Music
Edward Williams' avant-garde score matched the innovative production techniques of the television series. Williams used a combination of traditional orchestral instruments (harp, flute, clarinet, strings and percussion) and electronic sounds. The pieces were crafted scene-by-scene to synchronise with and complement the imagery on screen. The sounds were processed through an early British synthesiser, the EMS VCS 3, to create an evocative sound which Attenborough compared to chamber music.
"I started using the filters and voltage control of the VCS 3 on conventionally created classical sounds by the orchestra. It made possible all sorts of marvellous explorations of new sounds which could then be made into music."
— Edward Williams, speaking in 2009
The score was never intended to be released commercially, but Williams had 100 copies pressed as gifts for the musicians involved. One of these LPs found its way into the hands of Jonny Trunk, owner of independent label Trunk Records, who negotiated the licence from the BBC. The soundtrack was finally released on 2 November 2009.
Read more about this topic: Life On Earth (TV series)
Famous quotes containing the word music:
“Now the rich stream of Music winds along
Deep, majestic, smooth, and strong,”
—Thomas Gray (1716–1771)
“As for the terms good and bad, they indicate no positive quality in things regarded in themselves, but are merely modes of thinking, or notions which we form from the comparison of things with one another. Thus one and the same thing can be at the same time good, bad, and indifferent. For instance music is good for him that is melancholy, bad for him who mourns; for him who is deaf, it is neither good nor bad.”
—Baruch (Benedict)
“Truly fertile Music, the only kind that will move us, that we shall truly appreciate, will be a Music conducive to Dream, which banishes all reason and analysis. One must not wish first to understand and then to feel. Art does not tolerate Reason.”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)