12/15/2023 0 Comments James newton howard studio![]() With no American studios available in late June, Howard recorded his orchestral score at London’s Abbey Road, with veteran Gavin Greenaway conducting. They met weekly via Zoom and sent musical demos back and forth across the internet. It was a pandemic score in that much of the work was accomplished remotely: Greengrass was in Oxfordshire, editor William Goldenberg in London, Howard at his studio in Santa Monica. “There are not a lot of places to flex your epic Western music muscles.” But one such moment emerges as Kidd and Johanna are on the road to Dallas - a toe-tapping wide-open-spaces theme for guitar, banjo and orchestra that returns in the film’s end titles. “It’s mostly a quiet score,” Howard says. “What is she thinking about? Which life is she missing? Does she long to be back with her people again?” This led Howard to use authentic chants of the Kiowa people as a subtle backdrop in one scene. “She’s quite a mysterious character for much of the movie,” he says. Johanna is scored less melodically and more texturally. This gospel-like theme evolved,” he adds, “and that was the heart and soul of the music,” often voiced by piano. “This is about a man who has deep feelings of guilt and is kind of lost, struggling to get through his life. Howard’s theme for Kidd has an almost hymn-like feel. Fiddles, guitars and banjos are heard, along with mandolin, bass harmonica and the ancient viola da gamba, all giving the music “a jagged, tattered, rough-hewn edge,” says the composer. Yet, Howard admits, “It took a while to find the voice of the movie.” Greengrass sought a “broken sound,” he says, reflecting the feeling of post-Civil War America, and asked for authentic 19th-century instruments to convey the period and South Texas locale. ![]() It was one of my few visits to a set that I really enjoyed.” “The vistas are limitless and magnificent, and the silence was fantastic. ![]() “The New Mexico desert is always inspiring,” Howard says. Previous horse dramas for the eight-time Oscar nominee have included “Wyatt Earp” and “Hidalgo.” His collaboration with director Paul Greengrass was his first, and he visited the New Mexico location during shooting more than a year ago. “When I get a call saying, ‘Do you want to do a Western?,’ my answer is always yes,” says “ News of the World” composer James Newton Howard. ![]()
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