00:00I met Alfonso when I was on tour with Billy.
00:03He'd brought his daughter to see a show.
00:05I walked backstage and he grabbed my arm
00:07and he was like,
00:08the sound at the end of the song,
00:09Hostage, what synth are you using?
00:11And I was like, oh my God.
00:13I know Finneas for many, many years.
00:15He's this incredible artist and musician.
00:19And we always had a conversation about music.
00:21I really tried to treat Alfonso
00:24like I would treat the artist in a room
00:26if I were producing an album.
00:27To me, it's a conversation.
00:29I'm articulating their vision,
00:30what they feel that serves the scene the best,
00:32and we're trying to achieve that together.
00:34Don't you think that the first part
00:36should be more restrained?
00:37Yeah, it should be quieter.
00:39If it starts softer,
00:40then it gets to where it goes.
00:44It was really important to Alfonso
00:45to have different musical vocabularies
00:48of each character.
00:49That's to say, the textures and style.
00:53He loved the idea of the quartet,
00:55so Cate Blanchett's character, Catherine,
00:57whose theme was largely a string quartet
00:59and the primary instrument was cello.
01:03And it's this melancholic,
01:05kind of tender piece.
01:09Were you taking my picture?
01:11To me, it was about marrying
01:13that emotional context to the music.
01:15For example, Alfonso wanted the Italy scenes
01:18to be romantic and fantastical
01:20and loved the idea of old-school Italian songs.
01:24And we have a vocalist singing this melodic motif.
01:27The music is way more heightened
01:29and more exuberant.
01:31You're hearing this super romantic,
01:34lavish composition,
01:36and as the audience,
01:37you want to believe so badly
01:39that this is how everything went.
01:43Photographs are not reality.
01:45They are a fragment of reality.
01:48As the show kind of converges
01:49and you watch this intense scene
01:51that's these characters having
01:52this big, epic confrontation.
01:54So I wanted to start to meld
01:56these little haunted motifs
01:58of Catherine's character,
01:59like a really twisted, demented version
02:02of the Italy love theme
02:03in this whole tapestry.
02:05You watched him.
02:07You did nothing.
02:08I am not finished!
02:11You love to hate Catherine's character
02:13through the whole show.
02:14And when you get to the end,
02:15you can't believe it.
02:17To me, that was a big challenge.
02:19How do I compose this music
02:20for this character
02:21that the audience is making the villain,
02:23the narration is making the villain,
02:25and not tipping the scale.
02:28It was a fun process to compose for.
02:32I think the pieces are really beautiful
02:34and they dance with the visuals.
02:39I'm very blessed that
02:40Finneas accepted to do the show.
02:43Anyone would be lucky to have
02:44Alfonso as a collaborator.
02:48There will be no more secrets.
02:55© transcript Emily Beynon
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