COMPOSER Patrick Doyle might not be the biggest name in Hollywood, but the Scot behind the score of Disney’s new live-action Cinderella is no stranger to stardom.
From Calendar Girls to Brave; from Hamlet to Harry Potter, Doyle has one of the largest and most varied back catalogues in the industry. Growing up in Uddingston, just east of Glasgow, he had always felt destined to be involved in music in some way;
“I’ve always loved music for as long as I can remember, I come from a very musical family. My mother and father sing, and I do a bit of singing myself. I was always hearing music in my head as a child.”
Doyle then went on to study at Scotland’s most prestigious music school, The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland – or as it was formerly known, the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. The RCS is where many of Scotland’s brightest talents in music and film are truly realised, and Doyle was no different.
“I wrote a piano piece and then transferred it to a string quartet. From that I realised I could maybe do this seriously one day. I was a music teacher for a year after I left, and then I was asked to write the music for a play at the Edinburgh festival.That’s when my musical direction and composition started to become serious.”
From that moment, Doyle’s career went from strength to strength and since then he has pledged his talents to over 50 television and film productions, many of which were in collaboration with Cinderella’s director Kenneth Branagh. The pair were introduced to each in the 1980s, before working together on Branagh’s first feature film, Henry V, which went on to win an Ivor Novello award for Best Film Theme.
“I was the musical director so I had the opportunity to write the score. We get on terribly well. We have a lot in common, including the same sense of humour. He loves music and he likes for music to have a strong voice in his work.”
They may have started with Shakespeare, but the dynamic duo have also joined forces on box office hits such as Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes and Thor, and it was because of this eclecticism that Branagh was once again drawn to Doyle as the ideal choice to write Cinderella’s score.
Speaking of the film itself, Doyle admits the key to writing the soundtrack was to recognise the sheer diversity of moods within the film.
“Because it’s very eclectic – romantic music, action music, magical music – creating memorable tunes within that is very demanding. It’s such an iconic tale, and so many people have written music for it. The glass slipper, the animals, the transform-ation – it’s a real gift for a composer.”
Having always been a fan of 19th-century romantic music, many of Doyle’s ideas came from some of his favourite composers of the era, including Tchaikovsky, Strauss and Berlioz. Whilst the classic Disney animation might have been an albatross for some composers, Doyle did not feel the need to rehash what already existed.
“I suppose subconsciously I’ve been aware of the Disney musical canon in a broad sense. You do take the style in to a degree in terms of the colours and orchestration. I’ve studied this music in great detail over the years. All those wonderful waltzes and polkas have been a great influence. ”
The score may have been one influenced by the past, but Doyle’s versatility has always been his greatest asset, and keeping one eye on the future has always served him well. Interestingly, his attitude is no different to any popular artist in terms of his ability to swim with the changing musical current.
“I always draw a comparison to Handel: when opera became unprofitable, he started writing oratorio, and he became famous for writing them. He was acutely aware of where he was and how fast things change. With my team we have a lunch that we call the zeitgeist half hour – we listen to pop music and trailers to see what’s going on. Whether you’re doing an action film or a comedy, you’ve got to be aware of the current sounds and rhythms, you’ve got to adapt or die.”
Clearly Doyle’s influence has rubbed off on his son Patrick Neil Doyle, who has already scored his first feature film, as well as working on Cinderella with his father.
“Patrick worked with Lily [James, Cinderella], tutoring her for the song. He’s a very talented composer. He makes me laugh a lot and we get on very well together. He’s an old head on young shoulders, much wiser than I was at that age, so it’s great to have him around.”
Always looking to inspire and encourage a new generation of composers like Patrick Neil, he discusses the changing face of film composing: “There’s a whole new electronic world out there that has ready-made riffs and rhythms, and these things are very advantageous. I always try to point out that it’s important to have a solid musical education if you wish to have a long career in it – you might have a couple of films in you but you’ve always got to be able to have the next one in you, as that’s the most important one.”
Cinderalla is on general release tomorrow
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