Emma.

I’ve always been a huge Jane Austen fan and have read all the novels SEVERAL times so I was really excited at the chance to work on a new adaptation of Emma. When I watched the rough cut of the film for the first time I saw that director Autumn de Wilde had created a beautiful and fresh new vision for this retelling of the story. The costumes and cinematography were absolutely stunning.

I had worked closely with Isobel Waller-Bridge on a previous project in 2018, Vanity Fair, which was a seven-episode drama based on Thackeray’s novel. We got along really well and our musical styles complemented each other well for that project. We are both based in London and, as it happened, Isobel’s studio was undergoing renovations when Emma got going, so we decided to work together out of the two rooms in my studio. We were also loaned a beautiful 1808 Broadwood pianoforte by the production – one of the three that are played by the cast in the film – so we were able to set it up in the studio and record it, and that was a fun way to start bouncing ideas around between each other.

Autumn’s vision for the score was that it should be fresh and new, but also reflect the music of the period, so we listened to a lot of the music (both classical and folk) that Jane Austen would have been familiar with. Then we drew up a list of all the main characters and scribbled down all the traits that we wanted their theme music to embody. Working in the same space was helpful, as we were able to quickly exchange ideas… as well as share numerous breaks for coffee and Haribo sweets!

Getting the music right for the start of the film felt really important in bringing the audience into her world; capturing Emma’s mischievous charm, without making her too ‘sweet’. We had the idea of using operatic soprano (and tenor) vocals, with a somewhat playful tune, and that really seemed to set the right tone for the character. Later on in the process, Isobel and I had a lot of fun writing lyrics for these songs in Italian, which neither of us can speak a word of! If you are intrigued and want the lyrics to the songs in the film, feel free to drop me a line (I don’t know if I’m allowed to post them here). The vocals were beautifully performed by Sara Davey and Benedict Hymas.

There’s a lot of humour in the film and Autumn really wanted the music carefully ‘spotted’ to emphasise the comedy timing. She sometimes talked about the characters behaving like clockwork figures in a carefully choreographed world. I think my experience in scoring over 1000 episodes of animation came into play when writing the music for scenes in this way!

The music was recorded at Air Studios and Abbey Road, and mixed by the amazing Jake Jackson.

The film came out in Cinemas on Valentine’s Day 2020 in the UK and on the 21st Feb in the US.

A soundtrack of music from EMMA. is available now on Spotify and everywhere else! As well as lots of the original score from the film it also features many of the folk songs used in the film, and an original song written by Johnny Flynn.

UPDATE 1 (Summer 2020:

They made a limited edition double-vinyl release on PINK VINYL too! The first batch sold out but I believe more are available now from Mondo Music. The film company were kind enough to send me a few copies and I can honestly say it’s one of  the most beautiful records I’ve ever seen!

UPDATE 2 (December 2020):

I can’t believe that it’s not far from being a year since Emma was released. And what a crazy and generally awful year it’s been. Apart from the awful effects of Covid19 on people, I feel so saddened at what it’s done to culture in 2020, with the (hopefully temporary) closure of theatres, music venues and cinemas. It seems like another world in which Emma actually came out in the cinema and people went to see it, without wearing masks or social distancing, yet it was only last February! I hope the film brought a bit of enjoyment and respite to people who watched it during lockdown… and many thanks to the people who have kindly written to me to express their enjoyment of the music.

Let’s hope that in 2021, films, theatre and music will come back with a vengeance! Much love to everyone. DS x