As die-hard fans of film scores, one of our favorite people to speak with is composer Patrick Doyle. While he’s known the world over for his sensational, rousing, and robust music, that’s really only a portion of the man. Whenever we talk to him about his life, we segue into topics that, some times, are even more fascinating than the topic du jour. For instance, Patrick lives in London and has had a holiday home in France for 30 years; a building that conservatively one could estimate was built in the 1700s. Also, not many people can claim to own a tapestry that adorns a centuries old wall. That’s pretty cool. When it comes to this gentleman, great stories abound.
Patrick also comes from a family of musicians and singers, and thirteen siblings which is a conversation in and of itself. But more to the point, Patrick is great at what he does because he’s a really good listener. Whether it is to the director or key sequences in the film, he’s really good taking in what’s around him.
Doyle’s musical scores evoke so much emotion because of his internal barometer which has been developed over years and years and years. Subconsciously, he’s taken in taken in so much that he’s been able to process, channel and utilize it all quite easily, whether it’s the propulsive sound of a train, the gentle breezy elegance of a waltz, or just a plain old cookie.
Patrick’s work continues to find new audiences because the music of Carlito’s Way, Thor, Frankenstein, Brave, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, Sense and Sensibility and many others all showcase the one talent that he is just so adept at: weaving magic.
Over his diverse and illustrious career, he’s worked with some of the very best filmmakers of all time, and cemented lifelong friendships during the process. He’s written for theater, animated films, sweeping dramas, and comedies…and that’s just a shortlist.
While they would work together three times, director Mike Newell (after their first collaboration) phoned Patrick to tell him he had “provided magic in a film that had no magic.” So it seems only natural he would be called up for the third entry in the Harry Potter series (more on that below). Now for all that Doyle’s work adds to the picture, the best bit of advice he ever got was from Brian DePalma when they were working on Carlito’s Way: “don’t tell my story, don’t foretell my story, don’t rush my story, and watch my film even closer than you’re doing.”
That was the only note he got during the process. The first time the director heard the music was at the scoring session, and of all his films, that is the one score he still listens to.
We were happy to catch up with Patrick for the first time in close to ten years, and on this episode of The GoSeeTalk Podcast Experience we touch on the above topics and more. Lastly, for all you Muggles here in Texas, you can catch Patrick’s work in a live to picture performance of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire conducted by Lawrence Loh with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. The dates of the shows are August 29 – September 1, so get your tickets to this performance and others from the official website of the Dallas Symphony.
