Thanks to Erik Woods for bringing attention to this stunning score by Christopher Willis (The Death of Stalin). The music is completely orchestral, beautifully conceived and developed with a great main theme that weaves its way throughout the score. Willis' orchestration is exceptional and moves between light chamber styled resources to full orchestral bursts. I would mention some standout tracks but the whole score plays like a symphonic tone poem for orchestra.
Very interested. Thanks for bringing it to our attention. I was unaware of it.
My pleasure. Gotta give Erik Woods the props here. I wouldn't have known about this either and I find the writing exquisite. Done with such a deft and sophisticated touch. Willis should garner more attention with this score.
Dickens seems to consistently inspire film music composers to do fine work. Most recently I was enjoying Burgon's Martin Chuzzelwit around Christmas time, and then Arnold Bax's Oliver Twist.
Also have a listen to the Death of Stalin. Another amazing score, very Shostakivch/Prokoviev-ish.
Yes! I became acquainted with Willis through that score (once again thanks to Erik Woods on that one too!). There is a thread about that here but it oddly took a focus on Willis' work for Zimmer at RC. As one can hear with both David Copperfield and Stalin, he's a formally trained composer with an arsenal of chops but also imagination and a style that is developing.
I've read some reviews about how this score sounds "classical" as in from that era in Western music history, and frankly that cannot be further from the truth. Melodically and especially harmonically, Willis' music might have some superficial relationship (late 19th century composers still adhered to the principles outlined by Bach, Mozart and Beethoven) but there is so much 20th century concert repertoire influence in David Copperfield from the John Adams "Shaker Loops" string suspension ostinati through to his use of brass signature sfz that recall "Harmonium" and "Harmonielhere". But this is only one element from a very diverse score.
Curiously, David Copperfield does not borrow much from VW's modal style. It's perhaps more Elgarian in its tone. Maybe some Britten. None of these references I'm mentioning are too overt though I would say the Adams influence is the most noticeable, but not to the detriment of the listening experience. It's a solid score and one that I keep going back to in order to uncover more subtle variations and development of his principle theme and motives.
The recording is utterly fabulous too. The orchestra is top drawer and I love the fact that he used normal orchestral resources (look at the video). Only 4 horns yet they sound every bit as vacuous and fortified as other scores that call for 8 or 12 or whatever nonsense (translation: it's called good orchestration). My guess would be double winds, with a few secondary players for things like alto flute, english horn, etc. Strings look normal sized too, like 16-14-12-10-8.
Yes, every film score doesn't have to be orchestral but in an age where the ones that are sound pedestrian as far as the architecture and handling of those resources, it's a delight to hear a work by someone who really knows their shit when it comes to writing for 80 musicians.
I'd love to chat with Willis about his methodology. In the video I see a very modest set up in the background. A Kurzweil keyboard off to the side (looks like a PC series master keyboard, like a 3X or 3K- I own a 3x myself) and an iMac running Cubase, or maybe it's Dorico....cannot tell. But I'd be surprised if this score was concieved using a DAW. It's much too fluid, complex, and lacks that motoristic vibe that DAW-composed scores seem to possess (ie tempo changes/ritardando, meter changes, textural changes from light to dense or the other way around, phrasing, etc).
Willis is no doubt a talented composer, but I wonder how much say he had about what the score should be. Maybe it’s just me but when I close my eyes and just listen I'm thinking “ah, more music from Downton Abbey, or other British PBS series...there seems to be an aural blueprint for these types of shows and that’s what you get! I did hear a bit of Richard Rodney Bennett from his Ebony Tower TV score (darker, more dramatic music). Anyway nothing truly fresh.....go ahead call me crazy! Also Malcolm Arnold's film final score was David Copperfield...a real beauty.
Christopher Wills and Nicholas Britell are two of my favorite up-and-coming film composers because of the way they're each doing an end-run around the Zimmer machine that has so dominated the movie business. I look forward to their new scores with eager anticipation the way I did Goldsmith or Horner (and still do with Williams). Their scores fit their films like a hand-in-a-glove, and it's really exciting to see them flourishing the way they are.
