An occasional blog by a jobbing composer, reflecting on both completed and ongoing projects.
I’m pleased to announce that AUK has released my soundtrack for Agaton Sax the Movie!
Available now from Amazon.
This project was a pleasure and an honour. After all, how many composers get to realise a brand new score for a 50 year old animation that was also Sweden’s first feature-length animation!
The film is available here.
The music relishes the best mickey-mousing style of classic cartoons, with a big heart and lots of action.
2021 has brought some interesting projects! These four are now released (or about to be).
There Used to be a Me is a tour de force performance by Alfred Molina as the many, many characters invented by the late Peter Sellers. The script had very specific musical requirements to evoke the various comedy connections. There were some challenges (like Medieval versions of Beatles songs) and delights (like a Ron Goodwin-esque title track). Molina carries it masterfully.
The Barren Author Series II is like the original, only bigger and better. This time Smith is an active character. That presented interest in the score, which in the first series was always from the Brigadier’s point of view. There is nothing like The Barren Author for not knowing where you are going next - musically and in the story. A real rollercoaster adventure.
Screaming Queens is a two-handed drama depicting Kenneth Williams and Fenella Fielding. Often bitter and cutting in tone, the scripted music was to be merely an introduction to each of the three scenes. I asked the producer for permission to add the lightest score in a few places and he not only gave me permission but loved the end result. Sometimes it doesn’t have to be much to make a difference.
Lastly, The Voices of Dracula is a collection of stories each read by a single actor. The perspectives vary, from the female victim, to Van Helsing and, of course, Dracula. The musical requirements for each were very different and I treated the stories as independent tales. This not only gave freedom to serve the story at hand but also kept distinction where there was obviously some overlap in the story lines.
A fifth project called Getting Better: The Birth of the NHS took up several months. I started preparation with the scripts in March and composed until early June, by which time I had composed all diegetic cues and almost finished 5 out of 10 scores. In spite of so much commitment, I walked away from the project, alongside the sound designer, as the creative differences with the controlling producer were too great. I had never left a project before but I remain pleased with my music, which I am repurposing into several music libraries, soon available to licence.
Earlier in the year I entered the Gil Soundtrack Awards. This was my entry:
Audible’s 20,000 Leagues under the Sea is now available:
Made entirely during lockdown, I was honoured to be commissioned as the composer for this exciting adventure.
Some projects have been on the back burner for the last few months, while I composed for “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea”. Today I finally opened the test copy of my A3 orchestral score for an amazing short film submission run by Gil Family Estates. Can’t wait to enter!
Sometimes samples are not enough and you need a little extra for a project. I often record clarinet and voice elements for my compositions. This next project will need panpipes and percussion. It is not that samples are not adequate sounds - they are just too tidy. This one needs to be a little rough-and-ready, so I will spend several days recording different instruments and compose music afterwards using the recordings.
Some happy news as the year draws to a close!
For some months I have been working with a lyricist, setting his words to music. The first of these compositions is a choral work for a Military Wives choir. The work has been selected by one such choir for their 2020 concerts.
There are two main problems in film composition today:
People know what they like and it has already been written, but they would like something that sounds similar without infringing copyright
People want something completely new and forget that a composition doesn’t gain the imprint of association until it has been used with a film!
Between these two, composition can become an exercise in making clever forgeries. If there is no audible association between what someone knows they like and your piece, then there needs to be a clue in the title to help the client understand what “kind” of piece it is straight away. In either case, we borrow the approval of existing music by hanging onto the coat-tails of what is already known and approved.
In my free time I sometimes compose such loving pastiches and here are three:
This film is scored for full orchestra. The full score is available to view here. It was composed for a competition entry and can now be published as it was unsuccessful. Contrary to the general etiquette of these things, I was disappointed not to reach the final. It’s no small task to compose for symphony orchestra and have the score performance ready. I will be interested to hear the 5 finalists’ works, even as I was surprised to hear the original score given to the film on release.
After several months of working on projects for other people, it has been a lovely change to write some original music of my own.
My brother’s film company were hired to make a trailer for the local am-dram production of The Importance of Being Earnest. Due to its amateur status, a temp track could be used for their short-term promotion. But the performances, locations, costumes and filming were so good that a responsive score was desirable. Earlier this month I submitted my entry to the Zurich Film Festival Scoring Competition. I am still in the habit of writing for symphony orchestra and so I have written a lavish and racing soundtrack for the trailer. Film to follow!
