Telling the Right Story: Trevor Morris on Scoring Historical Dramas

Looking back on my career thus far, I’m struck by the number of historical dramas I’ve written and continue to write music for. However, I’m not particularly drawn to historical dramas per se, as much being attracted to great stories and storytelling. The Tudors, The Borgias and The Pillars of the Earth are all truly fantastic stories, regardless of the point in history when they are set. They are both universally human, and very grand all at once. As a composer, I’m always looking to tell the best story possible with my music as well. I think of myself as a musical narrator in some way, so I feel that the quality of the subject is the fundamental key to my success.

Having said that, period material does bring with it a greater challenge than modern material. With each period project, I need to invent an appropriate musical language for the show. There is often either no recorded music from the time the drama takes place, as is the case with Pillars, or the music of the period on its own wouldn't support the underscore of the modern interpretation of the story, as is the case with Tudors, The Borgias and my upcoming feature Immortals.

There are times when musicology inevitably takes over. With the exception of a dance or Tarantella, or something like that, for the most part I’m not bound by the instrumentation of the time. I’m free to paint with the colors I hear in my head and to musically enhance the best story possible. For The Borgias, 1492 Italy may not have had a modern orchestra, or the valve French horn was not invented yet, but if I decide that color will tell the right story…in it goes. Modern audiences are able to put together the pieces in their own minds, because they have such an expanded palette of musical choices that they’ve seen represented throughout the years. It gives them the right context for perceiving history from the present.

I’ve found that the greatest challenge of the historical drama composer is to be very specific about which colors to choose, and to always make sure we "stick" to the picture. The colors must belong in some way to what you see on screen (which is in turn affected by dialogue, story, costumes, set design and much more). The freedom to paint comes with a sense of self-editing, or self-policing if you will, to make sure that story is taken care of, first and foremost. I think that is my best piece of advice to young composers in any genre: make sure you are telling "the right story.”

My global approach, or my ethos if you will, is to try to write solid, memorable melodies and find the style that can carry them across the screen, whatever the genre or medium may be. It’s extremely challenging and never gets any easier, as each project has its own needs that need to be discovered and evolved. However, it is this part of the challenge I really enjoy, and in the end, you have to love something to be any good at it.

Trevor Morris is the ASCAP composer of the Emmy-winning music for Showtime's The Tudors. He is nominated for two 2011 Emmy awards for his music on Starz's The Pillars of the Earth and Showtime's The Borgias. His music will next be heard in the highly anticipated Relativity film Immortals, which opens nationwide on 11/11/11.

Visit Trevor Morris on the web.