Very please to hear today that “There Used to be a Me” has won gold at the New York Radio Awards. Alfred Molina’s solo performance as Peter Sellers was incredible and it was a privilege to score him.
Audio-dramas in the first half of 2021
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.
20,000 Leagues under the Sea from Audible
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.
Audible's "20,000 Leagues under the Sea"
Today I finished my score for Audible’s new original audio drama of 20,000 Leagues under the Sea, produced by Barnaby Eaton-Jones with full sound design by Joseph Fox. This was commissioned at the start of lockdown and required all of the actors to record their parts in isolation to one another, at home, using different equipment! The drama is divided into 5 exciting episodes. I have scored to the audio (rather than writing a suite of library tracks to be edited during production). The score has 161 different musical cues, totalling 141 minutes! Episodes 2-4 have all been scored during the last month. An intense schedule to say the least.
Commissions and Competitions
In the last few weeks I have composed 44 tracks for Episode 1 of a forthcoming audio-drama. An excitingly brisk pace of composition that has been very enjoyable!
I have also worked with an US High School, taking the home recordings of individual students and producing a beautiful ensemble performance.
Earlier this year, I composed two original choral works for competitions - one of which has been cancelled due to the lockdown and the deadline of the other has been extended. I'm also preparing the orchestral score for a short film competition that caught my eye.
Eleanor of Aquitaine - Underscoring Improvisation
Last year I was commissioned to provide underscore for B7 Media’s production of Eleanor Aquitaine, a one-woman show with the acclaimed actress Eileen Page.
As part of the show, Eileen performs a song of her own improvised composition. Away from the visual aspect of a stage performance, the song needed some musical accompaniment to work on audio. It was challenging because the song was already recorded and could not be changed. In this video I show how this worked in practice. The full CD is available here:
Eleanor of Aquitaine
The first promotional video for the new audio release from B7 Media: Eleanor of Aquitaine.
Original Music for the videos and the audio.
A winter's work
Some seasons I have written words in between compositions. More recently it has been the other way round with my work-in-progress standing at 65,000 words and not yet half way. However, it looks like this winter will include some large scale compositions. I have been engaged to provide the music for a classic dramatisation for Audible, period music for a filmed show with an esteemed theatre actress in her 90s, and soundtrack for a documentary on the original Chester cathedral of St. John’s.
Music for The Importance of Being Earnest
One of the joys of collaboration is being able to return favours. In this case, my wonderful sound engineer and maestro for mixing and mastering, has been producing the sound for Spiteful Puppet's "The Importance of Being Earnest". The story required a few very specific excerpts of music, as well as title music for the start and end.
I have tried my hand at writing library music tracks and was, for about 3 years, signed to produce them on a regular basis. I know that the best you can produce is something so generic that it could fit as many purposes as possible because the more uses equals the greater profit. But it does not - in my opinion - serve well the film-maker or sound engineer who needs just the right bit of music to finish a great production. Hence "the favour". This was a voluntary job, arranging the wedding march as if being played by a ham on the piano or - as in the track below - a man tootling on the keys of the piano, with the slowness you experience trying to find the right notes and the burst of speed when you know. Totally "unmusical" but very human!
It goes to show that when you know what you want to write, it's ten times easier than trying to saying something that could produce a mood.
Video trailer for The Life of William Cowper
My trailer for "The Life of William Cowper" - available as CD and book.
