“From 1979’s Life on Earth to his current series, Planet Earth II, David Attenborough has travelled the globe to tell the story of the natural world in breathtaking words and pictures,” writes Jessamy Calkin in Monday’s (11/28) Telegraph (U.K.). “But there is one aspect of Attenborough’s series that gets overlooked: the music. And the man who scores them is, invariably, George Fenton … composer of more than 100 film scores, including Gandhi, Groundhog Day and Dangerous Liaisons…. Fenton’s most imminent project is a concert at the Royal Festival Hall next week where he will be conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra. They will be playing his compositions, including some from Nicholas Hytner’s film The Lady in the Van. This celebrated story by Alan Bennett … is about Miss Shepherd, a cantankerous old lady who took up residence in her van outside Bennett’s house and ended up staying there for 15 years (Maggie Smith played her brilliantly in the film)…. He recently found out, via his publishing company, that all in all he’s written and recorded 192 hours of music.” Says Fenton, “You could start playing my music on a Wednesday morning, for 24 hours a day, and it would still be playing the following Thursday.”
Posted November 30, 2016
