Lotus Flower, official video on Youtube.

A NEVER ENDING MESH INTERTWINED INTO EVERYTHING

UPDATE: April 8, 2011 - Etched onto side one of the vinyl release of The King of Limbs are the words "a never ending mesh". Etched onto side two of the record are the words "intertwined into everything". The whole content can be found in Thom Yorke's scrapbook for the Eraser, and reads(in relevant part): "branches. endless. uncontrollable. a never ending mesh intertwined in to everything. paths. in roads. maps. lost. reach over the path. walk down the path."

UPDATE: March 28, 2011

The Butcher and Super Collider will be released on 7" vinyl record on April, 16 2011 in the UK only.

Credits for the album:

The music and sounds of The King Of Limbs were conjured up by Radiohead and Nigel Godrich. The imagery was summoned up by Zachariah Wildwood and Donald Twain. Engineered and mixed by Nigel Godrich. Additional engineering by Drew Brown. Additional assistance by Darrell Thorp and Bryan Cooke. Flugelhorn on Bloom and Codex performed by Noel Langley and Yazz Ahmed. Strings on Codex performed by The London Telefilmonic Orchestra, led by Levine Andrale and conducted by Robert Ziegler. Mastered by Robert C. Ludwig at Gateway Mastering & DVD. Also thanks to Peter Yozell, and Neil Whitcher. Studio equipment etc., kept going by Plank. Ourselves kept going by Kat and Tim. And our office! A big thank you very much indeed to Drew Barrymore. This one’s for new Henry, Zohar and all our little ones. Hello Guys

UPDATE: March 15, 2011- The King of Limbs is now available to order on vinyl. As is In Rainbows. Way cool.

The King of Limbs. Radiohead's LP8 arrives on Valentine's Day 2011.

Early Release (likely to prevent a site crash) February 18. February 19 is still the "official" download day.
The expanded vinyl pack contains many sheets of artwork, and 625 tiny pieces of artwork. Oh boy!

Tracklist:

Bloom
Morning Mr. Magpie
LIttle By LIttle
Feral
Lotus Flower
Codex
Give Up the Ghost
Separator

Radiohead: The King of Limbs

What tracks? Our best guess (Results Saturday February 19) - Add these songs:

The Daily Mail
Give Up the Ghost
A Walk Down the Staircase
Mouse, Dog, Bird
I Froze Up

To These:

Lotus Flower
Open the Floodgates
Skirting the Surface
Judge Jury & Executioner
These Are My Twisted Words
The Present Tense

Thom Yorke & Atoms for Peace, Fox Theater in Oakland

Radiohead played a benefit concert for Haiti raising over half a million dollars in a small LA venue in front of 1,200 fans who bought tickets auction-style to "raise the most money" for the relief fund. Thom said they were not in concert form, as they were "on holiday" to record songs for their next release. The 24-song set included "Lotus Flower" which Thom played solo during his Echoplex club set (it was haunting and beautiful), and Orpheum dates with his "Eraser" band, also known as ??????. Those musicians are Beck drummer Joey Waronker, Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich, percussionist and Forro in the Dark lead Mauro Refosco, and bassist Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Thom also played "Lotus Flower" solo at the Latitude Festival. Count "Lotus Flower" in.

The South American tour of Radiohead in 2009 included an already sinuous and spell-inducing version of "These Are My Twisted Words", which we expect to be on the new record. (Will we call it a record? Yes we will.) Expect this song, and maybe even expect it to open the album.

Look for "Judge Jury & Executioner" on the new record, as the full Eraser band showed this piece to excellent advantage, though it sounds like older stuff after "In Rainbows".

"Open the Floodgates" (Thom thinks that's what it's called) opened his "brand brand brand spanking new songs" sung with a piano, clocking in mostly at just over three minutes each. "Floodgates" seems like its still finding itself. "Skirting the Surface" though, is a good bet, with the latter floating out of Thom very smoothly and easily at the Echoplex. He's comfortable with this tune already.

Unlikely:

"Feeling Pulled Apart By Horses" is a piece Thom and Jonny wrote, so although a dark horse as it was already released on the 12-inch EP from Thom, it might well find its way onto the new album. Besides, Thom's chanting and breathing has always been at home in the full band (think "National Anthem" and "Ideoteque" when performed live).

"The Hollow Earth" seems like Thom's piece, and indeed he has said it was intended for the Eraser, so it's an unlikely addition. Other unlikely tracks are Thom's "Hearing Damage" from the Twillight Moon soundtrack, and "in Memory of Harry Patch", a charity recording done in a church by Thom, Jonny and an array of orchestral instruments.

Likewise, Thom's cover version of "All for the Best" for "Ciao My Shining Star: The Songs of Mark Mulcahy". This album of covers by various artists was recorded to raise money for Mark Mulcahy and his young twin daughters after the sudden death of their mother in 2008.

Although "Supercollider" (aka "Solutions" a version of which was arranged by the band in 2005) and "Talk Show Host" have not made their official public recording appearances, they remain on the playlist for Thom's solo appearances and the band's live shows, respectively.

Find excellent background information on songs appearing on Radiohead's "The King of Limbs" at Citizen Insane.

Thom and mates play the Echoplex club in Los Angeles, 2 October 2009. Photos courtesy of MPT.

Thom performed "Super Collider" at the Orpheum shows the following two nights in LA (after we shouted out our request at the Echoplex)--thanks very much indeed, Thom.

Super collider
Dust in a moment
Particles scatter
Coming up from the soup

Swimming upstream
Before the heavens crack open
Thin pixelation
Coming up from the dust

In a blue light
In a green light
In a half life
In half light

In a B-spin
Flip flopping
In a pulse wave
Outstepping

I put the shadows back into their boxes

I am open
I am welcome
For a fraction
Of a second

I have dislodged my depression
I have jettisoned my illusions
I’ve put the shadows back into their boxes
I’ve put the shadows back into their boxes

(I see the angel hanging over the balcony *)

*this line added in LA 2009

Radiohead Release New Single and Artwork

"These Are My Twisted Words" has followed "Harry Patch (In Memory Of)" as a release on Radiohead's website, only this single is "free of charge" and was accompanied on some download sites by artwork. Engineered by Nigel Godrich and Drew Brown.

An artwork file known as "Twisted Woods" by Stanley Donwood and Thom Yorke (aka tchock), consists of 14 black and white panels of tree silhouettes, which we are encouraged to print out on at least 80 gsm tracing paper (or else the printer will eat them as was discovered) and then arrange them in layers in an order which pleases us.

We are pleased.

Radiohead Rocked the California Coast

The hottest ticket of Outside Lands 2008, Radiohead in San Francisco.

"Idioteque" and "Everything In Its Right Place" threw the crowds into wild hypnotic dances. Thom's voice hovered in the air on "Videotape", "All I Need" and "Nude". "Exit Music" haunted, as did "Pyramid Song".

There are downloads of the entire concert online--in mp3 and flac. But as good as they are (and as grateful as we are to those wonderful people who recorded them) the downloads don't do the concerts justice. Connecting to each other, and to the audience, the band members crooned, purred, roared, screamed, shredded and jammed--leaving us breathless (and voiceless) and exhausted. There is nothing like a Radiohead concert, except another Radiohead concert. We were treated to all of the fabulous tracks from "In Rainbows" and served up unbelievable versions of "Talk Show Host" and "National Anthem". "How To Disappear Completely" cast a spell, and "Karma Police" and "You And Whose Army" were outstanding. But then, really, they all were outstanding.

More of the Tour . . .

What Music Does -- Thom Yorke's Version

An Album: "The sonata form of our time."

The Download: "Maybe that’s just the nature of, as you say, people having a little faith in what we're doing."

Music: "It opens something using its maths or whatever, it opens something in you that needs to be opened, and when it is opened then your consciousness or whatever you want to call it, changes just enough for you to be able to see beyond your four walls. The place you live in, your situation, becomes something wider, for a brief moment. You don’t feel trapped. There’s a weird thing with time -- if live music is going well, you get lost in the time of it, and you thinking you’re in the present, and you’re in the past and you’re in the future, and you’re . . . da da da da. Sometimes. I have that."

David Byrne and Thom Yorke on the Real Value of Music

Byrne: I've been thinking about how distribution and CDs and record shops and all that stuff are changing. But we're talking about music. What is music, what does music do for people? What do people get from it? What's it for? That's the thing that's being exchanged. Not all the other stuff. The other stuff is the shopping cart that holds some of it.

Yorke: It’s a means to an end.

Byrne: Yeah. It's a delivery service. The thing that’s valuable to you is so important to you, but so intangible. But people will still pay to have that experience. You create a community with music, but by talking about it with your friends. By making a copy and handing it to your friends, you've established a relationship. The implication is that they're now obligated to give you something back.

Yorke: It's about whether it (the music) affects you or not. And why would you worry about an artist or a company going after people copying their music if the music itself is not valued?

Byrne: You're valuing the delivery system as opposed to the relationship and the emotional thing...

Yorke: You're valuing the company or the interest of the artists rather than the music itself. I guess we’ve always been quite naive. We don't have any alternative to doing this. It's the only obvious thing to do.

Current: Down_load is the New Up

Radiohead say "Here You Go, Have a Listen."

Between October 10 and December 10, 2007, Radiohead offered its entire new album for download at inrainbows.com. Each site visitor chose the fair price to pay for the 10 tracks. We suggested £4.75 (which translates into about $10.00 when you add in the credit card service fee). Some people downloaded it for free. The upside was availablity in a whole, non-leaked and better quality version than say, i-Tunes at a price literally anyone could afford. New fans and old made it an exciting and much-anticipated event; an early Christmas or a New Year's party with thousands of eager or just curious participants. It was the musical event of 2007. It made people happy. The delivery system made people think. And talk. To each other. A good thing. So thanks, Radiohead, for the party.

Now, in 2009, Radiohead have made available the CD2 from In Rainbows, as a download from w.a.s.t.e. To those who haven't had the pleasure, enjoy.

NEW: Radiohead Tour Dates

Patrick Doyle Scores for Branagh

London
The Daily Telegiraffe
What's Up: MUSIC

Patrick Doyle is a great fan of Shakespeare. "Oddly enough, I'm moved far more often reading Shakespeare than I am listening to music; I think he's arguably the greatest genius the planet has ever seen." Doyle is responsible for much of the music in Love's Labour's Lost,
Branagh's latest Shakespearean adaption for the screen.

Here is an excerpt from the Scorelogue magazine interview with Doyle:

Doyle: I think it's a wonderful idea. It harks back in many ways to the old MGM days. Ken adapted the original text and he interspersed between the story great songs by Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Gershwin, in order to highlight, as it were, various points in the story. They become singing soliloquies, almost like arias in the drama, in order to reiterate the point and drive it home - they just burst into song! The curious thing is that none of us had been involved in musicals for the cinema; I'd written a musical many years ago and had been involved in pantomimes - these were Christmas shows very much in the style of a Broadway or West End musical musical. In our country we, like you, were brought up on all the MGM musicals; one of my earliest memories is watching the famous sequence from Singin' in the Rain where Gene Kelly is singing and being rather bemused by the fact that he handed his umbrella to a policeman in the end. I must have been about four or five, thinking it was such a crazy thing to do. The music, comedy, and dance had a lasting effect on me. I think one of the greatest musicals adapted for cinema was West Side Story, but that entire world of the MGM training school seemed to me an amazing world. In a way this film was slightly like that in that in two and a half weeks people came in and by the end had learned all these songs and choreographed moves and lines. In fact after 2 weeks Ken had a run through on one of the large Shepperton stages using simply tables and chairs.

Scorelogue: Sort of like a dress rehearsal?

Doyle: A technical rehearsal, in fact. Many people said afterwards, "God, you could just put that onto the stage in the West End and it'd be a huge hit." It was wonderful to see the rehearsals going on. Something was happening in every room: people were being taught songs, taught harmonies, movement, and so on, and I was continually popping in and out to supervise and find out what had changed, what was new, what was being added. It looks extraordinary, and I think it's one of the best films ken has ever done. It's totally charming.

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"Fans of Patrick Doyle will easily recognise his style, with the rich string writing and soaring melodies (a cue like 'Beauty of a Woman's Face' is heartbreakingly beautiful). There is a mammoth cue, the nine minute 'Twelve Months and a Day..." which is very impressive. Without doubt Patrick Doyle writes some of the most beautiful music composed for films these days, he's a Georges Delerue for the new millennium. Another example is 'You That Way, We This Way..." with a lot of tear-jerking mid-register string writing. Such beauty."--Mikael Carlsson, Music From the Movies

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Another interview with Doyle about music and working with Branagh.

A Labour of Love
Scoring Shakespeare
Paul Tonks, for Amazon UK

Actor/director Kenneth Branagh has introduced a new cinema audience to Shakespeare, from his cinematic debut in Henry V (1989) to Love's Labours Lost (2000), his latest in the series. All have featured music by Scottish composer Patrick Doyle, who spoke to Amazon.co.uk about putting the Bard into a 1930s musical setting.

Amazon.co.uk: After six movies together, how much of a verbal short-hand has developed between you and Kenneth Branagh?

Patrick Doyle: It's a very relaxed relationship. Generally speaking, once he's talked about what he's after in terms of style--we're set. For Love's Labours Lost there was a lot to think about stylistically. We knew there were the songs, but there was how to introduce them musically. Ordinarily you'd get something like four bars in the old MGM style of musical cinema. But it took a while to dawn on us that we needed a much longer preamble before the song emerged. Because it's Shakespeare, that introduced a very new aspect in an otherwise very traditional world of music. This was an example where our dialogue evolved throughout the process of working together. On something like Hamlet, he was clear about what he wanted from the start. It needed something that talked about the man musically in terms of honour, optimism, sadness etc. Ken likes a tune first, and that's really the barometer for the rest of a film for him. He's happy for the rest to develop once we're set with a main core.

Amazon.co.uk: How do the songs replace some of the Shakespearean text?

Doyle: Ken has adapted the play for the screen, and obviously he cuts down a long play to make a short film. But the point of the songs is they're like arias in an opera: they highlight the Bard's words. Really they're a bit of fun that capture the essence of what Shakespeare was after. In many places it's as simple as: "I love you and can we get together for a while?"

Amazon.co.uk: Did you help select the songs?

Doyle: They were entirely Ken's choice. My job was a big piece of musical direction as well as providing the underscore. I did some work on the arrangements. I'm sure it was very different from the old days of MGM musical where they had months and months of preparation. Filming started two months after we began on the songs, and then once we saw the choreography the arrangements had to change again. My feeling when I first saw them filming was I'd have to give a bold lush score, because the whole thing looks so bright. I felt the story needed something strong yet not incongruous to the performances or the songs.

Amazon.co.uk: What were the important themes or characters for you to focus on in your score?

Doyle: Ken's speech in the library when he talks about the power of love and a woman's touch inspired one of the main themes: that had to have a nobility to it, something with a feeling of English choral music because of the university setting. It looks so quintessentially English that to me it called for a theme that represented that look. The score had to create a whole new world to complement the songs. Even these longer introductions going into the songs are separate things: the audience has to hear them and subconsciously know they're going into a musical number. Musically, you're preparing and leading the audience by the nose so it's not a shock to encounter a song in Shakespeare. A great example is "I've Got A Crush On You", where each character has a verse. It's a real comedic moment and I had to write the underscore way in advance.

Amazon.co.uk: What have been your proudest musical moments over the course of your collaborations with Branagh?

Doyle: Henry V as my first picture was one of the most thrilling experiences of my life. To hear a symphony orchestra conducted by Simon Rattle doing my music was just beyond words. I was a bit emotional when they played the first bit back. Much Ado About Nothing was such an extraordinary project. To spend six weeks in Tuscany with that cast. I laughed like a drain all the time going to Florence for your evening meal. Dead Again had some of the best recording sessions I've had. Hamlet has one of my all-time favourite moments with the sword fight at the end. That string piece with lots of pizzicato was recorded on the second take. It was the most phenomenal sight-reading I've ever known. We had so much fun at the Oscars running up and down the aisle shouting "loser!"

Amazon.co.uk: Branagh announced wanting to adapt all of Shakespeare's works for film. Which play would you most like to work on?

Doyle:"The Scottish Play" is my favourite of course!

For audio clips of Doyle's music from Henry V, and other Henry V multimedia, visit the story page for Henry V and scroll down.

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Love's Labour's Lost CD Liner notes

From Director Kenneth Branagh

Perhaps it was the challenge of walking into a meeting with film financiers to persuade them to bankroll an obscure Shakespearean comedy musical. Or perhaps it was a love affair with this neglected play. Or perhaps it was my awed admiration for the great Hollywood extravaganzas of the '30s, '40s, and '50s. Whatever the reason, Patrick and I were pretty sure that we would be setting ourselves an irresistibly exciting and demanding creative challenge by fusing Shakespeare and the musical. And so it proved.

A plot that many critics have described as silly; a style that moves from high romance to farce to social satire; characters who can veer from narcissism to the grotesque -- all are inside a play which, alone among Shakespeare's works, went unperformed for some two hundred years after his death. Add to that the very genre of film musical, rarely revived, replaced, we were told, by the rock video. This soundtrack is the essential element with which we attempted to overcome these difficulties. .

We chose classic songs from composers whose economy, lightness of touch, and linguistic and melodic brilliance could stand beside the equally delicate poetry of the playwright. And we strived to create new arrangements that took their style from the drama (and the comedy); orchestrations that would viscerally give audiences the vicarious thrill of on-screen emotions; and finally, a narrative score that required Patrick to tackle the awesome challenge of complementing both Shakespeare and some of the major popular songwriters of the twentieth century. Patrick, I am sure you will agree, has risen to the occasion with an immensely joyful and touching work. My collaboration with him and the sensational team that enabled us to realise this deliciously crazy endeavor was truly a privilege. I thank them all for their patience and talent. And I know that all of us thank Mr. William Shakespeare, Mr. Cole Porter, et al for this opportunity. .

Perhaps it was the challenge of walking into a meeting with film financiers to persuade them to bankroll an obscure Shakespearean comedy musical. Or perhaps it was a love affair with this neglected play. Or perhaps it was my awed admiration for the great Hollywood extravaganzas of the '30s, '40s, and '50s. Whatever the reason, Patrick and I were pretty sure that we would be setting ourselves an irresistibly exciting and demanding creative challenge by fusing Shakespeare and the musical. And so it proved. A plot that many critics have described as silly; a style that moves from high romance to farce to social satire; characters who can veer from narcissism to the grotesque -- all are inside a play which, alone among Shakespeare's works, went unperformed for some two hundred years after his death. Add to that the very genre of film musical, rarely revived, replaced, we were told, by the rock video. This soundtrack is the essential element with which we attempted to overcome these difficulties. We chose classic songs from composers whose economy, lightness of touch, and linguistic and melodic brilliance could stand beside the equally delicate poetry of the playwright. And we strived to create new arrangements that took their style from the drama (and the comedy); orchestrations that would viscerally give audiences the vicarious thrill of on-screen emotions; and finally, a narrative score that required Patrick to tackle the awesome challenge of complementing both Shakespeare and some of the major popular songwriters of the twentieth century. Patrick, I am sure you will agree, has risen to the occasion with an immensely joyful and touching work. My collaboration with him and the sensational team that enabled us to realise this deliciously crazy endeavor was truly a privilege. I thank them all for their patience and talent. And I know that all of us thank Mr. William Shakespeare, Mr. Cole Porter, et al for this opportunity.

From composer Patrick Doyle

Shakespeare wrote lyrics to be sung in many of his plays, but for this adapatation of Love's Labour's Lost, Kenneth Branagh had a unique approach. Ken's idea was to incorporate existing popular songs into the score, in particular, some of the most masterful tunes and lyrics in modern musical history, written by the likes of Gershwin, Porter, Kern, and Berlin. Even before filming began, there were many meetings involving the music, for all of us knew we had a mammoth task before us. From the moment I saw rushes, my instincts told me that a big, lush, romantic, magical score would inevitably emerge and that the arrangements had to be "filmic" and driven by the drama. In this context, the popular songs we used would seem like arias, springing out of a moment to highlight a thought or to advance the narrative. As my work on the score progressed, it became clear that Ken's unique approach to Shakespeare demanded particular musical ideas: unlike the traditional song introductions of the past (which are relatively short), the songs here needed longer introductions; the Collegian design (being quintessentially English) called for a traditional English sound; the Royalty aspect cried out for a noble quality; the very funny "Cinetone News" sequences needed none other than the classic "March of Time" accompaniment; the comic characters -- who, with the exception of Costard, took themselves very seriously -- needed music that reflected their dignity; the opening titles needed to sound like the old MGM overtures (which I will always associate with childhood Sunday afternoons, accompanied with the smell of home cooking). Finally, as this is one of Shakespeare's most poetic works, it sometimes proved difficult to reflect its poetry in the score -- never more so than in the scenes where the four couples say good-bye. This project was a hugely enjoyable new experience, and it is certainly one of Ken's finest films. He has been a great friend, and I thank him. And as I suspected from the very beginning, working on this film has turned out to be one of my most interesting projects to date.

Click here to listen to "I Won’t Dance". (Wav file)

Sony's Love’s Labour’s Lost CD site.

Liner notes from the CD site.

(Thanks to Isabel)

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Below is a partial transcript of composer Patrick Doyle's April 1994 appearance on KUSC-FM's The Record Shelf, hosted by Jim Svejda.
(Some of Svejda's comments were post-recorded and so have been edited out.) Thanks to Terry E. for typing this transcript. Thanks to Maria Isabel Ortiz.

On his career before film composing:

Patrick Doyle: I suppose I had a fairly good career as an actor. I managed to have a house, a mortgage, a car, kids, the whole bit, so in those terms I survived as an actor, at least I worked. And occasionally I would write for radio or the odd television thing, but I was very often asked to write for the theater. I wrote a musical, in fact...that was called "Glasvegas" (as opposed to the other place) and it was a kind of Fifties spoof sendup. It was very successful, and in fact it was revived about two years ago, just a small tour of Scotland. So that was great fun. So all along the line, in fact I had to keep refusing musical direction work. But no matter where I went, I always ended up doing a bit of music and acting, because it was cheaper to employ me, because you got two jobs for the price of one. (Laughs) I'm serious. So I was always helped. I mean, someone said, he'll never stop working because he's got two jobs he could turn his hand to. So really, that's what happened.

Jim Svejda: How did [Kenneth Branagh's film] "Henry V" happen to happen?

PD: Well, it was really through a mutual friend of Ken Branagh's and myself called John Sessions. I suppose he's the British equivalent of Robin Williams--extremely, extremely gifted comedian. And John and I worked together as actors in a Bert hold Brecht play. And I remember during a break I was doing a pastiche, some Mozart--it was a sendup for a TV show I was doing previously, a kind of evening current affairs show where there was a song at the end of the show, and I did the sendup of an opera. And so I was joking and laughing, and playing it for John, and really through that John got to know about my musical background. And when Ken actually asked John if he knew anyone who could possibly write some music for a forthcoming production of Twelfth Night, John suggested myself. And I remember he had talked about this Ken Branagh, and he had recently won a lot of praise for his performance of Henry V in the RSC. I hadn't seen the performance. So I knew vaguely the name, but this was just at the beginning of the Renaissance Theatre Company, which Ken had formed with David Parfitt. So I went along to meet Ken, and we got on very well--he had yet to hear a piece of my music, and offered me the job of writing the music for his production of Twelfth Night. And I thought, well, I'm going to jump at the chance of this because I'm really fed up acting and writing music, I'll just write the music for the first time in a long time. And I found out during that show that I just lost the bug for acting. I just thought I really loved writing this. It was a small band, only four people, and I loved it so much, I thought, this is what to do now.

On the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra:

PD: For someone who had never written a film score before, and to suddenly find out that someone of Simon Rattle's caliber and an orchestra of that standard were to be the people employed for the job--it was just the most terrifying prospect. That was more terrifying than anything else-- forget the fact that Walton wrote his version a while ago--that was the most frightening thing. I was terrified because I had so much respect for Simon Rattle's work. It's an orchestra where you can almost instantly tell, even by just switching on the car radio or something--it's such a distinctive sound, it's such a tight ensemble, just a special, special talent.

JS: Is there a better orchestra in Britain these days? I don't think so.

PD: Well, for me, it's my favorite orchestra, there's no question, because the way he rehearses them and the way he allows certain members of the orchestra to go away on sabbatical and do chamber work. I remember I talked to one of the double bass players and he said he goes away maybe for a couple months to Germany or whatever and gets together with European friends and they do concerts and do chamber work. And obviously, they come back bringing all that wealth of experience back into the orchestra. He usually rehearses longer, and it pays huge dividends. The composer gets a complete crack of the whip. There's no question. He gives the music every chance in the world to breathe. So it was just fortunate that the photographer that was employed on the film of Henry V was a neighbor of Simon Rattle's. The producer of the picture was very keen for Simon Rattle to do it. I wouldn't have dreamt of asking for Simon Rattle and the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. But the producer was keen on it, and the demonstration tape that I worked on--there was an electronic version done--was actually given without my knowledge to Simon Rattle. And Rattle nodded his head in the right direction and said yes, he'd quite like to get involved in this. So when the news of that came back, thatís what made me want to think, I'm not doing this job! (Laughs) It's too scary! But he did the most magnificent job, and it was just a thrill. A thrill. Unbelievable.

On recording the score of "Henry V":

PD: I must say there was a point during a cue that accompanied the very famous St. Crispin's Day speech, and watching the playback, we were looking at the monitor and they had just recorded the cue...and I remember that was the most cathartic moment. I've never cried before or since, in my career, emotionally over anything. I like to have good fun as much as I can, but I just completely broke down. It was embarrassing, it was really embarrassing! I've never done it before or since. My father sang in the choir--a great tenor, a terrific tenor. And my sister is a very good singer, in fact she sang on "Into the West", a score I did. So they were there, and Simon Rattle gives a hug, and it was like--oh, so mortifying. It was like the Oscars, you know--(Mimics) "Dahling, you were mahvelous! No, you were mahvelous." I was in a terrible state. I was an emotional wreck. Because I just couldnít believe this had all happened. I heard this orchestra blasting away, and I just couldn't believe it. And to this day, I still can't believe...that I'm sitting here being asked about it. I'm waiting on the Hand of Fate--"Mr. Doyle, your time ís up!" (Laughs) "You've been found out!"

JS: This is probably a silly question, but was anyone really prepared for the success that this film enjoyed?

PD: I wasn't prepared for the subsequent attention the score got. I would have been very content just to get through it, to have anything accepted, and just to carry on slowly working my way toward another job. But as far as the attention in this part of the world was concerned, it was a very pleasant surprise for Ken to be nominated for two Oscars. I know that the score got an awful lot of play in America, and it sold many CDs, so I was very surprised, as I say, and I'm surprised I'm sitting here, so...continually surprised.

On "Non Nobis, Domine" (the music at the end of the battle in "Henry V") :

PD: The actual structure of it is Ken Branagh's. Ken said, "I want it to start off with a solo voice, and I want it to build and build and build and build." Ken described the shot in detail, said he wanted to use the words of "Non Nobis, Domine" and he described the shot--the carnage, dead soldiers, dead horses, mud, gore, spears, overturned carts--and he would be walking through all the mud and gore toward a cart where he would lay a body. He'd be carting one of the boys that were murdered by the French. So the shot ended up just as he described. And I wrote this piece--it was part of the demonstration tape, as it were. So really what is actually on film is what was given to Ken as a result of a very clear--you know, I could see the thing, I could actually picture it in my mind's eye, it was such a clear picture of what he was about to shoot. And the actual music, in fact, was used on location, as a dolly came along, this huge tracking shot, the music was blasting so everyone could feel the atmosphere and give their utmost.

On Kenneth Branagh's film "Dead Again":

PD: It was [a great leap], but it wasn't in many ways, because of the fact that I leaped from one job to the next was a miracle. (Laughs) Obviously, it was the same director, but being brought up on a diet of American pictures, especially the older pictures, certainly I was aware--I had seen many Hitchcock pictures, pictures like "Rebecca." When Ken handed me the script before it was shot, I knew it was a great piece of writing. Although we had problems in terms of the structure, once it was actually filmed they were very quickly sorted out when we played it to audiences, and there were a few rewrites and Scott Frank did a great job. So it was a hard, tough score, a very tough score, because it had to be so varied and it had to be a modern score, it had to pastiche the Forties. The plot was so convoluted and the score had to reflect a piece of music that this composer within the picture was writing, yet it had to address the picture and drama as well. So it was a very interesting challenge, and a tough one because it was a follow-up to a film that I was surprised that I got through in the first place, Henry V, and the fact that I thought, well, there's bound to be some section of the population out there interested to see what I am going to come up with next. I think it did quite well, Dead Again, I'm not quite sure of the figures, but in terms of a second picture, Ken did a great job.

JS: For people who didn't see the film, there are two stories going on-- one in color, one in black and white. The black and white is the murder of the wife of a famous composer. Both of these people bear a strange resemblance to the two people in the modern part of the film--and I must say that he is about the only British actor I've ever seen that does an absolutely convincing American accent.

PD: Well, he has a very good ear.

JS: Olivier's was terrible. Whenever Olivier played an American, it was awful, just awful.

PD: Certainly, as far as Ken's concerned, he's got a terrific ear, and the very first time I saw Ken on stage was a play that he'd written called "Public Enemy" in which he played a character who--it was set in Belfast, which is where he was brought up until the age of eight. He was playing a character obsessed with Jimmy Cagney. He does the most brilliant Jimmy Cagney impersonation. In fact, when he's slightly chubbier, when he has a good old holiday and the pasta and the wine flows, he tends to look very strikingly like James Cagney.

KS: Which is something that a lot of the reviews, when Henry V first came out--they said, this guy really looks like Cagney, he really reminds of the kind of power, streetwise . . .

PD: Clearly, he is a brilliant mimic, most people don't actually realize he's a brilliant mimic and that accent--I'm sure he had to work at it, and do his homework. Both of them in fact have very good ears for accents. Emma did an equally convincing American accent.

On Brian DePalma's film "Carlito's Way":

JS: In Carlito's Way, you worked in an idiom which I don't imagine you've had much experience with.

PD: Uh...no. Certainly, I've never met people like that. I don't mean the actors, I mean the characters they were portraying. I remember Brian DePalma mentioned the script, he said, "It's a gangster movie, have you ever done a gangster movie before?" I said, "No, and neither have I met any." (Laughs) So he chuckled. I remember I got poor Brian DePalma out of his bed, he was on location, we kept trying to contact each other for a week and I woke him up. I think he'd just gotten in from this plane journey and I said, "Don't tell me it's one o'clock in the morning, Brian"--I was afraid he'd tell me it was five o'clock in the morning. He was terribly nice, and very very strong, knew exactly what he wanted, he knew he wanted an elegiac opening for this picture, so I said, well I'll give you one of them, and in fact it's one of the pieces Iím very proud of. When I wrote the piece, I also wrote another version, just in the hope that one day if ever there were a concert version of it I would have it on hand, because I was particularly proud of it. I had worked very hard, as I do on all projects, but particularly for this film, which I thought was one of the finest and most beautifully crafted pictures I'd seen in a long time. And he's a very gifted man, and I was very flattered to be asked to do it.

JS: There's a tracking shot in this movie--the cue is actually called "Grand Central." One of the great tracking shots, period, in my experience--it just goes on forever and ever and ever and ever.

PD: (Laughs)

JS: Why don't you basically set up the situation with what's happening here?

PD: Well, basically itís the climax of the picture where the central character, Carlito played by Al Pacino, is rushing toward an arranged meeting with his girlfriend, and the baddies, as it were, are chasing him. When I saw this section of the fi lm, I saw it very early on before it was finally cut. I knew it'd have to be a piece of music that rose to the picture, because it was such an incredibly directed piece and there was this particular hand-held camera shot that went on for about...God, was it two and a half minutes or something? It was directed like a ballet. The whole thing was so balletic, so beautifully moved. That was one thing that became abundantly clear, in a matter of seconds, was that this man had impeccable timing. He knew how to time and how to cut, and he knew the rhythm of the film. And I think they're absolutely inseparable, the fact that a film to me must have movement. It makes a great picture, the fact the director has a sense of movement, and that's something he has plenty of, he has it in abundance. And even when he was describing to the editor about how to cut it, he saw a rough shape--it should be there, there, there, and done. Even when he was describing the cut, it was like there was a rhythm, a drummer or something. So I just knew that I was in the hands of someone who knew exactly how music worked to picture. There'd be no love lost in telling me exactly what. Whenever he gave suggestions they were on the button. And that was a particularly difficult cue because it had so many ups and downs--it was so long--and it had to be a continual theme. I suppose the obvious thing, because it was at a station, was to have a train rhythm, but I didn't consciously come up with what was so apparent, like a locomotive theme (Hums it)--believe it or not, that was not conscious. That was a totally subconscious rhythm and theme--it wasn't until the recording that I thought well, of course. (Hums) It wasn't that conscious. And it seems the obvious thing--what ís he talking about--of course that ís the obvious thing to do--choose a train rhythm! But I didn't; I didn't consciously think.

On Kenneth Branagh's film "Much Ado About Nothing":

PD: "The Picnic" which opens the picture, clearly called for a pastoral, luxurious, relaxed-sounding cue. And Ken and I had watched the film mentioned earlier called "Dead Again" and there was a particular theme that I used in that earlier on which was eventually dropped, and Ken felt it would be ideal to try and unearth it again and try in some way to get it in to Much Ado. He was so fond of it. And we found it almost fitted--with a bit of work--to the words of "Sigh No More, Ladies." And so then that became one of the main themes throughout the picture. The Overture, as it were--I suppose it's an Overture in the strict sense in that it has virtually every single theme--and it does have every theme that ultimately appears in the picture--but it was an enormous pressure, that one, because it' s just four guns blasting all the time, it's relentless. And I had to portray two things, clearly: the femininity present in the picture, and also the masculine side of things. I had to have one bouncing off the other. So that was the challenge of it. Plus, it had to clearly address all the fast cutting. Not all--it wasn't all mickey-mouse, it wasn't catch every cut.

But one of the interesting technical features of it was the opening, the kind of Magnificent Seven moment when you have all these actors, slowly each one came up. I think there was--let's count them--(Hums main Overture theme)--so there were seven of them I think! Anyway, one by one they come up and as always I stared at the images for a long time thinking, "What am I going to do with this?" Because it wasn't quite regular. Almost regular, in terms of the distance between each cut and how they come up. But I suddenly came up with the idea of just having these big leaping horns and (Hums theme) and the seventh and the sixth . It looks as if they're all doing it in three-four time, but with the help of Roy Prendergast, who's a terrific musician and my music editor, Roy and I ramped the click. In other words, itís not strictly three-four time, it pulls slightly, and to catch the cut every time bang-on. I mean, I suppose I could have contacted the editor and said, "Look, I want this cut," and Roy and I would have worked out the footage, but it was a nice challenge to just leave it as it was, to take the cut that was presented to me, and then write around that. I studied that for a long time before I thought, What am I going to do? It had to be very butch. And it had to be heraldlike, it had to herald the arrival, clearly, of all these men back from the war.

On "Sigh No More, Ladies":

PD: I had already written this theme for a previous picture, "Dead Again," and it was never used. Ken came up with this idea, which I thought was mad to begin with, that we should use the same theme. And I felt it was a bit gratuitous, just because he liked this theme, to shove it into something, especially those very famous words. But he's very driven, and usually when he's hooked onto an idea it's very difficult for him to let go, and he really convinced me it would work. So with a little bit of jiggery-pokery, we managed to do it and fit the words to it. Obviously, when we looked at it again it wasn't quite the same theme, but with development and some work on it we managed to do it. He always insists on a very strong melody. It's something which is a difficult brief, in that it should be instantly appealing, yet have a longevity, have a life after. It should do all the right things--it should reach a climax when a melody should reach a climax, it should drift back to a final conclusion when it should. Take a beautiful melody, "The Londonderry Air." It just does all the right things at the right time, and lands its final resting spot in a perfect place. If it appeals to me, then hopefully it will appeal to other people.

On influences and career:

PD: I suppose I've been lucky in that my background in theater has paid, I think, great dividends. It was such a varied background. Whenever I approach film, it's clearly appealed to all that past experience. I also played a lot in bars, when I was in London, over a period of six years while I was an actor as well. That helped to keep the wolf away from the door. It also meant I was playing great songs by some of the most talented American composers--Cole Porter, Irving Berlin--and those wonderful people. That helped, I think, each time I played that stuff. It helped to give me a sense of harmony, of harmonic progression, a great sense of melody, and those songs for those shows are quite theatrically written. All that added to the melting pot to prepare me, I think, for writing for film. I was always subconsciously aware of the interaction between drama and music, and consciously--when it was bad, I think I noticed it. When it was working well, I enjoyed the product, I enjoyed the film or TV program or whatever. So it seems to be a natural path for me, looking back on it. I work very hard, and I take it very seriously, and I'm a very committed composer and I get terribly involved in it and very passionate about it. I would hope that comes across.

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For the Love's Labour's Lost page, click here.

For the Making of Love's Labour's Lost, click here.

Click here for Trust Kenneth Branagh. Interviews with the RTE, Belfast Telegraph and The London Guardian are paired with photos and screen captures from Love's Labour's Lost.

For the Daily Telegiraffe review of Love's Labour's Lost, click here.

For other reviews of Love's Labour's Lost, click here.

For Love's Labour's Lost and more in the Guardian interview with Kenneth Branagh at the National Film Theatre's 1999 Branagh retrospective, click here.

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