A Conversation With Carter Burwell

Over the course of a 28-year career, the film composer and Amagansett resident has written music for more than 75 feature-length films including “Twilight” and nearly every film ever made by the Coen Brothers.


At what point in the filming process will you come onboard?
Generally, I don’t actually write anything until a film has actually been shot. But, there are some exceptions.
In the movie I’m working on right now, which is “Breaking Dawn: Part II,” they needed Rob Pattinson and the actress who plays his daughter to play piano onscreen. I had to write this duet before they shot the film so they could actually learn the parts. Rob is a musician, so he prides himself on working out the fingering for these correctly.


So before the movie is finished filming, but after you’ve discussed the mood of the film with the directors, do you start to research and gather sounds?
I do. Actually, it’s an interesting thing. The question of mood doesn’t really come up that much. A typical thing we would discuss would be the motivation of the main character.


Is there an example from a movie you’ve worked on recently, like maybe “True Grit”?
Yes. The insight Ethan [Coen] and I had into the music was that it needed to play the protagonist’s church [going] background. When you read the book, you can see that on every page this is one of the things that’s motivating her, driving her to make her choices. But in the movie, you don’t hear her inner voice. So, we both thought: Why don’t we use hymns? While they were off shooting, I was trying to reacquaint myself with 19th century protestant hymns.


I imagine that whole process — having not only had a previous movie but a book to draw more inspiration and more information from — is totally different than working on a film like “Adaptation,” which is not only fictional—well I guess it was based on a book…
[laughs] There was a book, but it was based on it in a very unique way.


Yeah, very loosely…
But you’re right, it is very different. One of the things that Spike [Jonze] was doing when he was shooting the movie was rearranging some of the scenes because the film doesn’t have a plot, exactly. During the course of making the movie he rearranged the scenes in every conceivable fashion to see what would happen. So, I also sort of wrote the music in a similar way. The one thing we knew was that it was going to end by becoming everything it says it’s not going to be: a cheap thriller.
And, as, honestly, often is the case, my personal life entered into it, too, in that I was about to have a baby and I could see that Spike was going to edit this movie forever. So, I also had to write the music in such a way that I could say to Spike: I’m going to leave on this date, so I’m going to give you the music for your movie, even though you haven’t finished editing it, and I’m going to give it to you in such a way that you can keep playing with it as long as you want.
It’s strange. Those kinds of exterior constraints, or involvements, I’ve noticed come up in my work quite a bit… I’ve noticed my personal life keeps having a lot to do with the way I write the music.


Well, it seems pretty relevant for that movie, anyway.
Yeah, right… Exactly.


So, I understand the creative process, the idea of trying to find a character’s motivation. But, how do you even start to put music to it?
I’ll first watch the movie enough to get a definite idea of what I think it wants: there’s a story element that needs a theme, or there’s a character that needs a theme. I’ll have these thoughts in mind, and then I’ll go and play the piano without the movie there and that’s what I do. I’ll sit at the piano for as long as it takes — and hopefully it doesn’t take too long because they don’t give you that much time!


Have you always played piano?
I took lessons as a kid — I really hated it — and came back to it later when I was in my high school years because a friend showed me how to improvise on piano. Playing written music, which is of course what I was doing when I had lessons as a kid, is not really interesting to me. I don’t even like playing my own music once it’s written down.


Have you always been able to associate emotions with sound? For instance, to know what a character’s motivation is, and then easily get to the piano and play it out?
What you just brought up is the hardest thing. To find what that relationship is between sound and emotion, and to do it in some non-cliché way is still a bit of a mystery to me. The only way I can usually do it is to just try many, many, many things… but that’s what I enjoy doing on piano. I make random mutations in a melody, or a theme, and then I perform selections by choosing ones I think are getting me somewhere.


Are there any other films where you’ve taken a specific song, or a specific musical genre, and sort of mutated it, like you said, to kind of make it form to a particular film?
Yes. An easy example is “Fargo.” Based on the script, I thought that there might be something in Scandinavian music that might be helpful. So, I found an old Norwegian folk tune, called “The Lost Sheep,” that had later been turned into a hymn. And then took it out of that context and put it into the context of a film noir.
To do that I would listen to a lot of film noir scores. Miklós Rósza is the composer I listened to to get a sense of how to orchestrate the film noir genre… the use of low woodwinds and percussion, and not so much strings.
I basically took a tune out of the Scandinavian context and put it into a Hollywood film noir context, and that was the essence of the idea for the music for “Fargo.”


The first movie you ever worked on was the Coen brothers’ first film, “Blood Simple,” in 1984. Was it intimidating the first time you were faced with these pictures that you were solely responsible for giving a soundtrack?
Um, it’s not. It probably should be [laughs]. The only part that’s intimidating, really, is the schedule. I might have somewhere between three and eight weeks to write an hour of music, or 50 pieces. It’s just a ton to do if you actually expect to have any other life. And I try to make sure that it’s always a little bit intimidating because a little bit of fear of the deadline is what keeps me going every morning.
But, I don’t find the creative part intimidating. Again, maybe I should, but I enjoy it. I really do.

--sagharboronline.com

`Robstenfan

Amazing Fan Video To Carter Burwell's Bella Reborn

Make sure you watch the video the whole time...it gave me chills (the song is beautiful-love Bella's Lullaby at the end) but the artwork is remarkable.

source
xoxo
Carrie

Sneak Peek : The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 (The Score Music By Carter Burwell )

~Robstenfan

Carter Burwell: On Scoring Twilight, Breaking Dawn, Workflow and Inspiration

I know part 1 just came out and I love it, I can't help but want part 2 to come out now first to see how it ends and second to see Rob/Edward play the piano again (I love pianoward :D)

TRIBECA, MANHATTAN: It was like a scene out of a movie. Film score composer Carter Burwellwrote the final cue to The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn (Part I) at his piano in the country by the flickering light of an oil lamp.

“I was out at my place in Amagansett trying to finish up the score when Hurricane Irene hit and took out my power,” Burwell describes. “And it stayed out for four days. So I ended up writing the ending in this darkened, boarded up house.

“It was interesting and painful at the same time,” he says, with a laugh. “But it worked out.”

Being forced to compose the old-fashioned way is not as extreme an exercise for Burwell as it might be for another composer; he does write most of his themes at the piano. And the storm made a perfectly dark and romantic setting in which to conjure the final scene’s music, where Burwell reprises the soaring “Bella’s Lullaby” theme from the first Twilight, with liturgical sounds. Without spoiling the ending, it’s a heavy, most climactic scene.

We met up with Burwell during Breaking Dawnmixing sessions at his studio in Tribeca – by contrast a very well-lit, and highly technical environment. He’d been to record the score with an orchestra at Abbey Road, and was now working through the final stages with his longtime mixer Mike Farrow and his assistantDean Parker.

Burwell may be best known for his work with the Coen Brothers, having scored every film they’ve made since Blood Simple (1984).

Between the Coen Brothers films – including, most recently True Grit – and a number of other standouts such as And The Band Played On, The Spanish Prisoner, Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, Where the Wild Things Are, Before the Devil Knows Your Dead, The Kids Are Alright and Mildred Pierce – Burwell’s scores span many eras of music, genres of film, and decades of critical acclaim.

Through it all, there is an authenticity to Burwell’s music that distinguishes his scores from the typical Hollywood fare. And as artists like Trent Reznor, Daft Punk, and Phoenix are signing onto score films nowadays, being an artist – living and working outside of the traditional movie studio system – may be coming more into favor. Directors want to collaborate with an artist. And Carter Burwell is an artist.

He took some time away from the mix to chat with SonicScoop about scoring for Twilight, and scoring in general…

Looking over your filmography, it seems like you haven’t scored a sequel before. You did the first Twilight but not the second and third. Can you tell me about how you came to doBreaking Dawn, the fourth of the Twilight films?

It’s true, I’ve never scored a sequel. But it’s pretty simple – I’ve worked with this director – Bill Condon – before [on Kinsey]. Bill wanted me to do the scores, but he wasn’t sure I would want to because they’re such huge melodramas, and that’s really very different than what I normally do. But he is entirely a pleasure to work with so I definitely wanted to do it.

When I was composing music for the first Twilight, I don’t think any of us knew that it would be thatpopular… that it would have this cultural resonance. There was such an enormous response. There have been thousands of emails people have written me, wanting to know how to play the themes on piano. And that has been really nice.

Oh that’s really cool – the fans genuinely engaging with the film’s score. Wow. So, in scoring this latest film, did you reprise any of those themes from the first? How did you continue that work you’d done on the first one, or did you not approach it like that at all?

Well, I did to some extent. The intervening two films were directed by different people and composed by different people and they didn’t use any of the musical themes from the first one.

But there’s this one love theme called “Bella’s Lullaby” that was on the Twilight soundtrack album and that’s the one that most people respond to from the first movie. And when I first talked to Bill Condon, he was excited to bring back “Bella’s Lullaby” – so we have brought it back, judiciously. There’s a hint of it here and there, and then in the last scene of this movie, we actually play it out. And it’s pretty dramatic.

Having worked with Bill Condon before, and having scored the first of this insanely successful series…how much actual direction did you get at the start of this project? How does it get started?

Well first we have the spotting session, where – on the one hand – we’re talking technically about where the music starts and ends. But honestly in a movie like this, it turns out that it really never ends. There’s 80 minutes of score in this movie, so the “where it starts and stops” conversation hardly entered into it. Really we spent that time talking about what is the point of this scene? What can the music say? What kind of theme can we use for this? There’s a lot of give and take in a conversation like that.

And for one thing, in a movie like this – there are (especially in the second half) a lot of special effects so when I’m looking at the screen, I won’t necessarily know what’s going on. So I have to depend on the director to say, ‘OK, here there are going to be wolves coming down this hill,’ because I cannot always tell what the important dramatic impact is when there are all these unfinished effects shots.

And from there, do you just start working? You have the job, so you’re not exactly pitching music…

That’s right. As soon as I talked to Bill and we agreed I would do this, I started thinking about themes and melodies. It’s a very different story than the first Twilight. In the first one, you begin in what seems like a normal environment for a high school girl and it becomes supernatural and very intense emotionally.

Here, by this point, there’s no pretense of anything being normal. So you begin in an already a heightened emotional state, with supernatural qualities and it just gets more so…so it’s much more melodramatic. And I knew that I would need a lot more thematic material than I did in the first one. In this movie, Edward and Bella get married. They’re becoming grownups. They face different challenges. The score has to take that into account. And so their music is really pretty different.

I began working as soon as I found out I had the job because I knew that it was a huge job and I wouldn’t have that much time to write all 80 minutes of music.

Did you tap any special musicians to play on this score? I know David Torn played a role on the first Twilight, contributing a lot of that characteristic electric guitar that worked so well. Since you are based in NY, it’s cool to think there’d be some NY influence on the sound of your stuff, just based on who you get to play on it.

Well, I like to think there is. This particular score is not as guitar oriented as the first. And that’s part of the tone that’s shifted from they’re being high-schoolers to them living an adult life. This score has a little more of the flavor of a traditional melodrama in the sense that we went to Abbey Road and recorded it with a larger orchestra than what we had on the first one. We did have, in London, this guitarist Leo Abrahams play on it – and he’s a very interesting guitarist.

Cool. What about the fact that Breaking Dawn is a two-parter? Knowing you’re also going to be scoring Part II, does where the story goes from here enter into the picture at all for you? When you’re thinking of these themes?

Well, I’ve read the script, but I haven’t seen any of Part II yet. But I did have to write a theme that Edward plays on camera in Part II. Bill wanted to echo the “Bella’s Lullaby” scene from the first Twilight in the last part, and so I had to write a lullaby for that well in advance so Rob Pattinson could learn the fingering – he’s a musician and prides himself on being able to do that.

So we know that’s an important part of Part II. And we hint at that theme in Part I. But honestly, it was quite a challenge for me to get my head around the 80 minutes of music for this one. My scores are usually half that. So I didn’t give very much thought to Part II while I was doing Part I.

sonicscoop for the rest
xoxo
Carrie

Track List For 'Breaking Dawn Part 1' Score Revealed

Film Music Reporter has received the track list for the score release for The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1. The album features the original score by composer Carter Burwell. The soundtrack will be released on December 13, 2011 and is available for pre-order on Amazon. For a recent story about Burwell’s work on the film, visit The Boston Globe. Audio clips will be added to this article within the next few weeks. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1directed by Bill Condon and starring Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Dakota Fanning, Michael Sheen, Anna Kendrick and Ashley Greene will be released in theaters on November 18. 
For updates on the soundtrack, visit the official soundtrack page and check out the official movie website to learn more about the film.

Click HERE For Full Track List!!  

Thanks to JRathboneFB

~Robstenfan

Lullaby Man: Carter Burwell’s return is the sound of ‘Breaking Dawn’

“Twilight’’ fans, many of whom already have tickets for Thursday’s late-night screenings of “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1,’’ have to remind themselves that Edward Cullen is not a real guy. There is no wise-beyond-his-years, romantic vampire with flip-floppy hair who has the musical sensibility to write a lullaby that makes generations of women swoon (and order the sheet music).
That paranormal character played by Robert Pattinson does not exist in real life.
But Carter Burwell, the Harvard-educated film composer who scored the first “Twilight’’ and returns for the epic, two-part ending to the series, comes close.

Like the mythical Edward, Burwell, 55, is pale, pensive, and intense about eye contact. Like Edward, Burwell has chosen a homestead that is not only isolated but also features windows the size of walls that look out onto brilliant scenery. Like Edward, Burwell is devoted to family. And to be fair, it was Burwell, not Edward, who wrote the song we now know as “Bella’s Lullaby’’ for his real-life partner, artist Christine Sciulli. Burwell composed the piece when he and Sciulli were on the outs years ago. The song was his way of winning her back (they’re now married).

Years later, director Catherine Hardwicke began talking to Burwell about scoring “Twilight.’’ She had realized that fans expected the movie to include the lullaby written by the fictional Edward for his one love, Bella, a song that’s mentioned throughout Stephenie Meyer’s young adult novels. Burwell then realized that the song he had already written for his wife might fit. It’s a dissonant and longing melody that provokes the emotions one might experience when falling for one’s prey.
Burwell, who sat in his secluded Hamptons home on a recent weekday, explained that he did not just give that piece to Hardwicke. He first asked his wife for permission to use the song.
“I had to show her ‘Twilight’ - and with that piece of music,’’ said Burwell, alluding to the rough cut he showed his wife. “As far as I’m concerned, the music was hers.’’

It was that music that turned Burwell into a hero in the “Twilight’’ community, a strange and devoted pack that has devoured every book in Meyer’s vampire series, and, in some cases, created websites to discuss the films.
Those loyal fans felt so strongly about the dreamy and conflicted score, which accompanies Edward as he speeds up trees and sulks about his vampire urges, that they took to the Web to demand Burwell’s return for the final movies in the series. After director Chris Weitz chose composer Alexandre Desplat for the second film, “The Twilight Saga: New Moon,’’ and director David Slade hired Howard Shore for “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse,’’ some of the more die-hard “Twilight’’ fans petitioned on Facebook for Burwell’s return to the franchise, which will get closure with this weekend’s “Breaking Dawn - Part 1’’ release and next fall’s “Part 2.’’ The scores for the second and third movies were lovely, but they did not resonate with fans the way Burwell’s had.
“This will mean ‘Bella’s Lullaby’ can come back (as it should - it should have been a theme throughout the saga) and hopefully, we can have a shot of Edward (Rob) playing it. Also, his music was, I think, by far the best score of the three. Please, please bring him back!’’ pleaded one fan on the Facebook page for Melissa Rosenberg, who co-wrote the films with Meyer.
Another fan responded, shortly before it was announced that Burwell had signed on for “Breaking Dawn,’’ “Complete agreement to Carter Burwell coming back for BD 1 and 2 . . . it would be the icing on the cake, his music was to me 50% of why I love ‘Twilight’ . . . Bella’s lullaby should not be forgotten its [sic] part of Bella and Edward forever.’’
A fall into film scoring
If you’re Burwell, an intensely private man who blurs online photos of himself, and revels in staying behind the scenes on movies, this fan adoration and involvement is awkward. Burwell, who is from Connecticut and spent college and some time after graduation in Boston, fell into film scoring in the early 1980s, when a friend asked him if he would be interested in helping write music for a movie. He had gone to Harvard not quite knowing what he wanted to do with himself (he calls his Ivy League career “a random walk’’), but had played in local bands and knew by the time he left school that he wanted to pursue music. Harvard, he said, made it easy. He was allowed to experiment and even popped over to MIT to study in the school’s media lab.
Turned out the friend was working on “Blood Simple,’’ the Coen brothers’ first film. The Oscar-winning siblings would go on to hire Burwell to score everything from “The Big Lebowski’’ to “Fargo’’ to “True Grit.’’ Burwell also developed relationships with directors Spike Jonze, who hired him for “Adaptation’’ and “Where the Wild Things Are,’’ and Bill Condon, who worked with him on “Gods and Monsters’’ and “Kinsey’’ and who helms the “Breaking Dawn’’ finale. An Emmy sits on Burwell’s kitchen counter for his work on the recent HBO miniseries “Mildred Pierce.’’ “It came yesterday,’’ Burwell said, embarrassed that the statue appears to be so prominent.
Burwell’s discomfort with accolades extends to the discussion of his “Twilight’’ fans, who have written him thousands of notes. He shrugs, admitting that he had no idea what he was getting himself into when he signed up to score the first film. He simply wanted to work with Hardwicke, who at the time was directing an indie film for Summit Entertainment (which, pre-“Twilight,’’ was considered a small company). “She said there was more to the film than a teen romance,’’ Burwell remembers of his first discussions with Hardwicke.
He wound up working closely with the director and her fledgling cast to get the music just right for the “Twilight’’ readers, some of whom had posted their own versions of “Bella’s Lullaby’’ online. Burwell even worked with Robert Pattinson’s sister, singer Lizzy Pattinson, who provided ethereal vocals for the haunting scene in which Edward catches Bella’s eye for the first time.
Soon after the release of “Twilight,’’ Burwell’s strange new fans - most of whom were young women - wanted to thank him for getting the lullaby right and wanted to learn the song themselves. They e-mailed questions, concerns, and thank yous.
“They’d say, ‘I’m having difficulty with the left-hand [piano] part,’ ’’ Burwell remembered, adding, “I endeavored to respond to all of them.’’
When Condon, of “Dreamgirls’’ fame, was hired to direct “Breaking Dawn’’ - which, like the last “Harry Potter’’ book, would be released in two installments - Burwell’s involvement was a no-brainer. “I’d say I’d work with Bill on anything,’’ Burwell said. “In addition to being a great director, he’s just a wonderful guy.’’
Condon, who spoke with the Globe by phone from Los Angeles, said he was thrilled to be able to bring Burwell and his lullaby back to the franchise. Condon said he offered Burwell the chance to bring back other musical themes from the first score, but that Burwell declined, saying that Bella and Edward deserved new music. “He said they’re older now. They were teenagers then.’’
Condon said one of the reasons directors enjoy working with Burwell is that his musical instincts are pleasantly counterintuitive. For instance, in “Breaking Dawn,’’ when Edward must turn his Bella into a vampire, a scene ripe with stress and action, Burwell went with more romantic music. He saw Edward’s decision to convert Bella as an act of love.
“He’s got a hugely intellectual bent,’’ Condon said. “He’s an incredibly articulate composer. Those things don’t always go together.’’
Inspired on deadline
Burwell only had about nine weeks to score 80 minutes of music for the film, which he calls a “melodrama.’’ “It’s really like an opera.’’
He admits he was stuck on the film’s ending, which does, in fact (spoiler alert), see Bella becoming a vampire. Burwell said that when the footage came to him, it was simply actress Kristen Stewart’s face and long minutes of complete silence. There’s no dialogue, just the image of Bella in pain, becoming an immortal.
Burwell says that when he hit the deadline for the last piece of music, it was the weekend of Hurricane Irene. He had stayed at home, despite evacuations of the Hamptons, so that he could use every spare minute to finish his work. Not long after his wife left with their children, he lost power. Then, by candlelight, with a view of angry waves wreaking havoc on the beach just outside the window, he wrote the score for the final moments of Bella’s human life.
Talk about drama.
Condon said that is his favorite part of the score. And of course, there is the much-anticipated lullaby that Burwell wrote for the second “Breaking Dawn’’ installment. Robert Pattinson, himself a musician, will perform it in the film.
Burwell cannot say much more about the movie, of course. He is sworn to secrecy, and as of this recent afternoon knew no big details about “Part 2.’’ He does say that he plans to get to work on it soon, writing on his grand piano in his tiny office, which features a keyboard below two monitors that allow him to watch movies and play at the same time.
In the meantime, Burwell is preparing for the big release of the first “Breaking Dawn,’’ hoping that fans will approve. As he waits it out, he’s back to himself, his family, his oversize piano, and the quiet - much like somebody else we know.

--bostonglobe.com

`Robstenfan

Carter Burwell emits “Love Death Birth” on Breaking Dawn

Ever since he was confirmed to return to the TWILIGHT film series after a near three-year absence, the rumor mill has been aflutter as to how Carter Burwell was going to attack the score for the BREAKING DAWN dual-film conclusion.
Will he continue what he started with TWILIGHT? Will he take into account the amazing work his successors Alexandre Desplat and Howard Shore achieved with NEW MOON and ECLIPSE respectively? Or will he evolve into a new beast entirely?
While we unfortunately have to wait until December 13 to enjoy his full score in the comfort of our own homes (thanks to either some strange marketing ploy by Atlantic Records to take advantage of the impending holiday season or a serious flub of production since the film hits theaters November 18), we are fortunately treated to a 6-minute glimpse of Burwell’s handiwork on the closing track of the BREAKING DAWN: Part 1 original soundtrack with “Love Death Birth.”
Arranged as a three-movement suite, “Love Death Birth” is a cascading aural autobiographical sketch of Bella’s growth through the series. It is at once a coming-of-age modal poem and a resolution that anchors the past while reaching toward the future.
Piano and gentle strings are the mainstay instruments through the track, though others make guest appearances, which speaks not only to the genius of Burwell’s minimalism but also confirms that the roots of the original TWILIGHT score are ever-present (without the ominous weightiness that consumed tracks like “Humans Are Predators Too,” “The Skin of a Killer” and “Nomads”). It is simple, concise, and deeply romantic.
The first part, which we will call “Love,” kicks off with a mournful, hesitant piano lick that becomes enveloped with strings, as though fearing what would happen if/when Bella plunged full-bore into the pool of love. The tumult of passion, frustration, and animalistic passion is heightened by the addition of percussion, and low-end, Zimmer-ish strings, as she becomes awash in the good, bad and ugly associated with the diamond-like facets of love. However, the storm soon settles into a soothing, warm embrace of piano and violins.
The passage sways into the “Death” segment with the mild pop piano sensibility previously associated with “Take My Hand” from the end credits of the 1984 sci-fi film DUNE (but only for a few seconds). As the acoustic guitar accompaniment arouses an earthen communion with nature, it quickly becomes apparent that “Death” in this sense is not closure, finality, or something to be dreaded.
Rather, it is a transition, or metamorphosis from one state of being to another; representing the choices Bella has made in life and coming to terms with her own “spirit path,” so to speak. It is a celebration of finding one’s self and knowing that, although change can cause a bit of pain, one must continue to look forward and never dwell in the past.
“Birth” arrives with the familiar descending piano riff previously indicative of “Bella’s Lullaby,” as heard throughout the first TWILIGHT score. The cue begins gently and yet with an air of uncertainty (accentuated by nomadic chimes), questioning whether or not she has made the right choices, though it is now too late to change them. It is a dark means of introducing a piece called “Birth,” but like “Death,” there are several ways to view the term.
“Birth” can be the concrete introduction of new life, or it can imply the ownership of a “new skin” or a new direction/outlook on life. The piano mingles with the strings as the track progresses, indicating an emerging strength of character, resolving that Bella is a better person for having made those decisions. She has learned from her mistakes and grown out of pain and holds her head high as the music whispers to a close with a sustained, single-note, sublime fearlessness, edging toward the unknown future.
The magic of this track is that it can be interpreted to signify the journey of any of the primary characters, as well as any of us. Burwell wields an uncanny knack of tapping into the human condition and transforming our desires and pain into sound. That is what makes the man so relevant to this film series and to the world of movie music in general.

--team-twilight.com

~Robstenfan

Carter Burwell "Love Death Birth" - The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Pt. 1 Score

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xoxo
Carrie

BD Part 1 Soundtrack Announced

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1
01 End Tapes – By The Joy Formidable
02 Love Will Take You – By Angus & Julia Stone
03 It Will Rain – By Bruno Mars
04 Turning Page – By Sleeping At Last
05 From Now On – By The Features
06 A Thousand Years – By Christina Perri
07 Neighbors – By Theophilus London
08 I Didn’t Mean It – By The Belle Brigade
09 Sister Rosetta (2011 Version) – By Noisettes
10 Northern Lights – By Cider Sky
11 Flightless Bird, American Mouth (Wedding Version) – By Iron & Wine
12 Requiem On Water – By Imperial Mammoth
13 Cold – By Aqualung & Lucy Schwartz
14 Llovera – By Mia Maestro
15 Love Death Birth – By Carter Burwell
@Twilight
xoxo
Carrie

Carter Burwell Chose London To Work On the Breaking Dawn Part 1 Score

 

Twitlonger

via twilightish.com

~Robstenfan

Story Behind Bella's Lullaby

Carter's Notes

"Bella's Lullaby," as it appears in this film, was not written to be a lullaby but to speak of love - ecstatic, tormented love. Here's that story.

Years ago I was in love with an amazing and challenging woman named Christine Sciulli. She left me, I was heartbroken, and I wrote a piece of music that tried to express the thrill and pain of having my heart pierced. She wouldn't speak to me, so I sent her the music to speak in my place.

Years later (April 2008 to be exact) I came to Oregon to meet Catherine Hardwicke and see some of the film she was shooting,Twilight. She mentioned that the producing company, Summit Entertainment, had just requested that a new scene be added to the film. The scene existed in the novel but hadn't originally been part of the screenplay (films are not one-to-one translations of books). In this scene Edward would play piano for Bella. I wasn't officially working on the film at that point and they didn't know what Rob Pattinson (Edward) should play during the shoot. This is not an unusual situation - many films have an actor sitting at a keyboard, swaying back and forth, pretending to play music that was only written after the film has been shot and edited. This case was unusual in that Rob is a fine musician, and fully capable of playing the piano or probably any other instrument.

My concern, as a composer, is to make the film as a whole compelling, dramatic, emotional and cinematic. But in this case other extraneous concerns quickly started to pile on, all driven by the fans of the book. The piano scene was added because Summit realized fans wanted to hear Edward play the melody referred to as "Bella's Lullaby," and each of those fans has their own idea of the tune. Because I hadn't started writing yet there was a musical vacuum into which other music started to be pulled. Rob improvised a tune for the shoot. Matthew Bellamy, of Muse, sent in his idea of "Bella's Lullaby." And countless readers and musicians sent in their own ideas or posted them on the internet. None of this made my job easier.

When I finally began writing music for Twilight, in early July, I moved myself, my family and my studio from New York to Los Angeles to work more closely with Catherine and the editorial team - Nancy Richardson the film editor and Adam Smalley the music editor. I began the score with Bella and Edward, specifically the scene in which he carries her into the treetops. I wanted to capture the excitement but also the challenge of this love which spans barriers of time and species. The film had been edited so that the piano scene followed the treetops scene, and the whole montage had very little dialogue so it was a good canvas on which to paint Bella and Edward's love theme.

After trying many different approaches with mixed success I put the tune I wrote years ago for my ecstatic and tormented love against the picture and it seemed quite perfect. It has an "A" theme which is a bit ambiguous, like two people trying to find a common ground, climbing to a high, then tumbling down, and a "B" theme that is forthrightly joyful (at least as joyful as my music gets).

I showed it to Catherine Hardwicke and she found it "thrilling, exhiliarating." And so this unnamed tune became "Bella's Lullaby." It's worth noting, though, that neither Catherine nor I ever called it that. We always referred to this tune as the "Love Theme" and I think it makes much more sense if you think of it this way. It's more complex and emotional than any lullaby I've ever heard.

I started using this theme for Bella and Edward's relationahip as it develops in the film - starting from the biology class in which he first speaks to her. The more we lived with the "Love Theme" the more Catherine longed to reshoot the piano scene so that Rob's fingers would match the music. Summit Entertainment, who were paying for the film, would have to approve the cost of this.

I usually start writing at the piano and then move to computers where I can make a "demo" or "sketch" that sounds as if it were played by the actual instruments - in this case piano, strings, woodwinds, guitars and percussion. I always play these sketches for the director so he or she can picture the final sound of the score while I'm writing. Because Catherine needed Summit's approval for the reshoot we arranged to play the sketches for the Summit executives as well as the film's producers.

The executives assumed that since I've written 60 or more film scores (I don't know exactly) I must have been through that process before. But in fact I've never had to sit in a room and play my work for executives . Typically I work with the director and if anyone else is going to be involved I ask that they talk to the director, then the director talks to me. That way the film still reflects a singular point of view - that of the director - even though we all know it takes an army to make a film.

To our surprise, one of the executives wasn't in love with the "Love Theme." In particular he objected to the opening note of the melody, which he correctly noted is dissonant (the high note is a B flat, over A and B natural in the harmony). The dissonance is immediately resolved to a consonance, but he couldn't get the initial note out of his head. Music is enormously subjective: For Catherine and myself the tune was wonderfully romantic and moving. For him it was off-putting.

As a film composer it's nothing new to be asked to throw compositions away, or rewrite them. It happens all the time. However I felt this tune was one of the best I'd written, perfect for the film and the scene, and so I didn't take Summit's complaints very seriously. The wrinkle in this case was that Catherine wanted to reshoot the piano scene in about a week and she needed Summit to approve what Rob would play.

I had reached the end of my stay in L.A. and was packing up to go on a short vacation in Maine with my family (whom I hadn't seen much while I'd been writing), then back to New York to start the school year. The day before we left L.A. I started getting desparate calls from Catherine and producer Wyck Godfrey. They told me that Summit would not approve the reshoot with the current "Love Theme". Then the head of production at Summit called and confirmed that it was his call - the B flat was not acceptable - he would not "sign off on it." He said that the teenage girls that were the audience for the film would want something sweeter, simpler.

In his defense, I think part of the problem was that Catherine and I saw this as Bella and Edward's "Love Theme" whereas he saw it as "Bella's Lullaby." And indeed, for the 30 seconds during which Edward is playing piano it is the "Lullaby." But the theme also has to play the romance that drives the story, and I thought that was a much more important role.

There were other issues for me as well. The suggestion that teenage girls would want a sweet tune was somewhat condescending, and that was something I tried to avoid in this score. Also I don't believe it's possible to know how music will affect someone else, even though film composers claim to. The unpredicability is what makes it interesting (although I understand that's not what the investors want to hear). And can you imagine what it would be like - as it was occasionally on this project - trying to compose music to satisfy a director who's trying to satisfy a male executive who's trying to satisfy ten million teenage girls?

My equipment was packed up, I was getting on a plane to Maine, and suddenly they needed a new love theme in a matter of days. Everyone (other than me and my family) thought I should stay in L.A. I told the folks from Twilight that I'd understand if they hired another composer and got on the plane.

Once I landed in Maine I was a bit less upset and offered to try some variations on the "Love Theme", writing at night so it wouldn't interfere with my family's days. It turned out that removing the B flat also removed all the interest from the melody. Eventually I had 5 or 6 variations, ranging from vapid to acceptable, and I sent them to Catherine. I don't know how many she played for Summit. One was approved, and I put it on paper for Rob to play (which he did very well). Catherine and I tried to come up with a title for the piece that would more accurately convey its purpose, but Summit insisted it be called "Bella's Lullaby," and I'm happy to think of it as such. The opening piano melody is the original version I wrote so many years ago (I kept it in the movie despite Summit's objections), and the melody Rob plays toward the end is the variation that Summit approved. You will hear both peppered throughout the film. I comfort myself that the original tune predominates, because, for me, it's more memorable. Which one do you remember?

I should mention that Christine, the woman for whom I first wrote the melody years ago, is now my amazing and challenging wife. In my heart the tune will always be ours, but now it's yours (and Bella and Edward's) as well.

carterburwell
xoxo
Carrie

Renesmee's Lullaby is Written and Rob Will Play It In BD

Thanks to Carter Burwell we will be seeing Rob play the piano once again in the final Twilight movie. I personally love that they brought him back, the lullabies will have a nice consistency since they are created by the same person (Edward) like the books say they are.

And he just wrote "Renesmee's Lullaby" for Twilight Breaking Dawn 2, which Rob Pattinson will play on camera. The film will be released in November 2012.

@carterburwell, carterburwell
xoxo
Carrie

Carter Burwell will Score Breaking Dawn

YAY!!!! I loved Bella's Lullaby and how it was woven into the entire score.  I can't wait to hear the lullaby Edward sings to Renesmee, its going to be great (if they create it)

Carter Burwell Returning To ‘Twilight’ Franchise To Score ‘Breaking Dawn’

Oscar Winning Joe Wright Regular Dario Marianelli To Score ‘Jane Eyre’; Asche & Spencer Work Again With Marc Forster On ‘Machine Gun Preacher’

Coen Brothers and Spike Jonze regular collaborator Carter Burwell is set to return to the ‘Twilight’ since working on the first film to perform scoring duties for the final installment of the series, the two parter “Twilight: Breaking Dawn.”

Burwell has an existing relationship with the director of the final two parts, Bill Condon, having collaborated on “Kinsey” and “Gods And Monsters” and will return to the position after Alexandre Desplat followed him for “New Moon” with Howard Shore stepping in for “Eclipse.” Shooting began this past November with all major cast members such as Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Dakota Fanning, Michael Sheen, Anna Kendrick and Ashley Greene reprising their roles. The two parts will be shot as one project and will then be respectively released on November 18th, 2011 and November 16th, 2012. And in case you haven’t do so already, check out Burwell’s score for “True Grit,” it’s ace.

In other scoring news, Joe Wright regular Dario Marianelli, who took home an Oscar for “Atonement,” will be scoring rising helmer Cary Fukunaga‘s gothic adaptation of Charlotte Brontë‘s “Jane Eyre.” The story, of course, centers on a young governess who falls in love with her employer but discovers he harbors a dark secret. Fukunaga last collaborated with Marcelo Zarvos for his debut feature film, “Sin Nombre,” but has moved on for the adaptation which stars Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender, Jamie Bell and Sally Hawkins. The film is scheduled to hit on March 11th via Focus Features.

Meanwhile, the somewhat underrated duo of Asche & Spencer (”Monster’s Ball”) have signed up to score Marc Forster‘s upcoming Gerard Butler starring vehicle, “Machine Gun Preacher.” The team previously worked with Forster on “Monster’s Ball,” providing some haunting pieces of work. The film follows a former drug dealing biker who becomes a missionary and preacher, founding an orphanage in the Sudan, and a militia to protect the children there. Michelle Monaghan, Michael Shannon and Kathy Bates co-star. [FilmMusicReporter]

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xoxo
Carrie