12 AVRIL 2008

 

SWEENEY TODD: LE DIABOLIQUE BARBIER DE FLEET STREET

 Stephen SOUNDHEIM est un des compositeurs/paroliers les plus connus et les plus respectés du monde. Il écrivit en 1979 la musique et les lyrics de "SWEENEY TODD",  d'après une pièce de Christopher Bond et sur un livret de Hugh Wheeler. Il a remporté 8 Tony Awards dont celui du meilleur spectacle musical, et un Grammy Award. Créé à Broadway le 1er Mars 1979, "SWEENEY TODD" rompt audacieusement avec les traditions du musical américain par ses ambiances macabres et terrifiantes et sa musique inspirée de Bernard Hermann (VERTIGO, PSYCHO). L'œuvre bouleversa et dérouta ses premiers spectateurs avant d'être reconnue comme le chef d'œuvre de Sondheim. Elle fut très vite montée à Londres, puis reprise à Broadway en 1989 et 2005.
Tim Burton découvrit le spectacle à Londres durant ses études: "Je ne connaissais pas Stephen Sondheim, je ne suis pas un grand fan de comédies musicales, mais j'ai adoré ce show avec sa musique somptueuse et son imagerie inspirée des vieux films d'horreur."
Il était logique que "Sweeney Todd" aboutisse à ce film, retrouvant du même coup ses lointaines racines cinématographiques, car Stephen Sondheim, cinéphile dès l'enfance a toujours eu un faible pour les mélodrames et les thrillers.  A 15 ans Stephen avait vu HANGOVER SQUARE, un film noir flamboyant, avec une musique envoûtante de Bernard HERMANN. C'était l’histoire d'un compositeur hanté par une certaine note qui le poussait à des accès de violence homicide et finissait par le rendre fou. Stephen avait adoré cette partition et s'était dit que ce serait passionnant d'essayer d'écrire une partition et des chansons qui auraient le même pouvoir de suggestion.
Stephen Sondheim confie: "Tim Burton était le réalisateur idéal. SWEENEY TODD est à bien des égards son film le plus simple, le plus direct."
La musique fut enregistrée en quatre jours aux Air Studios de Londres avec un orchestre de 64 musiciens. Les chansons furent enregistrées en six semaines aux Air Studios et Eden Studios de Londres. John Logan, scénariste et producteur précise: "SWEENEY TODD n'est pas l'enregistrement d'un spectacle, c'est un film à part entière. Tim a scrupuleusement éliminé les débordements d'émotion, les mignardises, les clins d'œil au public auxquels pouvaient inciter l'ampleur de la partition et la force dramatique de cette histoire. Il a sur brillamment en préserver le réalisme, la vérité, l'impact émotionnel. Il a suivi la démarche idéale tout en nous offrant une création cinématographique.
Alex Heffes, crédité comme compositeur des arrangements musicaux a participé de près à cette adaptation. Il a eu la gentillesse de prendre le temps de nous parler de lui, de cette aventure et de ses prochains travaux. Vous apprécierez en outre, les sympathiques clins d'œil qu'il a adressés à notre lectorat francophone!

 

Please Mister Heffes, for the readers of inter-activities, how would you personally introduce yourself: your personality, your passions, your tastes in matter of film, music, arts,…

My personality...hmm, well you need to be fairly calm to be a film composer as you are under a great deal of presure much of the time. Hopefully I manage to keep calm. My passions - well, all things music, classical, pop, old, new - genre is not an issue for me. It's either good or it's not. It's Bach for me one minute and Steve Wonder the next - that's generally how I approach writing music too - by keeping an open mind and ear. When I find the time I'm also a keen reader (et pour votre lecteurs en France, j'aime la Littérature Française, surtout Colette, Verne et Hugo). Painting, I'm a big fan of Vermeer. Also I like the work of Bill Viola a lot. Film - give me the original Planet of the Apes any day and I'm happy!

 

And what’s about your training and your background?

I was trained classically at university. There, I learned all the core techniques of harmony, counterpoint, fugue, polyphony etc. To be honest though I was never taught composition. I'm not sure you can really be taught how to write. All those technique come in very useful for films (although I'm still awaiting my fugal theme to a movie!). My 'education proper' began after university though. I worked for some years as an assistant to British composer Simon Boswell. I must have worked on more than 20 features and shows in the UK and US during that time. I was also doing my own work scoring about 40 shorts as well as commercials and TV shows. That was when I really learned how to be a composer. I think it's still the best way. After that I graduated into scoring films myself. I've been lucky to work with some very talented people on some great projects like 'The Last King of Scotland', 'Touching the Void' ('La Mort Suspendue') and 'Sweeney Todd'.

 

What are your sources of inspiration when you compose some music: styles of music, composers…? Do you have any mentor? Are you inspired by a composer in particular?

I think your inspiration has to come from the film itself. Good composers develop their own voice which will articulate what the film requires. Naturally, all the great film composers have been influential on me, from Alfred Newman through to John Williams, but that doesn't mean I try to sound like them. When you first start writing I think you try to emulate other composers to an extent to find your voice. After a while, if you try hard enough, your own voice shines through. 

Do you consider yourself as being part of a “school” of composition?

That's probably for other people to say. I just do what comes naturally to me.

How would you describe or characterize your own musical style?  

Again, it's not something I think about too much. I guess composers are a bit like sponges. We soak up all the sounds around us and assimilate them into our own individual voice. I do love writing and conducting orchestral music (always been a big Mahler and Strauss fan). That's probably the basis of my technique. I love synth programming as well though. I've done plenty of scores that are totally synth- based. For example, I did a film about the Golden Gate Bridge last year in which I sampled sounds of the bridge itself and made synth patches from that.

What is your technique when you’re writing music? Do you compose on paper, or work into a computer?

Computer, paper, pencil - whatever it takes. Pretty much most of the time I'm at the computer. It's a great tool. It won't write better music for you though.

What do you feel when you’re composing and what do you like in this process?

It's more a question of 'have to do'. That's what I say to aspiring composers. If you have to get up in the morning and write music then you are a composer. If you can live without it then you are best to look elsewhere for a living. It's incredibly fulfilling, but sometimes haunting. It's very hard to turn off your thoughts sometimes

How do you choose a project to work on?

It's sometimes hard to know how a project is going to turn out before it's shot. It can be hard to judge scripts. You just have to go on instinct and what speaks to you. Something like 'The Last King of Scotland' was obviously a big music piece in the script that I knew it would be exciting from the start though.

 SWEENEY TODD: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

 

 You’re credited as composer for additional arrangements. Can you explain us your role? 

I believe Sweeney Todd is one of the great theatre works of the 2nd half of the 20th century. It was a great job working with the music of such a great composer and such a great director. I worked closely with Tim Burton to adapt the score to the big screen. My task was to help translate it to the big screen and retain as much of the original flavour as possible.

 

What kind of an orchestra and what size did you choose?

We had a studio orchestra of about 70 musicians contracted by Isobel Griffiths as well as a choir for some parts. This is quite a lot larger than the original show line up. I came on board after all the songs were recorded. I scored and conducted about 9 or 10 sessions over the course of a few months. I don't remember exactly how many.

Did you use specific instruments, what kind, and what for?

I did one scene with the sound of strings accompanied by finger nails being drawn down a black board. It was memorable seeing the percussion players do that one.

What do you personally and musically think about the subjects of the film?

Sweeney Todd and Tim Burton - it just seems right to me. It's an amazing piece of work.

Can you tell me about your projects? What else are you working on now? May you tell us more about State Of Play?

State of Play is very exciting. I'm working with many unconventional non-orchestral instruments. It's a voyage of discovery... I'm also working on an album which is refreshing. It's a series of collaborations with different artists in different countries around the world. More on that soon. 

Do you have specific message to add for our readers?  

Thank you for reading and keep on listening -  à bientôt.

http://www.alexheffes.com