|
 Tracksounds
was able to interrupt
composer Mychael
Danna's busy schedule
to talk about his
popular work for THE
NATIVITY STORY.
He shares openly about
his unique approach to
scoring this epic, yet
intimate story and how
this film tapped into
some reservoirs of
talent that Hollywood
rarely taps into.
CC: THE NATIVITY STORY
SOUNDTRACK debuted on
the Billboard
Classical Chart at #6.
Did that surprise you
at all?
MYCHAEL DANNA: That was a really
unexpected but sweet
thing to see. I really
didn't think about
that sort of thing.
When you are in the
rush of working on the
project, you really
don't think about the
soundtrack's life on
its own, away from the
film. It has generated
a wonderful response
from people and in
charting and it seems
people have really
enjoyed the soundtrack
on its own. Obviously
the goal of film music
is to work with the
film - to lift the
film - to enhance the
film experience, but
when you take the
music away from that
context, and its
successful on its own,
that's really a sweet
thing.
CC: When you came onto
the project, did the
director, Katherine
Hardwicke, have a
particular idea of
what sort of score she
wanted for THE
NATIVITY STORY?
MYCHAEL DANNA: Well they
originally came to me
before the film had
even been shot and
,ironically, I think
they did so because I
am sort of known for
my work with
non-western music.
Now, since Peter
Gabriel's work in the
80's for THE LAST
TEMPTATION OF CHRIST,
that whole world-music
feel has become
popular for films set
in the Middle
East...especially
Bible era films.
Seemingly that has
become the only way to
score films set in
that time period and
that place. Now I
think that was a great
work in the 80's, but
now just having a
world-music-mish-mash
of Indian, African and
Middle Eastern
elements sort of feels
like, "Been there.
Done that." I'm not
sure using that
approach would add
much to this
particular film, this
particular story. I
felt that with THE
NATIVITY STORY we
needed to build a sort
of bridge between the
characters on the
screen and the
audience. I certainly
wanted to plant the
seeds of location, so
I used some Persian
nay and Turkish nay,
reed flutes from that
area. That said,
I really wanted to
touch most of all on
where this story had
its greatest impact,
where it has had most
of its power, where it
became the basis for
an entire civilization
and culture and that's
Europe - and more
specifically, Europe
in the Middle Ages and
The Renaissance. I
wanted to have
melodies and
instruments that tells
this tale, which has
come down to us 2000
years later. So I
really wanted to stay
away from the
world-music-potpourri
that seems to have
become the fashion.
When I looked at the
film and when we began
talking about it, we
decided that we wanted
to take another
approach. A different
part of my background,
which they didn't
really know about, is
that I started out
singing in church
choirs, being an
organist, and leading
a choir in an Anglican
church. I actually
have a background in
this culture and this
sort of music and this
film allowed me to tap
into that part of my
upbringing and
background - one that
I really haven't had
much opportunity to
utilize in the
film-world before.
CC: There is quite a
history of biblically
based films and their
accompanying scores:
from Alfred Newman to
Miklos Rosza to Peter
Gabriel to John Debney.
Did that place any
extra pressure on you
or serve as
inspiration or affect
you in anyway as you
worked on this
project?
MYCHAEL DANNA: I certainly didn't
feel any pressure from
any film music that
had previously
portrayed this story.
Earlier film epics
from the 50's and 60's
had such a different
aesthetic. It was very
"over-the-top" and a
bit redundant in terms
of repeating what was
already on the screen.
Audiences are a lot
more sensitive and
intelligent now, so
that sort of scoring
isn't going to go over
very well. It would be
sort of patronizing.
Then, of course, there
was the world-music
thing, of which I've
grown a bit tired of
and feel its just time
to take another look.
I don't feel pressure
from that
history, but as a
composer sitting here
at 2006/2007, I am
very aware that just
about every great
composer of the last
2000 years has had a
crack at scoring this
story. Some of
the greatest
masterworks that have
ever been written tell
this story! That
is certainly a
pressure. Somehow,
though, I can't get
swept up in that.
CC: So did the
director's approach
give you some freedom
to go another
direction musically?
MYCHAEL DANNA: Katherine
Hardwicke did a
beautiful job with
portraying the time
and place. It's
beautifully shot. It's
very real and gritty.
That being the case,
the music doesn't
really need to repeat
that as far as "where"
we are and "when" we
are. Music has powers
beyond that. It has
the power to touch us
and to relate us to
the characters. The
take on this story is
about this young girl,
Mary, coming to terms
with her destiny and
that's where the
score's heart is.
CC: You worked with
the group, Synaulia,
lead by Walter Maioli,
on THE NATIVITY STORY
score. Talk about your
experience in working
with him.
MYCHAEL DANNA: Synaulia is a
fantastic group based
in Rome, Italy. Walter
Maioli is a kindred
spirit in the sense
that he is obsessed
with history and
recreating music that
we will never, ever
really know sounded
like - that from the
time of the Roman
empire. We can;
however, make educated
guesses and
recreations and that
is what Walter Maioli
is doing. I'm
fascinated that Walter
Maioli has really gone
deep into this.
We worked with him and
recorded a few things
and then worked them
into a few scenes.
There really weren't
Romans per se in this
movie, but Herod's
soldiers would have
certainly modeled
themselves on imperial
power of the time,
Rome. We used those
sounds for Herod and
his army.
We just had a
fantastic time working
together. You know the
sources for this type
of music are
incredibly thin. We're
literally talking
about paintings on
urns or walls where
musical instruments
are portrayed. People
are, then, with
magnifying glasses
counting the number of
strings on a harp!
It's one thing to read
in the Bible that
"they played on harp
and the lute" but what
were those things
really? What did they
look like? What did
they sound like? How
were they tuned? So
Walter Maioli spends a
lot of time putting
together these types
of instruments:
stringed, percussion,
horns, flutes and
comes up with his take
on what these sorts of
instruments would
sound like.
CC: While you were
composing, did you
have Walter Maioli in
mind all along?
MYCHAEL DANNA: There was some
serendipity there. I
had one of his
recordings before I
even worked on the
film and was certainly
aware of Synaulia, but
when we went to meet
with Katherine (Hardwicke)
on set, who was
shooting in southern
Italy, I said that
since we are going
through Rome, that we
should record these
guys.
CC: Before we finish
up, let me
congratulate you on
your Grammy nomination
for the LITTLE MISS
SUNSHINE soundtrack
and ask you what
projects you have
coming down the pipe.
MYCHAEL DANNA: Thank you so much.
Well, first I'm
working on SURF'S UP,
which is an animated
feature from Sony
Animation which is
about... penguins.
Now, I know you are
shocked that Hollywood
would ever do a movie
about the same subject
within the course of
one year! Right?
[laughs] I have to say
though, that this is a
really great film.
It's very different
from HAPPY FEET. It's
really fun and a
little improvised.
They assembled some
really great actors
and voice talent. It's
really witty and
clever and beautiful
to look at and it will
be out this summer.
I'm also working on a
thriller called
FRACTURE, which I'm
actually scoring with
my brother Jeff
(Danna). I have
another project coming
out next month
entitled BREACH, which
is a true story - a
great spy story.
CC: Sounds like you've
kept yourself quite
busy through the
holidays.
MYCHAEL DANNA: I'm afraid I did.
CC: Thank you for
taking the time amidst
your busy schedule.
MYCHAEL DANNA: All the best to
you. Thanks and we'll
do it again soon.
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