FILM MUSIC COMPOSITION OF THE YEAR
THE ROBERTO ASCHERI SPECIAL AWARD
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The International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA) is an association of online, print and radio journalists who specialize in writing and broadcasting about original film, television and game music.
Since its inception the IFMCA has grown to comprise over 65 members from countries such as Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.
Previous IFMCA Score of the Year Awards have been awarded to John Powell’s “Solo” in 2018, Jonny Greenwood’s “Phantom Thread” in 2017, Jóhann Jóhannsson’s “Arrival” in 2016, John Williams’s “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” in 2015, Hans Zimmer’s “Interstellar” in 2014, Abel Korzeniowski’s “Romeo & Juliet” in 2013, Mychael Danna’s “Life of Pi” in 2012, John Williams’s “War Horse” in 2011, John Powell’s “How to Train Your Dragon” in 2010, Michael Giacchino’s “Up” in 2009, Alexandre Desplat’s “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” in 2008, Dario Marianelli’s “Atonement” in 2007, James Newton Howard’s “Lady in the Water” in 2006, John Williams’s “Memoirs of a Geisha” in 2005, and Michael Giacchino’s “The Incredibles” in 2004.
For more information about the International Film Music Critics Association go to http://www.filmmusiccritics.org, visit our Facebook page, find us on YouTube, follow us on Twitter @ifmca, or contact us at press@filmmusiccritics.org.
Awards left to right:
Society of Composers and Lyricists/Bafta/Critics Choice/Emmy/Golden Globe/Oscar
Her surname may be unpronounceable to many but the award-winning success of her terrific score for Joker cannot be ignored. You either hate and dismiss it or like me, think it is one of the best ever and embrace it. It would seem that there is no middle ground with this one and thankfully it also seems the cheers outnumbered the boos.
Joker is a soundtrack for the age, and at last, firmly signals that a score does not have to be symphonic or melodic. Above all else what it does have to be/do is fit the film like a glove. I am not saying that the film itself would not have received the plaudits it has if Icelandic composer Hildur Gudnadottir had not done the score, Joaquin Phoenix alone would have elevated this film as would the inclusive direction of Todd Phillips. The score was another character playing a vital and unforgettable role namely the echo of all that was happening inside Joker’s fractured mind.
I saw the film in a packed cinema, at the end we all slowly shuffled out and not one single person said a word for quite a while. It had high impact and for me, being a soundtrack enthusiast for many years, her closing music stayed in my head for some time. Imagine watching the film without Gudnadottir’s participation, it would be difficult to imagine such is the symbiotic nature of her composition.
Over the past few weeks, I have read many comments about ‘why is she winning awards for her work – for Joker and her superb score for the TV series Chernobyl. It has been uncomfortable to read at times. I am sure some of it is down to the usual age-old question- ‘is this music or just noise’? ‘Well it’s much more than noise, it’s a state of mind and that’s exactly what this film was all about. The tortured and twisted mind of a comic book character who is reacting to the evils of a society in a world we are all aware of. Serious stuff that needed a serious slug of music to enhance Joker’s breakdown [or transference].
Another reason I write is to applaud the sheer number of Awards Gudnadottir has garnered, not just the ones I have mentioned but numerous others, plus we cannot ignore the history that’s been made. She is the first woman to win in the best original score category since the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences combined all of the score categories into one in 2000.
And she is one of only seven women to be nominated in any score composition category, only three have won. Previously, Marilyn Bergman won an Oscar for composing for “Yentl” alongside Michel Legrand and Alan Bergman, Rachel Portman won for “Emma” and Anne Dudley won for “The Full Monty.”
After thanking her family and collaborators, Hildur ended her Oscar acceptance speech by saying “To the girls, to the women, to the mothers, to the daughters who hear the music bubbling within: please, speak up. We need to hear your voices.”
WELL DONE HILDUR!
INTERNATIONAL FILM MUSIC CRITICS ASSOCIATION AWARD
NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED
HILDUR GUÐNADÓTTIR RECEIVES FIVE NOMINATIONS; MULTIPLE NOMINATIONS FOR ALEXANDRE DESPLAT, BEAR McCREARY, THOMAS NEWMAN, JOHN WILLIAMS.
FEBRUARY 6, 2020. The International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA) announces its list of nominees for excellence in musical scoring in 2019, for the 16th annual IFMCA Awards. For the first time in IFMCA history a female composer leads the field, with Icelandic composer and cellist Hildur Guðnadóttir receiving five separate nominations for her work on the critically acclaimed comic-book drama “Joker,” and for the devastating HBO television series “Chernobyl”. These are the first nominations for Guðnadóttir, who is nominated in the categories for Film Score of the Year, Composer of the Year, Drama Score, Television Score, and Film Music Composition of the Year. IFMCA member James Southall was particularly complimentary about “Joker,” describing it as having ‘complexity in its extraordinary emotional depth,’ and calling it a ‘primal’ score which ‘made him think’.
Also nominated for both Score of the Year and Composer of the Year are veteran composers Alexandre Desplat, Thomas Newman, and John Williams. French composer Desplat’s most lauded score of 2019 is the one he wrote for director Greta Gerwig’s new adaption of the classic American novel “Little Women,” which is also nominated for Drama Score. IFMCA member Jon Broxton said that the score ‘overflows with gorgeous orchestrations, sublime instrumental combinations, and harmonies,’ and has ‘a dramatic sense of freedom and movement, effortless elegance, and lush emotional content’. Desplat’s other major scores in 2019 include the French drama “Adults in the Room,” the animated sequel “The Secret Life of Pets 2,” and director Roman Polanski’s look at the Dreyfus Affair of 1906 in “J’accuse”. Desplat previously won the IFMCA Score of the Year award in 2008 for “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”.
American Thomas Newman receives his nominations mostly for his work on director Sam Mendes’s epic World War I action-drama “1917,” which is also nominated for Action/Adventure/Thriller Score and Film Music Composition of the Year. IFMCA member Daniel Schweiger called the score ‘a musical experience unlike any other’ that brings ‘the war to end all wars to daringly creative, and dramatically impactful musical life.’ Also in 2019, Newman wrote music for the Netflix drama “The Highwaymen,” which explores the Bonnie & Clyde story from a different perspective, and the biopic “Tolkien,” which is another WWI movie, albeit one that specifically looks at the wartime experiences of the author of The Lord of the Rings.
The legendary John Williams, who turns 88 next week, wrote the final installment in the Star Wars saga, “The Rise of Skywalker,” and in doing so completed a 40-year film music project spanning nine movies that may never be equaled in the history of cinema. The score, which is also nominated for Fantasy/SciFi/Horror Score and Film Music Composition of the Year, is described by IFMCA member James Southall as ‘one last brilliant piece of musical adventure to call time on his signature work … a triumphant conclusion to an extraordinary musical saga,’ who also said that ‘it’s simply impossible to overstate Williams’s contribution to the series’ success’. In a similar vein, IFMCA member Jon Broxton opined that ‘no-one has achieved the holy triumvirate of musical excellence, peer respect, and pop culture recognition the way that John Williams has,’ and described the entire Star Wars saga as ‘works of staggering genius and beauty … his Ring Cycle, the work that will define his life and his legacy, a nine-movement 25-hour masterpiece of enduring musical brilliance that has taken a full 42 years to come to fruition’. Williams has three prior IFMCA Score of the Year wins, for “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” in 2015, “War Horse” in 2011, and “Memoirs of a Geisha” in 2005.
The fifth nominee for Score of the Year is Englishman John Powell’s “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World,” the third and final entry in the series of well-loved animated films based on the novels by Cressida Cowell. IFMCA member Christian Clemmensen said the score was ‘a satisfying conclusion to an incredible trilogy of music’ and noted that Powell’s work, led by three exuberant main themes of friendship and flying, has ‘become recognizable to children worldwide and has developed into the most famous musical anthem’ from any DreamWorks pictures. Powell previously won the IFMCA Score of the Year awards in 2018 for “Solo” and in 2010 for the original “How to Train Your Dragon”.
The fifth nominee for Composer of the Year is American composer Bear McCreary, who wrote music for an astonishing six films and four television series in 2019. The most lauded of these are “Godzilla: King of the Monsters”, which is nominated in the Fantasy-SciFi-Horror category, and “The Professor and the Madman”, which is nominated in the Drama category. IFMCA member Florent Groult noted that McCreary ‘takes up [existing Godzilla themes] with great passion and turns them into a score that is massive and fantastic,’ while IFMCA member Randall Larson called it a ‘supremely impressive musical conception rich in agitato gestures and textured in dark, flaring colors; a magnificent work that will stay in memory for a long time’. McCreary’s other work in 2019 includes “Happy Death Day 2U,” “Rim of the World,” the reboot of “Child’s Play,” and “Eli,” as well as the TV shows “The Walking Dead,” “See,” and “Proven Innocent”. This is McCreary’s first Composer of the Year nomination and his first IFMCA nominations outside the TV and Video Game categories.
Each year the IFMCA goes out of its way to recognize emerging talent in the film music world, and this year is no exception. The nominees in the Breakthrough Composer of the Year category are a diverse group, and the IFMCA is especially excited to reveal that two of the five nominees are women. British composer Nainita Desai impressed members with her spectacular, colorful score for the nature film “Untamed Romania,” which is also nominated in the Documentary category, as well as her scores for the Syrian civil war documentary “For Sama,” among others. Meanwhile, French composer Anne-Sophie Versnaeyen wrote a beautiful score for the nature documentary “Chambord,” having spent many years working as an orchestrator and arranger in French cinema for composers such as Alexandre Desplat and Guillaume Roussel.
The final three composers nominated for Breakthrough Composer are British electronic composer Bobby Krlic, whose work on the disturbing horror film “Midsommar” earned many plaudits; French composer Mathieu Lamboley, who wrote a broad and expressive orchestral score for the animated film “Minuscule: Les Mandibules du Bout du Monde”; and German Christoph Zirngibl, whose music for the documentary feature “Finis Terrae” was rich and detailed in its musical exploration of big topics like faith and global politics.
As it has in previous years, the IFMCA takes pride in honoring composers from across the film music world; in addition to the ones already mentioned, this year’s international nominees include several from France (Bruno Coulais for “Blanche Comme Neige” in Comedy, Laurent Perez Del Mar for “Le Mystère Henri Pick” in Comedy, and Dan Levy for “I Lost My Body” in Animation), Spanish composers Arturo Cardelús (“Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles,” Animation) and Carlos Martín Jara (“Sordo: The Silent War,” Action/Adventure/Thriller), Japanese composer Naoki Sato (“Masquerade Hotel,” Action/Adventure/Thriller), and another Frenchman, this time scoring a movie from Sweden – Nathaniel Méchaly for “Eld & Lågor” aka “Swoon” in Comedy.
Several other composers are receiving their first-ever IFMCA Award nominations this year in addition to the aforementioned Cardelús, Levy, Martín, and Méchaly, including Scott Bomar (“Dolemite Is My Name,” Comedy), Gordy Haab (“Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order,” Game), Samuel Sim (“The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance,” Television), and Nathan Whitehead (“Days Gone,” Game).
The International Film Music Critics Association will announce the winners of the 16th IFMCA Awards on February 20, 2020.
The nominees are:
FILM SCORE OF THE YEAR
FILM COMPOSER OF THE YEAR
BREAKTHROUGH COMPOSER OF THE YEAR
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A DRAMA FILM
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A COMEDY FILM
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR AN ACTION/ADVENTURE/THRILLER FILM
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A FANTASY/SCIENCE FICTION/HORROR FILM
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR AN ANIMATED FEATURE
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A DOCUMENTARY
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR TELEVISION
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A VIDEO GAME OR INTERACTIVE MEDIA
BEST NEW ARCHIVAL RELEASE – RE-RELEASE OR RE-RECORDING
BEST NEW ARCHIVAL RELEASE – COMPILATION
FILM MUSIC RECORD LABEL OF THE YEAR
FILM MUSIC COMPOSITION OF THE YEAR
The International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA) is an association of online, print and radio journalists who specialize in writing and broadcasting about original film, television and game music.
Since its inception, the IFMCA has grown to comprise over 65 members from countries such as Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.
Previous IFMCA Score of the Year Awards have been awarded to John Powell’s “Solo” in 2018, Jonny Greenwood’s “Phantom Thread” in 2017, Jóhann Jóhannsson’s “Arrival” in 2016, John Williams’s “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” in 2015, Hans Zimmer’s “Interstellar” in 2014, Abel Korzeniowski’s “Romeo & Juliet” in 2013, Mychael Danna’s “Life of Pi” in 2012, John Williams’s “War Horse” in 2011, John Powell’s “How to Train Your Dragon” in 2010, Michael Giacchino’s “Up” in 2009, Alexandre Desplat’s “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” in 2008, Dario Marianelli’s “Atonement” in 2007, James Newton Howard’s “Lady in the Water” in 2006, John Williams’s “Memoirs of a Geisha” in 2005, and Michael Giacchino’s “The Incredibles” in 2004.
A new decade! And the first show of 2020 which includes a catch up on late 2019 releases, celebrating a 25th film anniversary and of course some vintage movie music.
PLAYLIST
Track Title/Composer/Film
Legend a Seville Yoseba Beristain Elcano and Magallanes
What a great start to the New Year! The first soundtrack I listened to this year was Christopher Willis’ score to The Personal History of David Copperfield directed by Armando Iannuci. The score is sweeping, symphonic joy and superbly played by the award-winning Aurora Orchestra and has already received praise.
“…the forward rushing camera’s momentum underscored by Christopher Willis’s shamelessly neoclassical (and, honestly, disarmingly lovely) string-heavy score
Filmmaker Magazine
“…all of it set to whimsical, soaring score courtesy of Christopher Willis”
Film
Composer Willis was born in Australia and grew in the UK. He now resides in the US. Christopher composed the music to the Emmy Award-winning show Veep plus contributed to a number of major Hollywood movies including The Twilight Saga:Breaking Dawn Part 2, X-Men First Class and Winnie The Pooh.
I am delighted that Christopher was able to discuss the Copperfield soundtrack with me.
I very much enjoyed your score, it’s beautifully symphonic and in parts quite majestic.
Thank you very much! I’m so glad you enjoyed it.
Given that the film is a ‘re-imagining ‘ of one of Dickens best-loved stories, was there an urge/thought to compose in the style of ‘modern’ music?
Yes and no. One of the very first things Armando said to me about the film was that, to the characters, the world of the story isn’t “period” or “Dickensian” but simply their own world, and that we should feel the vividness and modernity of that world. That ethos is immediately clear from the production design and the cinematography: there’s no sepia tinge, the paint and the clothes characters wear are vibrant and fresh. And musically, too, we quickly found that this feeling of vibrancy was going to be all-important. If the music leant too far towards the actual period of the story, the ear would instinctively hear it as being “old”, as being at one remove from us. On the other hand, we still felt that the music should be orchestral and somehow symphonic in tone.
Did director Armando Iannucci have any ideas about what he wanted for the score?
Yes: I’m very fortunate to be working with a director who’s extremely well-versed in classical music. We tend to get the ball rolling on a movie by sharing playlists and references with each other. By sharing like this, you can convey an awful lot to one another, so that when you actually start discussing things in words, you already have a frame of reference. What’s nice about using all kinds of music, and especially concert music, rather than, say, referring only to other pieces of film music, is that the references are not always straightforwardly cinematic but more like a mood board or a brainstorm. Each thing has found its way onto a playlist because it has some quality or other that one of us likes, but that doesn’t mean it could simply be dropped into the film. They’re a stylistic jumble, and it’s up to me to process it all and try to distill something out of it. I think if we built our playlists out of film music, each thing would be much more film-ready, but there’d be less room for me to create something new.
Early on, we talked a lot about British symphonists of the early-to-mid 20th century: composers like Elgar, Britten, Arnold, Rubbra. As the writing progressed, though, I found myself catching up with the present day in a way, listening to and responding to more and more recent concert music, almost like I was composing a new British symphony.
Last Days Of Innocence is a very measured cue, poignant and with sadness to it. In fact, with all the emotions running through the film you must have felt there was enormous scope for your score? Did you find it overwhelming at all?
Early on there was a stage when I was struggling with how it was all going to fit together. I had pieces I was pleased with but I wasn’t convinced they were going to add up to a whole. Eventually, I realized that in fact, I had too many building blocks. I needed to discard a few in order for everything to fall into place.
Another thing that really helped me was figuring out that in most cases, this score didn’t benefit from becoming more and more harmonically overwrought when the emotions were very big. Instead, I found I could draw things out over long phrases, as in “Last Days of Innocence”, or actually let the music wrestle with one single dissonance for a long long time, which happens near the end of the film: there are several very minimalist cues that essentially have one harmony for minutes at a time, building emotion through tension.
The Murdstone’s really intrigued me, obviously, there are very dark tones needed for these characters, but it also has the feel of a 1930s/40’s soundtrack composition in its structure in this and other cues – which was a nice surprise. Could I ask which composer/s you have been influenced by?
Much of the time, the music isn’t really commenting on the characters’ eccentricities but acting as a unifier, joining experiences together. But yes, as you say, I felt with the Murdstones that this was one area in which I could go a little more melodramatic and channel older film music a little bit. Dickens draws his nastier characters with such bold strokes that I felt I had to get sucked into that sometimes. This probably grew indirectly out of my listening to the British symphonists I mentioned. Many of them were also film composers, such as Walton, for instance, or William Alwyn, so they definitely had a lot of darker emotions at their fingertips.
With 33 tracks/54 minutes long, did you envisage this being a longish score?
We had an instinct early on that the total mass of music would be about 50-60 minutes, and although it looked from time to time like it might grow or shrink based on the picture, it did actually end up at about that length. I like having this kind of scope: it allows me to think of the score as being somehow symphonic – it’s not a symphony, of course, but symphonic perhaps like a tone poem, with recapitulations and memories and a kind of developmental energy running through it.
The character cue Uriah Heep also has dark notes signifying his sycophantic character but there is also a sorrowful violin running through it that surprised me, I felt it worked quite well but wondered what it signified?
I think of the violin perhaps as being “wheedling” like Uriah: sort of sickly sweet like his hollow compliments. Also, I think Ben Whishaw does a wonderful job of conveying the fact that Uriah is in many ways a tragic figure: a lifetime of humiliation and want have played a big part in making him the way he is. So there was always something mournful about the ideas I had for Uriah.
A stand out track for me is Adventures of a London Gentleman, which bustles along but retains Copperfield’s striving through its violin playing. Would you say this bustle/sweeping refrain is the score’s leitmotif as it pops up several times and what was the motivation for this?
Thanks very much! I love that you used the word “striving”. The first texture I worked on for the film was the pulsating texture in “My Own Story”, the very first cue, which “London Gentleman” is based on, and in some ways, I would say I was trying to capture something I got from the novel (which I read for the first time just before I started working on the movie) even before I saw the film. The book is so fresh and so modern, sometimes startlingly so; and one of the key feelings I get from the book is the sense that simply existing, simply being alive, is this thrilling, almost exultant thing. And at the same time, David is in this search, this very open-ended quest, to find his place in the world. So yes, I did feel that it would make sense for us to return several times to that texture throughout the film.
Love the music hall feel of Mock Turtle. Did you have fun putting this cue together?
Thanks! It was nice to be able to use a different kind of musical voice for that cue, but still to nod at some of the motifs and shapes from elsewhere in the score. Something very fortuitous happened with the recording of this cue actually. I was supposed to record it myself at Air Lyndhurst in London after the orchestral sessions were over – it would have been the very last thing. (It’s a piano solo.) But the scoring process had been absolutely exhausting. I was finishing the last few fixes right up to the last minute, and in fact, I wrote the end credits cue in the middle of the night before the final day of recording. I’d slept only a few hours in the three days I’d been in London. And I hadn’t practiced “Mock Turtle”. I had made it through all the orchestral sessions but when everyone left I was just totally zonked. The recording engineer (Jake Jackson, who did a wonderful job) was feeding me chocolate bars and cups of tea, trying to get my energy up for just long enough, but I just couldn’t do it. So we called it a day and went off to the pub. That meant I just had to record it back in LA later. But what’s fortuitous is that the piano sounds quite different from the piano in the rest of the score as a result, and I rather like the effect: as you say, it sounds a little music-hall, a little bit like a movie pianist.
Thank you very much, Christopher.
Multi-award winning composer and producer Paul Mills has been creating music for over three decades. Among his 15 feature film scores are the critically acclaimed Woodlawn and the #1-rated inspirational film, War Room, for which he won an ASCAP Screen Music Award in 2016.
Born in the panhandle of West Texas, Mills was drawn to the piano early on and worked his way up the ascending scales to graduate Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Music in Theory and Composition from the University of Houston. In the early days of his career, Paul spent a portion of his time in the studios of Music Row, producing and recording artists like The Imperials, Wayne Watson, Phillips, Craig & Dean, Twila Paris, and Newsong. Over those industrious ten-plus years, Paul’s production efforts helped to craft a staggering 40 #1 singles. He produced and co-created the highly successful album/concert series, “The Young Messiah,” an annual Christmas tour boasting a variety of talented artists.
The accumulation of such a wide range of accomplishments earned this busy musician his first-ever GMA nomination for Producer of the Year early in his career. Since that accolade, others have been added to the list including American Songwriter Magazine’s ‘Christian Producer of the Year,’ Best Score at the Gideon Film Festival, and multiple Platinum and Gold-selling albums and compilations.
Through his work as a producer, Paul was led to filmmakers The Erwin Brothers where he produced music for the Roadside Attractions hit music biopic I Can Only Imagine starring Dennis Quad. Some of Paul’s other film credits include Against the Sun starring Garret Dillahunt, Tom Felton, and Jake Abel, Kill the Man starring Luke Wilson and Joshua Malina, the critically-acclaimed Still Breathing starring Brendan Fraser and Joanna Going, among others. Paul’s latest score for the feature film Overcomer will be released in August 2019. The soundtrack is available on CD through major retailers.
INTERVIEW:
This [Overcomer Main Theme] is a great opening piece and it totally grabbed my attention with its beautiful surge of strings, it really captures the sporting ‘reach’ – the power and the force of mental and physical strength needed in sport. How did you find the ‘hook’ for this score?
Thanks so much for your kind words, I’m glad that the opening did its job and grabbed your attention! Director Alex Kendrick and producer Stephen Kendrick always want strong “hummable” themes. Alex used words similar to yours in wanting the music for the opening to immediately grab the audience’s attention and let them know that an important story was unfolding. I chose the horn section to carry this first iteration of my “Overcomer” theme because they carry gravitas and nobility to the sound. It’s almost gladiatorial in feel and scope, especially as the audience is carried along by the music into the gymnasium where the crowd is cheering and the athletes are competing. The theme itself climbs and then falls, then starts higher and climbs and falls again. In only a few notes I wanted to represent the continuous effort of a great athlete as they make headway, and then lose a little, but then they come back harder only to keep coming back. This mirrors the journey that the two main characters embark on as they try to find their true identities.
I was delighted to hear the 6 note leitmotif reappear complete with sweet violin in the track We Take Everything. This was stripped back and held more gravitas – it’s sad and thoughtful. How do you get the balance musically between the physical and emotional sides of the story?
I must thank you again! It’s gratifying as a composer that you noticed this. To me, the “Overcomer” theme being stated here in a more vulnerable and emotional way helped us see these athletes as still noble and a bit heroic, even in defeat. I think you noticed yourself how I get the balance musically between the strong physicality and the human emotion of the characters. It’s in the orchestration. The first two cues, “Opening” and the basketball game “Full Court Press” use horns and low brass as well as big percussion and very active pulsing strings to show power. While the locker room scene “We Take Everything” strips all that back to no percussion and just warm heartfelt string swells with a single lonely horn at the end of the piece.
The tangible gentleness of Hannah’s Theme with piano and violin – the lead instruments throughout the score, what made you choose these?
I am blessed to have an incredible principal violinist, David Davidson, and I am always composing with him in mind. A dark, soft and gentle piano with his violin stating a theme or partial theme over the top always pulls my (and I hope the audience’s) heartstrings, but without getting maudlin or sappy. Again, I wanted a theme for Hannah that would show her loneliness and struggle in the beginning, a very intimate orchestral treatment. But, after she wins the final race, her theme becomes very boisterous and victorious in the medal ceremony.
In other places, for instance, when Thomas is talking from his hospital bed telling his story, the dark, simple piano mixed with ambient synth pads work well under those dialogue-heavy scenes.
The First Race with its drums is aspirational as is You’ve Got This, the latter having a momentum, there is a feeling of no turning back. How do you build these layers?
I will watch action scenes without any music several times to get a feel for the visual rhythmic activity and natural breaks in momentum. In “The First Race” there is a natural decrease in activity from the start of the race 37 seconds in as everyone is finding their stride. You hear this in the music. So, the opening has many layers of percussion, strings, and brass, but at that break, it backs off to lighter strings and less percussion.
Sometimes I will score action scenes like this by building a drum and percussion track first. So, the opening of “The First Race” has massive drums at the start, but then they back off in the middle, then come back at the end. As you noticed in “You’ve Got This,” there is more sixteenth note activity both in the strings and in the constant tick tack tick tack in one of the percussion instruments to add almost an underlying anxiety and movement. The low perc builds 1:34 into the track and there’s a key change there as well that builds momentum going into the end of the piece. Also, “You’ve Got This” is layered a bit differently in that 52 seconds in it has a very high string melody with less going on in the middle register of the orchestra, a relaxation to a degree after the big opening. The horn section and this high melody have a sort of duet together later on, and the further the piece progresses, the thicker the layering gets, adding low brass and percussion to fill out the spectrum.
You are no newcomer to music for sports films with Woodlawn and Run the Race. Was it your work on these soundtracks which influenced the film company to approach you to score this film?
This is my second film to score for the Kendrick Brothers, the first being 2015’s “War Room.” I was hoping to work with them again as “War Room” was a great experience. So, it really made my day when Stephen called me to join the team again.
“Run The Race” probably did not influence them since it is a very sparse indie-oriented film score with lots of acoustic guitars, solo violin, calliope, banjo, and even washboards and bicycle bells! BUT interestingly, the Kendricks actually temped “Overcomer” with a lot of my music from “Woodlawn,” so I knew they liked that music and were looking for a more epic treatment for much of the “Overcomer” score. In a way, Hannah’s story is a little like a superhero origin story because she is discovering her identity with the help of her coach, John, and the school principal.
One of the pivotal tracks is The Last Race, which brings all the soundtracks elements together. At 11minutes 28 seconds was this a difficult cue to put together?
It took a while to get going on it for sure! After Alex, Stephen and I had our music spotting session we decided that this was the most important cue, so I went back to my studio and started on it first. It was a real struggle for a couple of weeks, but then I realized that I did not have any thematic material to develop there yet. I then told Alex that I needed to go back to the very beginning and find the themes for the movie. So the “Opening” was actually the first cue I composed and got approved by the filmmakers. I then went to the scene where we first see Hannah in her room and worked on her theme until it was approved. Next, I composed the scene where John and Amy have an argument and a subsequent reconciliation (“You’re Not Helping Me” and “I’m Right Here For You”). Some of this material is used and developed in the scenes with Thomas. So really, “The Last Race” was almost the last cue I composed, but by that time I had such a wealth of thematic material to draw on, I knew what I wanted to do and what the musical journey needed to be. The first version was about 80% there, and with Alex’s very clear and specific direction in the music, we got it reeled in with just a few revisions.
Do you have any other score assignments coming up which you can share with me?
Yes! I am currently finishing producing and mixing the songs as well as mixing the score for the new Erwin Brothers’ music biopic “I Still Believe.” I am also composing the score for the new Chonda Pierce comedy “Laugh. Love. Karaoke.” It’s my first comedy to score and I’m looking forward to it. It’s already been a laugh-fest hanging out with director Chris Dowling and Chonda. She kept us in stitches during her song vocal sessions!
Ley, thank you so much for this enjoyable interview! Your questions were very stimulating, and it was great to get to talk with you about the scoring process for “Overcomer.”
My pleasure!
Website: https://www.paulmillsmusic.com/
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0590141/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jpaulmills
