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.

When I was given the opportunity to interview Belgium composer Hannes De Maeyer, I was quite intrigued. Even though only a few projects are available to watch in the US, thanks to Spotify, I could still listen to the majority of his work which has quite a range of music styles and techniques. Underneath it all, our conversation focused on collaboration from directors to musicians to different countries! I learned a lot and had a lot of fun which hopefully comes through the interview. I kept a few real life moments in...Hannes was catching a flight that night with his family to Egypt right after the interview and we joked about our choices of microphones at the beginning. Overall, it gives another insight to a composer's style and way of writing, inspirations and challenges. Thanks again to Hannes and whitebearpr for this opportunity to share with you a little glimpse into a life of a soundtrack composer.

Bio: Hannes De Maeyer is one of Belgium's most versatile composers, best known for his collaboration with director duo Adil El Arbi & Bilall Fallah (Rebel, Gangsta, Black) and from his original music to ITV prime time drama Professor T and psychological thriller series The Couple Next Door (Starz). His scores range from pure electronic to impressive symphonic instrumentation.
The Cinematic Journal comments on De Maeyer's work: "Belgian composer Hannes De Maeyer is hands down one of Europe's most versatile composers. One need to look no further than his gorgeous soundtrack for the Belgian war drama Torpedo, which summons the flair of old Hollywood war scores or Gangsta, a thriller imbued in 80s nostalgia with its old-skool electronic sonic world or the tense soundscape he crafted for the Amsterdam-set crime series Women of the Night.”
After collaborating with the talented Belgian directing duo Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah on their first feature Image, they immediately continued working on their second feature Black, awarded with the Discovery Award during the 40th edition of TIFF in 2015. For El Arbi & Fallah's flashy third feature Gangsta (Patser), De Maeyer created the perfect musical power shot, full of game vibes and inspired by both iconic 80s film scores and contemporary electronic influences.
In 2019, Hannes composed the impressive symphonic score to Belgian war epic Torpedo for which he was awarded with the 2020 Best Original Score for a Belgian Production at the prestigious World Soundtrack Awards. Review Graveyard gives the score for Torpedo 10/10 – “De Maeyer delivers an epic score, packed with original themes, that will send shivers down your spine.”
Since then, Hannes has scored several international productions, including Rafaël , the Dutch romantic drama by award-winning filmmaker Ben Sombogaart, German franchise Immenhof, a series of immensely popular films by Sharon von Wietersheim, the original score to nerve-wracking tv- series Keizersvrouwen (Women of the Night - Netflix) as well as De Stig , a moving and inspiring documentary about cyclist Stig Broeckx, the Irish Tour de France drama The Racer - selected for SXSW in 2020 - and the internationally airing animated series Ninja Express.
In 2022, De Maeyer surpassed himself with his impressive score and songs - for which he collaborated with respectively Moroccan artist Oum & the film's main actor and rapper Aboubakr Bensaihi - for Adil & Bilall's internationally acclaimed musical tragedy Rebel. The film was warmly welcomed during the 2022 Cannes Film Festival and its original score was nominated for Best Music at the Ensor Film Awards and won the Best Original Score at the Magritte Awards.
In 2023, Hannes completed the score to the prestigious NPO miniseries The Jewish Council (produced by Levitate Films (NL) & Caviar), as well as the brand-new series The Couple Next Door, produced by Eagle Eye Drama (UK) & Happy Duck Films, broadcast on Channel 4 in the UK and set to premiere on Starz in January 2025. 
Most recently, Hannes has scored 4 seasons of the UK remake of crime drama series Professor T (ITV/PBS), starring Ben Miller and is currently working on the upcoming 5th season. De Maeyer also started working on Patsers, the sequel to Adil El Arbi & Bilall Fallah's popular feature Gangsta (Patser).
“In Professor T, De Maeyer introduces a beautiful main theme with a pulse and purpose, and variations of it can be heard throughout the score, supporting the characters and giving scenes greater layers and depth. Though versatile, De Maeyer is primarily a thematic composer with talent for melody, character and orchestration.” (Silva Screen Records)

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Happy New Year! I'm excited to be starting a new series focusing on the trilogy of animated movies: How to Train Your Dragon. A few years ago, I gave a few Zoom classes on three animated movies/series including HTTYD so it was lovely to revisit the series and all the great themes by John Powell. It's also fun to visit these movies with a live-action version coming out in June.
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This episode is about the main themes of friendship: One for Hiccup which is actually made of two different parts and a motif for Toothless. As their relationships form from animosity to best friends, the music changes and evolves over the series. I do cover everything chronologically so if have only seen the first movie, you can stop part-way through to avoid spoilers!

One new thing I have tried with this episode is speaking over some of the music because some of the music cues are really long, such as Forbidden Friendship. I am very curious to know whether you like that or not, so feel free to let me know!

While John Williams set the stage and created the iconic themes for Harry Potter, each subsequent composer added to the breadth and depth of the musical world. Patrick Doyle added more Celtic flair with the Irish Quidditch team as well as creating music for all the schools, the dances, as well as dragons. Nicholas Hooper was the first to write music for the Ministry of Magic, the Order of the Phoenix, and continued with folk and Celtic tunes especially for the Weasley twins. Alexandre Desplat had the darker films with the last two, visiting familiar places like Gringott's Bank and the Ministry of Magic while also adding Middle Eastern instruments for the Elder Wand and older lore. This episode explores how each composer both reestablished familiarity from the sounds of John Williams but also created their own voice for this world.

There are so many musical tracks for the world of Harry Potter that even though I had covered relationships, Hedwig's Theme, and characters in previous podcasts, there were still so many more that set the world of Harry Potter. Since John Williams composed music for the first three movies, he set the world with an orchestral sound, using choir and celeste to accentuate the magical aspect. But he wasn't content to leave it there, using older Renaissance instruments and Celtic music to give it a grounding in Old England, suggesting that this magical world had been around for a long time. Add a little bit of jazz in the 3rd film and there is so much to explore in the world that John Williams created for Harry Potter.

John Williams did an excellent job in setting the tone in the first 3 movies of Harry Potter. Between "Hedwig's Theme" and "Harry's Wondrous World," he created themes that tell Harry's story of relationships and family. He also created fun, quirky themes for characters such as Professor Lockhart and Dobby. This idea is continued with the other composers from Professor Umbridge to Mr Lovegood throughout the other 4 films. On the other hand, while Harry has a specific theme carried throughout, Voldemort does not. John Williams wrote two or three motifs as he is still fragmented and not whole in the beginning. The other composers then created their own themes and motifs for Voldemort and the Death Eaters. This episode focuses on these stand-alone themes for characters that tell you about their personality but does not often carry through to other films. I started with villains because it's always nicer to end on a quirky note instead of a dark one!

Over the course of Harry's growing up years and 8 films, Harry makes friends and makes a new family after years of being an orphan with less than desirable relatives. He also loses friends and family as the years go darker and fighting Voldemort and his Death Eaters. While very few themes carry throughout all 8 films, there are several that carry through a few such Harry's Wondrous World by John Williams. This rather long episode covers themes with his best friends Hermione and Ron, falling in love with Cho and then Ginny, dealing with the loss of his parents, and then later the loss of beloved mentors and friends. It is a journey of joy and deep grief as I look at all the different music by John Williams, Patrick Doyle, Nicholas Hooper, and Alexandre Desplat that take us along that emotional ride over the years.