This is turning into quite the Austen year for adaptations and this spring featured the BBC series adaptation of "The Other Bennet Sister," a book by Janice Hadlow. This is a delightful series and features charming music to match both the drama and comedy of Mary Bennet's growing up and discovering who she is within the Bennet Family but also the world.
The music is written by composer Anne Chmelewsky and features the viola as the main instrument, an under-appreciated instrument for an under-appreciated heroine. This 10 episode series also contains melodies, motifs, and variations on the main theme. This podcast episode focuses on that main melody and variations as well as a little detour with The Little Mermaid thrown in there as well. This is also the first episode of two since there is so much to cover!
 
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The first soundtrack that I bought was "Little Women" by Thomas Newman. While I talked about it briefly in the very first podcast episode, I knew I would want to do a deep dive at some point. Not only was revisiting it nostalgic for me but the whole tone of this movie is nostalgic. Thomas Newman loves to live in keys that aren't quite major or minor which results in having a little melancholy in the joys and a little bit of hope in the sorrows. This fits very well for the March family with a group of girls growing up in the Civil War, dealing with heartache, death, dreams, and weddings. Much of the instrumentation is higher with flutes, violins, trumpet, and bells which adds to the elegance and youthfulness of the little women. I hope you enjoy revisiting this score as much as I did!

I also did two shorts analyzing "Orchard House" and "Snowplay" which you can find on YouTube at Austencello.

Since this has been a busier season of work, I decided to try something new and do a few video reels. I put two together regarding the musical themes from Bridgerton Season 4, using the piano and music theory analysis for the main couple's theme, Benedict Bridgerton and Sophie Back, as well as the new theme for Sophie herself. Since it will take a little longer to get the next podcast episode out, I hope you can enjoy these short little videos in the meantime!

In the midst of the epic score for Hiccup, Toothless and Berk is also the thread of romance throughout the How to Train Your Dragon Trilogy. Astrid and Hiccup's theme carries throughout all three films in different variations but there is also a theme for Hiccup's parents in film 2 based on a song they sing together, as well as the most romantic themes saved for the love story of Toothless and the Lightfury in film 3. We also look at the similarities of the music for romance as well as flying and even visit a little bit of Superman by John Williams to compare the few moments where those two ideas are combined. While it's a bit past Valentine's Day, I hope you enjoy these themes of burgeoning and deepening relationships.

This past December, I had the privilege of chatting with Canadian composer Mikel Hurwitz. We talked about the beginnings of his career including being a synth programmer for Danny Elfman to writing over 30 Hallmark movies as well as his most recent project, "Soul of a Nation," a documentary on Apple focused on the political and ideological struggles of Israel leading up to the Hamas hostage attack. We talk about instrument choices as well as telling a story creatively and emotionally, especially when dealing with a heavy subject. We also cover lighter subjects such as being married to a concert pianist and being a Dad or the balance of writing music that pays the bills plus having fun creative projects on the side. We may have had one or technical difficulties at the beginning but I hope you enjoy this conversation like I did.

In the past year, Mikel Hurwitz has written for and conducted the Hollywood Film Orchestra at Warner Brothers and the Costa Rican National Philharmonic with the Los Angeles Film Conductors Intensive, scored the feature documentary Soul of a Nation, and seen his music grace over 40 feature films on six continents. But his journey as a composer began long before these recent milestones.

Born the same month that the iconic Juno-60 Synthesizer was released, Mikel first appeared in the Toronto Star at age two, playing drums in a toddler music class. From those early days at the Royal Conservatory piano bench to improvising on guitar as a teenager, Mikel’s musical path has always been eclectic. At 15, he attended his first film scoring session and never looked back.

After studies that took him from Vancouver to Oaxaca and eventually to the Berklee College of Music Film Scoring program, Mikel honed his craft in Los Angeles as Danny Elfman’s synth programmer and assistant while working on films like The Grinch, Dumbo, and Justice League. After contributing to music teams for major films he fully launched his own composing career, scoring award-winning documentaries and series like the Gentefied digital series, which was picked up by Netflix at the Sundance Film Festival.
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Now based in Toronto with his wife, pianist Irina Bazik, and their two children, Mikel continues to blend orchestral and electronic worlds, bringing a unique voice to the global film music stage.

Anybody who has heard the soundtrack for How To Train Your Dragon will admit that it just a lot of fun to listen to. Part of that lies in the Celtic nature of the music both instrument wise as well as the imitation of the melodies and rhythmic structure. This episode focuses on the sounds and music of Berk that helps to set the world as a Viking clan - both the fun and adventurous side as well as the warrior side. At times, it also reflects the various leaders such as Hiccup, Stoick, Astrid who embody the good and the bad at times but overall have a fierce love of their people and eventually the dragons that they protect. This also includes "The Village Hymn" from the third movie which is a newer theme for Berk and its leaders, covering a range of emotions especially for Hiccup and Astrid's relationship as the leaders of Berk.

Welcome to the episode that took the longest journey to get finished. I began writing this back in January but between two interviews, a trip to England, creating the Soundtrack class curriculum on top of work, this took a back seat for a while. This episode focuses on themes specifically for Hiccup's journey over the three animated movies often related to his fate, his destiny, dreams, losing and finding those closest to him. In many ways, they come down to his relationship with dragons and the village of Berk, seen most closely through Toothless and his parents. He dreams big and leads by his example. Ironically, the theme in the first film was mostly taken out of the live-action version since it didn't quite fit. But that's a discussion for another time...
Enjoy!

When I heard about the opportunity to speak to composer Dominik Scherrer about his newest project, "Miss Austen," I immediately said yes. I finally had an opportunity to speak to a composer about period dramas and Austen in particular! The interview was not a disappointment as we spoke about the inspirations for his career, the difference between American and European minimalism, writing for mysteries and period dramas (including "Miss Marple" and "Ripper Street") and then lots of details regarding "Miss Austen" that just finished airing on PBS in the US. We talk about research, choosing instruments, focusing on the emotions, and even writing in 7/8! 
I hope you enjoy this as much as I did!

The music of Anglo-Swiss composer Dominik Scherrer can be heard in some of the finest dramas made in recent years, earning him two Ivor Novello Awards, a Primetime Emmy nomination, and a further four Ivor Novello nominations. Born into a musical family in Zurich, Switzerland, Dominik moved to London aged 19, where he has resided since. Among his initial compositions were two groundbreaking operas for the screen. The second, “Hell for Leather,” garnered attention, premiering at the Sundance Film Festival, being selected for the prestigious Young British Artist exhibition, Sensation at the Brooklyn Museum, and subsequently received ten international awards.Dominik started scoring independent feature films, such as apocalyptic The Nine Lives of Tomas Katz and followed on with scores for acclaimed British drama series such as six seasons of Agatha Christie’s Marple and five seasons of the Victorian crime drama Ripper Street, earning him his first Ivor Novello award.
He is a frequent collaborator of director Aisling Walsh, scoring her Bafta nominated An Inspector Calls, the Bafta winning Elizabeth is Missing, and most recently Miss Austen. Dominik received a second Ivor Novello Award for the supernatural thriller Requiem, on which he collaborated with Natasha Khan, aka Bat for Lashes. His collaboration with the writers Harry Williams and Jack Williams began with the global hit The Missing. Dominik’s score received a Primetime Emmy nomination. Further scores for the Williams brothers were for The Widow, Boat Story, and The Tourist.Sight & Sound praised Dominik’s unique soundtrack to the Netflix series The Serpent:“Dominik Scherrer’s marvellous score, a riot of analogue synths.” The soundtrack was nominated for an Ivor Novello and Camille Award.