A main title sequence is often the only part of a show in which music can take center stage, and usually for just a minute. But it can also be the biggest challenge for a composer, who must somehow encapsulate the ideas, the story, the characters and the milieu of a series. This year, the Television Academy nominated six main title themes by five different composers. They range from big-band jazz to serious symphonic composition, from theater organ to analog synth sounds and even classic hip-hop.
Carnival Row
(Amazon)
A few years ago, composer Nathan Barr found, bought and lovingly restored a 1928 Wurlitzer pipe organ that had once occupied the 20th Century Fox scoring stage. With “Carnival Row,” the Victorian-era fantasy about mythical creatures fleeing war and prejudice, Barr found the perfect vehicle to showcase the instrument. “The filmmakers were constantly telling me to add more organ because they loved its grand and unusual sound,...
Carnival Row
(Amazon)
A few years ago, composer Nathan Barr found, bought and lovingly restored a 1928 Wurlitzer pipe organ that had once occupied the 20th Century Fox scoring stage. With “Carnival Row,” the Victorian-era fantasy about mythical creatures fleeing war and prejudice, Barr found the perfect vehicle to showcase the instrument. “The filmmakers were constantly telling me to add more organ because they loved its grand and unusual sound,...
- 8/27/2020
- by Jon Burlingame
- Variety Film + TV
Baby Yoda. Jean-Luc Picard. A medieval witcher. A world where fairies have sex with humans. Steve Carrell aiming for the moon. A science-fiction anthology. The fantasy and sci-fi realms prospered on TV during the past season, particularly with the help of several gifted composers.
The anthology “Tales From the Loop” (Amazon) boasted the most high-profile theme, by famed minimalist Philip Glass, in partnership with Scottish composer Paul Leonard-Morgan. The two ended up scoring all eight episodes together.
As they were beginning, sitting at pianos in Glass’s New York studio, Glass remarked to Leonard-Morgan, “your melodies are beautiful but your harmonies need work!” But, as Leonard-Morgan related, “by episodes 2 and 3, we were so much on each other’s wavelength that people didn’t know what was coming from Philip or from me.”
In classically Glassian fashion, piano and strings became the primary voice for the miniseries. “He was playing some harmonies,...
The anthology “Tales From the Loop” (Amazon) boasted the most high-profile theme, by famed minimalist Philip Glass, in partnership with Scottish composer Paul Leonard-Morgan. The two ended up scoring all eight episodes together.
As they were beginning, sitting at pianos in Glass’s New York studio, Glass remarked to Leonard-Morgan, “your melodies are beautiful but your harmonies need work!” But, as Leonard-Morgan related, “by episodes 2 and 3, we were so much on each other’s wavelength that people didn’t know what was coming from Philip or from me.”
In classically Glassian fashion, piano and strings became the primary voice for the miniseries. “He was playing some harmonies,...
- 7/2/2020
- by Jon Burlingame
- Variety Film + TV
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.