Gregson-Williams was the first composer whom director Andrew Adamson approached for the film because they had worked together on Shrek (2001) and Shrek 2 (2004). Because Adamson had to shoot the film in New Zealand for an extended period and Gregson-Williams was working on scores for films such as Kingdom of Heaven, he initially only prepared for the project by re-reading the book and reading the film script. It wasn't until he saw the first cut of the film that, as he put it, "I could see the look of it, the look of the characters. I found that what I felt emotionally, when compared to the book, was quite different and it was then at that point that I could really 'get under the skin' of the project." He said that although re-reading the book helped him enter "that headspace", the script also provided "a lot of good information" because it included several scenes that weren't in the book.[1]
Writing and recording
Score
During the recording process, Gregson-Williams employed the 75-piece Hollywood Studio Symphony Orchestra, along with a 140-member choir (from Abbey Road Studios, London, England; mostly members of the Bach Choir) and numerous other solo musicians such as electric violinist Hugh Marsh and vocalist Lisbeth Scott (at his Wavecrest Studio).[2] He composed the original score and then spent late September through early November 2005 conducting the Hollywood Orchestra and overseeing the recording of the English choir.[2] For "color", he employed instruments used in ancient folk music, and to underscore critical dramatic moments, he added choral textures and, occasionally, a solo voice. The score includes instances of electronic music.[3]
Though frequent comparisons were made between it and Howard Shore's score for The Lord of the Rings film trilogy (2001–03), Gregson-Williams said he was not influenced by Shore during the scoring of The Chronicles of Narnia. He also said he composed over 100 minutes of music for the original score, although less than sixty minutes made the final cut.[citation needed] There is a bootleg copy of the complete recordings circulating on the internet, although no official version of this soundtrack has been released. The complete recordings comprises all music composed by Williams for the movie.[citation needed]
The score features many uses of themes or leitmotifs, the most prominent of which are a motif for the Pevensie children, a motif for Narnia itself, and the "Heroic motif".[4] The heroic motif, however, is not heard until track nine ("To Aslan's Camp").
Songs
Gregson-Williams co-wrote a song with Imogen Heap, "Can't Take It In", which Heap recorded for the soundtrack. Originally, Dido submitted a song for the soundtrack, but it was considered unsatisfactory. Heap was approached after a suggestion from the soundtrack's supervisor, who managed a band with whom Heap had toured. The song was written, recorded, produced and mixed in a week;[5] Heap said she needed "like a year more than I got" and considered the experience of handing in the song an hour after completing it "[p]retty scary". According to her, the creation of the song was difficult because The Chronicles of Narnia is a family film, so she "had to be quite descriptive and not too electronic" when making the song.[6]
The soundtrack includes the song "Wunderkind", which Alanis Morissette wrote and recorded in three days; it was produced by Mike Elizondo. According to her, after watching a rough cut of the film the song "seemed to flow from [me]", and that it "really touches me deeply".[7] Also included is "Winter Light", written and recorded by Tim Finn. The album song "Where", sung by Lisbeth Scott, does not appear in the film, but its melody is based on the Pevensie children motif from the score.
Evanescence lead singer Amy Lee claimed she had been approached to write music for the film, both of which were rejected. However, the producers of the film stated that they had never approached Lee about penning music for the film, and that it was "news to them". No Evanescence music had ever been planned for the score of the film.[8]
Response
The album debuted on the U.S. Billboard 200 at number 43,[9] selling 20,000 copies in its first week. In its second week on the chart it dropped to number 65 before moving to number 57 in its third week after the holiday box office success of the film. It descended to number 59 in week four. "Wunderkind" was issued as a radio single in some parts of Asia.
Many parts of "The Battle" were used for the soundtrack of the second The Chronicles of Narnia film, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, and is used as the motif for the film series.
Bonus DVD
A special edition was released the same day that includes a bonus DVD with the following features:
film art gallery
concept art gallery
Behind the Magic of Narnia: Featuring the Score with Harry Gregson-Williams
Professor Digory Kirke is a fictional character from C. S. Lewis' fantasy series The Chronicles of Narnia. He appears in three of the seven books: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Magician's Nephew, and The Last Battle.
Andrew Ralph Adamson is a New Zealand film director, producer and screenwriter. He is best known for directing the DreamWorks animated films Shrek (2001) and its sequel Shrek 2 (2004). He also directed the live-action film adaptations of C. S. Lewis' novels, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005) and its sequel The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008).
Harry Gregson-Williams is a British composer, conductor, orchestrator, and record producer. He has composed music for video games, television and films including the Metal Gear series, Spy Game, Phone Booth, Man on Fire, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian, Déjà Vu, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, The Martian, Antz, The Tigger Movie, Chicken Run, the Shrek franchise, Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, Flushed Away, Arthur Christmas, Early Man, and Catch-22. He is also the older brother of fellow composer Rupert Gregson-Williams.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a 2005 high fantasy film directed by Andrew Adamson, who co-wrote the screenplay with Ann Peacock, Christopher Markus, and Stephen McFeely, based on the 1950 novel The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the first published and second chronological novel in the children's book series The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis. The film is the first installment in The Chronicles of Narnia film series. It was produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media, and distributed by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution.
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian is a 2008 high fantasy film directed by Andrew Adamson, who co-wrote the screenplay with Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, based on the 1951 novel Prince Caspian, Produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media, the second published and fourth chronological novel in the children's book series The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis. The sequel to The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005), it is the second installment in The Chronicles of Narnia film series.
Peter DiStefano is an American guitarist and songwriter, best known for his work in the alternative rock band Porno for Pyros.
Music Inspired by The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is a collection of songs by various Christian artists with the common theme of the book series The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis. The album was released in anticipation of the December 9, 2005 premiere of the film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. By October 2005, the songs "Remembering You" by Steven Curtis Chapman and "Waiting for the World to Fall" by Jars of Clay were already being played on Contemporary Christian radio.
The official motion picture soundtrack for The Da Vinci Code with Thomas Bowes (violinist), King's Consort Choir, Hugh Marsh, Orchestra, Richard Harvey, Hila Plitmann, Martin Tillman was released on May 9, 2006 via Decca label. The film's music was composed by Hans Zimmer, whose work resulted in a nomination for the 2007 Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is an action-adventure game released in 2005 by Traveller's Tales and Amaze Entertainment. The game is based on the novel-adapted movie of the same name. It was released in November before the movie for most major consoles including the GameCube, PC, Xbox, PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS, and Game Boy Advance. Also in 2005, a role-playing game, a strategy game and a chess game were released for wireless phone systems by Disney Mobile. A significant feature has William Moseley, Skandar Keynes, Anna Popplewell, Georgie Henley, Elizabeth Hawthorne, and Jim Broadbent reprising their roles from the film.
The 6th World Soundtrack Awards were given on 14 October 2006 in Ghent, Belgium.
"Wunderkind" is a song written and recorded by Canadian-American singer Alanis Morissette for the soundtrack of the 2005 film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian is the soundtrack to the film The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. Harry Gregson-Williams composed the soundtrack, which was released on May 13, 2008 in the United States by Walt Disney Records.
Lisbeth Scott is an American composer, vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, producer and songwriter of Armenian origin, born in Boston, Massachusetts. She is featured on the soundtracks for the films Avatar, Avatar: The Way of Water, Concussion, Shrek, The Passion Of The Christ, Transformers, The Big Wedding, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian and Munich, in which she sings a 3 minute solo specifically written for her by John Williams. In addition she is featured in Iron Man 2, Disney's Wings of Life, Spider-Man and many more. She co-wrote and performed the songs "Where", and "One Breath" for Narnia. She also co-wrote and performed "Good To Me" in the movie Shutter, "Edge of Heaven" with Joel Douek for the film The Wildest Dream, "Real Love" for the film Domino and countless others. Her songs and vocals have been featured in hundreds of Hollywood blockbusters, many of them Oscar and Grammy winners and nominees. As a composer she has scored both television and film.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a 1950 novel by C.S. Lewis.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is the soundtrack to the film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. David Arnold composed the soundtrack, which was released on December 7, 2010 in the United States by Sony Classical.
The music of the Chronicles of Narnia film series was recorded and released in conjunction with the post-production and releases of each of the three corresponding films.
The Chronicles of Narnia is a series of seven fantasy novels for children written by C. S. Lewis. It is considered a classic of children's literature and is the author's best-known work, having sold over 100 million copies in 47 languages. Written by Lewis between 1949 and 1954, illustrated by Pauline Baynes and published in London between October 1950 and March 1956, The Chronicles of Narnia has been adapted several times, complete or in part, for television, radio, the stage, film, in audio books, and as video games.
"Remembering You" is a song by American contemporary Christian music singer-songwriter Steven Curtis Chapman. Written and composed by Chapman, Caleb Chapman, and David Campbell, it was released in August 2005 as the first single from the soundtrack album Music Inspired by The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005), a collection of songs recorded by contemporary Christian music artists that was released to promote the upcoming Walt Disney Pictures film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe to Christian audiences. A pop song with Celtic and folk influences, and a prominent string section, the song is written from the perspective of the characters in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe at the end of the story.
Arthur Christmas: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the score album to the film of the same name directed by Sarah Smith. The film's original score is composed and produced by Harry Gregson-Williams and released on 14 November 2011 by Madison Gate Records. The music was described by Gregson-Williams as "a very much tune-led, melody-led, theme-led score, utilising a large and colorful orchestration". It received positive reviews from music critics.
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