I am very proud and excited to announce MovieScore Media’s release of A Royal Affair, the score written by Gabriel Yared and Cyrille Aufort for the Danish costume drama. I have, of course, been a very big fan of Yared’s work ever since the days of Betty Blue and he is a truly fine gentleman and artist who made a big impression on me when I met him in Spain last year after many years of correspondence. Add to this Cyrille Aufort whose score for Splice was one I wish I had released on my label and there is no doubt his writing is going to be very much in demand in the next decades. The Royal Affair music created by these composers is so elegant, melodic, passionate, beautifully orchestrated and emotional. This album was in perfect shape when I got it from Yared and Aufort and I worked more as an executive producer on this one, although I did the artwork supervision and a brief interview with the composers for the liner notes. The album will be out next week!
‘A Royal Affair’ soon available on CD
May 16th, 2012 | Posted by in soundtracks -Producing the soundtrack for ‘The Divide’
April 30th, 2012 | Posted by in soundtracks -
I am currently putting the final touches to Pale Blue Soundtracks’ upcoming release of Jean-Pierre Taïeb’s very intense and beautifully crafted score for the French sci-fi movie The Divide, directed by Xavier Gens. It is my first opportunity to work with the French composer who has crafted a very interesting, mesmerizing and atmospheric score – there are a lot of intense and deep electronic textures, but also beautiful and desolate themes for piano and cello, and also pop elements. It’s a pretty postmodern score in the way it freely combines stylistic elements – the score also has its share of dense string writing. I don’t think anyone would be offended if I compare the score to David Julyan’s stylish work for the Descent movies. I am doing the editing, sequencing and mastering of the release and also the artwork. Look for the release in digital stores shortly!
‘Texas Killing Fields’ now available
April 17th, 2012 | Posted by in soundtracks -
An album I produced for Pale Blue in the UK, featuring Dickon Hinchliffe’s atmospheric and very effective score for Ami Canaan Mann’s crime story Texas Killing Fields is now available for download from iTunes and all other major outlets. This is the kind of score that grows on you, full of texture and guitar-based suspense writing – if you are a fan of Ry Cooder or Michael Brook this one is definitely for you. I did the track sequencing and editing, mastering and artwork for the album. Check it out!
Working on the biggest movie hit in Turkey
March 12th, 2012 | Posted by in soundtracks -
It’s exciting times as I am currently doing the artwork and pushing the soundtrack for Conquest 1453 through its final stages. The album features Benjamin Wallfisch’s incredible orchestral score for the biggest movie blockbuster in the cinema history of Turkey! Although the film has only been shown domestically so far, it’s the second most voted film on the IMDb of 2012, garning more interest than mainstream titles such as The Woman in Black, The Grey and Safe House! It has also received an astounding 8.3 rating by those +23,000 voters. The film is a Turkish national epic about the siege of Constantinople in 1453, directed by Faruk Aksoy and reportedly telling the true story of Sultan Mehmed II’s bravery in an accessible Hollywood style. Benjamin Wallfisch, whose albums for Dear Wendy and The Escapist I’ve produced before, has done a vibrant, exciting and intense epic score and we’ve been fine-tuning and tweaking the album cut and master to make it sound as glorious as the film itself. The album will be out on MovieScore Media as soon as possible!
Finishing work on Daniel Pemberton’s ‘Dirk Gently’
February 28th, 2012 | Posted by in soundtracks -
I have just finished work on a very exciting project that came to me just a couple of weeks ago and had to be done very quickly. It’s the television soundtrack for BBC Four’s upcoming small screen adaptation of Douglas Adams’ Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, produced by ITV Studios. The music is by Daniel Pemberton, with whom I’ve worked twice before (on the soundtracks for Heroes and Villains, another BBC project, and the recent Screamworks release The Awakening). The music for Dirk Gently is instantly catchy, a true ode to the stylish 1960s UK tv scores by Ron Grainer, John Barry, Laurie Johnson… I had so much fun on this one, working with Daniel to finetune the album sequencing and doing the best artwork possible based on ITV’s DVD packaging. I’m hoping that this will be a good seller for MovieScore Media. The UK release of the CD will co-incide with the DVD release.
Here’s a sneak preview of the main theme. Infectious stuff, huh?
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Two works now available from SBMP
February 26th, 2012 | Posted by in composition -
Two of my choral works, “O Magnum Mysterium” and “I Am Your Sunlight” (lyrics by Janet Jackson), are now available from Santa Barbara Music Publishing! I am very proud to be a composer in such amazing company, with other of their published composers being among my very own “choral heroes”: Eric Whitacre, Joshua Shank, David N. Childs, René Clausen, Javier Busto, Vytautas Miskinis… Both of my works are considered to be “level: difficult” and in their virtuoso catalogue. Don’t let that scare you, I can sing them myself so they can’t be too tricky…
On “O Magnum Mysterium”, SBMP writes: “This piece is best described as “Wow.” It is highly recommended for the mature choir and for a favorable acoustic setting.”
Another of my sacred pieces, “Agnus Dei“, was released last year by SBMP.
Producing Chris Westlake’s ‘Transit’
February 26th, 2012 | Posted by in soundtracks -
I have just finished work on Pale Blue Soundtracks‘ digital album release of Chris Westlake’s score for the Jim Caviezel action thriller Transit. It was a blast working on the album edit, track sequencing and cover art for this one. The score is an intense blend of electronics and strings. The film itself, directed by Antonio Negret and produced by After Dark, is being released now in various territories and was #23 at the IMDb Moviemeter in January! Chris Westlake is a talented composer whose previous credits include writing songs for films such as Confessions of a Shopaholic, Georgia Rule and Welcome Home, Roscoe Jenkins. Look for the soundtrack on iTunes and other digital platforms shortly!
First performance of ‘Ej blir det natt’
February 26th, 2012 | Posted by in composition -My setting of Werner Aspenström’s poem ‘Ej blir det natt’ was recently premiered by Johannebergs Vokalensemble of Göteborg, conducted by Jan K. Delemark, as a part of the choir’s programme for the Feast of Christ the King on November 20, 2011. I was also the producer of the concert incorporating other works by composers such as James MacMillan, David Buckley and Will Todd.
Here is a live recording of the performance.
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Rainbow Suite: The Choral Music of Mikael Carlsson
