30 APRIL-06 MAY 2020 BIGISSUE.COM | 19
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THE YEAR MAX
TURNS 16- Pope John Paul II
visits the UK - ET: The
Extra-Terrestrial
is released - Italy win the Fifa
World Cup for the
third time
Like allartists,Istartedby beinginfluencedpartlyby thingsthat
camebefore,andpartlybythethingsI washearingaroundme.
Ittookmealongtimetofindsomethingwhichfeltlikemyvoice.I
trainedattheConservatoireasa kindofmodernistcomposerwho
wouldwritesqueakymusicnoonereallywantedtolistento.Therewas
anideathatcomplexitymeantapiecewasreallygood.Whichisjust
nottrue.SoIjuststrippedallofthatawayandfocusedontheessentials
ofhowtotella storymusically.I madea muchsimpler,plain-spoken,
directlanguageandI thinkthatkindofemotionaldirectnessiswhat
people have connected to.Collaborations, whether they’re film, ballet or TV, are not the same
as writing a symphony. You’re part of something bigger; the music is
just one element. At the beginning I struggled a lot with those kinds of
limitations. But then I began to enjoy them, the challenge of having a
49-second cue which has to take you from being inside this character’s
head to being inside a different character’s head. Of course there
are also times when filmmakers just want to use stuff you’ve already
released, so there’s no active collaboration. I was doubtful about lots of
those. But some really worked. Arrival is the obvious example [the 2016
film used On the Nature of Daylight from The Blue Notebooks]. I looked
at the film and tried to understand the script and what I liked about it is
the fact that it really is an anti-violence film. It’s about communication.
So it was a perfect fit for the piece.I would probably tell my teenage self, take your time and don’t worry
so much. I was super anxious and angry with the world. And I was
very down, kind of depressed a lot of the time. Then in the early yearsofworkI wasmarriedwithyoungkidsandnothavingmuchsuccess,
andwestruggledtryingtokeeparoofoverourheads.Ididafewfilm
projectsIwouldn’thavedonehadwenotbeenbroke.I’dliketogoback
tothatyoungermeandtellhimtorelaxandjustconcentrateonthe
music,dotheworkanditwillcomegood.Myoverallsensenowisjust
oneofgratitudeanda kindofsurprisereally,aboutwhat’shappened.
ButwitheverynewprojectIalwaysfeelthatI’mteeteringonthebrink
ofnoonepayingattentionatall.Andit’salwaysbeenthatway.If I could go back and relive one moment... Edinburgh was my home
town when our two eldest were very young and we used to head off to
the west coast whenever we could, mostly to the islands of Mull and
Skye. We used to do these camping trips, make a fire on the beach
and just cook out. It doesn’t get better than that. But probably nothing
beats those very pure first few days that you have with your children
after they’re born, where you are in a kind of a trance. In a way it has
weird similarities to our current locked-in state. Everything is very
focused on just the people closest to you, and the magic of that strange
experience.Thatisaveryspecialtime.Max Richter’seight-hourSleepradiobroadcastisonBBCSounds.
Interview: Jane Graham @JaneannieWHATDIDMARGARETATWOOD,PAULMcCARTNEYAND
TREVOR McDONALD TELL THEIR YOUNGER SELVES?
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