'Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy' meets Tenebrae and Joby Talbot - 28.04.05

Joby Talbot, classical composer and pop genius behind the group ‘Divine Comedy’, teams up with Tenebrae for 2005 projects.

For Joby Talbot, the commission to write the soundtrack to ‘Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy’ was a dream come true: he was such a boy. “Some people can recite the Koran. I can recite The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. During meeting with the producers, somebody would mention a line and I would have to stop myself from reciting the whole scene! I can’t quite believe I’m working on the film of it, which is going to be brilliant.”
Excerpt from an interview with Hitchhikers director Garth Jennings and producer Nick Goldsmith:

“Joby Talbot is doing the score for the film -can you describe how that’s going, if it’s adding an integral part to the film or just keeping itself alongside and not intruding on the film?”

GARTH: I think Joby Talbot is the greatest composer in the world. Hearing him play me demos on his piano is one of the best bits of the job. He’s already been to Prague to record a temp score with a bloody huge orchestra. It was extraordinary stuff. I cannot wait to do it for real. You’ll love it. I’ll never forget asking him if he’d like to write the score for the movie. I said, “it’s the Hitchiker’s Guide to The Galaxy, do you know it?” “Know it?” he said. “The last 3 times I read the book, I read it out loud to my entire family!”

NICK: Joby has been amazing so far, we now like to get him along to whenever we decide a review a cut, because he always has so many ideas, without ever being intrusive. In a few areas of the film we have actually started with a score in my mind and then filmed or edited to that, so I would definitely say integral. Joby is also now working with Nigel Godrich on creating a specific sound of music for the Guide itself.

In 2003 Joby Talbot was recognised by The Evening Standard (London), Broadcast and Campaign magazines as one of the `UK’s hottest new artists’ working in visual media. He began writing and performing in the early 90s, joining Neil Hannon in the UK pop phenomenon, The Divine Comedy. The successful partnership produced seven albums for The Divine Comedy, Ute Lemper’s critical masterpiece, Punishing Kiss and a live collaboration with Michael Nyman, which was awarded the Edinburgh Festival’s Critics Choice in 1997. Now highly in demand as a pop arranger, Talbot went on to work with artists such as Travis, Tom Jones, Paul McCartney and producer Nigel Godrich. In 2000, Joby’s score to the primetime comedy The League of Gentlemen won the Royal Television Society Award for Best Title Music and a series of high profile commissions followed from BBC television. As a classical composer, Talbot has worked with all the major UK orchestras and has been commissioned by the prestigious BBC Proms Festival. His music is performed on an international platform by artists such as percussionist, Evelyn Glennie and The King’s Singers. Following the tradition of the great British composers before him, Talbot now records full orchestral scores for film and television.

In 2004, Classic FM appointed Joby Talbot as the radio station’s first ever ‘Composer in Residence’ and in February 2005 TENEBRAE joined the LSO in recording the Joby Talbot sountrack for the movie ‘Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy’. Joby is currently finishing an hour-long commission for TENEBRAE entitled ‘Path of Miracles’ which will be premiered at the City of London Festival in July 2005 (see diary). Follow link: www.colf.org

Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy can be seen in the cinemas from 29th April 2005.