Walden Media has added a Musical Explorations section to their website. It includes a clip of Mr. Tumnus’ Lullaby that you can listen to or play here. Visit the source link for the rest of the interview and more!
Music is an integral part of any film, helping to emphasize or even create tone, plot developments, and character traits. Music is especially important in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, as film composer Harry Gregson-Williams puts it, “because the ‘world’ that it is set in – Narnia – is a place of fantasy, there needs to be a magical quality to many scenes. Music can help this feeling.”
Walden Media, in partnership with Walt Disney Records and the American Music Conference, has created materials that focus on music’s importance in film and in education. The materials housed on this website can be used by a variety of teachers, from generalists to music specialists. Please check back here over the coming weeks for additional music materials, including more lesson plans.
Here’s part of the interview there, with composer Harry Gregson-Williams:
Walden Media: Why is music important in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe?
Harry Gregson-Williams: As with most movies, music is an important tool. In LWW, because the ‘world’ that it is set in – Narnia – is a place of fantasy, there needs to be a magical quality to many scenes. Music can help this feeling. Also, as seen through the eyes of the four children, it is important that the music reflects their journeys, both physical and spiritual.
Walden Media: How do you compose each character’s music? What elements do you consider when composing a character’s music?
Harry Gregson-Williams: I watch the film over and over again getting to know the characters involved and from that a musical idea is hatched. A Theme. I try to find something extra that the music can say about this character other than what is immediately obvious on screen. The character Mr. Tumnus was fairly straight forward for me as he actually plays a musical instrument on camera. The instrument he plays does not exist and is a figment of a Prop Maker’s imagination, so I was able to chose what sound I thought it might make. I ended up with a Duduk, which not only sounded like it was coming form his instrument, but provided a mysterious, beautiful tone for me to utilize.
Walden Media: What drew you to working on The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe?
Harry Gregson-Williams: The fact that I had read the books as a youngster and loved them. Also, Andrew Adamson – the Director – and I have a relationship as I scored his two previous films … Shrek & Shrek 2. Knowing the people you are working with really helps.
Walden Media: What do you remember from reading the Narnia books as a kid?
Harry Gregson-Williams: I particularly remember being transported in to this fantasy world where anything could happen at any moment!
Download the Lullaby here!