Red Stewart chats with composer Hauschka…
Volker Bertelmann, better known by his artist name Hauschka, is a German pianist and composer who has been working in the film and television industry since the mid-2000s. He is best known for his work on films like In Dubious Battle, Lion, and The Current War. His latest compositions were for the Showtime miniseries Patrick Melrose, which premiered this year.
Flickering Myth had the privilege to speak with him, and I in turn had the honor to conduct it:
Thank you for taking the time out of your day to speak with me. You’re one of the most talented composers working today, so it truly is an honor.
Oh, thank you. Thank you so much.
So, you started off your film career doing a lot of short films and documentaries before moving into television and feature length movies. I’m curious, how natural did that transition feel for you? Did doing those short films prepare you for the work requirements that come with your newer projects?
Well, you know, your very first projects are based on pleasure in a way. A lot of those short movies came from very personal connections, and it was a little bit like training camp for making music to movies. The level of those movies was high and it’s just a short amount of time to compose for them, and I wasn’t choosing that by purpose. It was more that my music as Haushcka was always very filmic, and so a lot of filmmakers were approaching me, asking me “can we use your music for our short film?” or “would you be up for making a five minute score for our short film?” And so, sometimes I would said yes when I had time, and slowly I was getting a feel for what worked and what didn’t. And I’m still learning because every film is different, every picture is different, and of course every team you work with is different.
So there are many parameters that make a work successful, and sometimes maybe not so successful because things are not matching.
Well, it’s interesting that you mention different teams, because in your past you’ve done a couple of collaborations with Dustin O’Halloran. And I know you used be in a band, but when it comes to movies, what’s it like working with another composer?
When I work with Dustin that is a very unusual collaboration because Dustin, first of all, is a very long-time friend. I would say he is one of the closest friends I have. And by coincidence, we both got asked to do these films. It was more like the director suddenly said, “would you be interested in working with Dustin O’Halloran,” and I said “of course, he’s a very good friend.”
And secondly, he is a very unselfish person. And that is very important. Keeping yourself serious as an artist is one thing, but the other thing is stepping back to make room and space for maybe the better idea at the right moment, rather than being very egocentric and always pushing your work at the center. Because I have a feeling that a lot of times that is an expression of insecurity and fear, rather than being confident with yourself and making decisions for the right purpose. And with Dustin that works very well because he is acting in the same way, and that helps us. So in that case, and also in a couple of other collaborations where I did records, it worked out very well.
No, it’s great to hear that your working relationship has built off of that long-standing friendship you established in the past. Now as I said before, you’ve done several documentaries. And one thing I found interesting is that a lot of your contemporary works are based on real-life events. You did Lion and Gunpowder, and you’re doing The Current War and Hotel Mumbai. Ashes in the Snow takes inspiration from historical events, and of course Patrick Melrose is based off of the author’s own autobiographical experiences. Is nonfiction a genre that just appeals to you more than fiction or is it a coincidence?
I think it’s a coincidence, but maybe it’s also because my music is pretty realistic in a way [laughs]. At least my albums. They are really supporting your own emotions at the moment. Maybe it’s not always good to use in a movie, but I think a lot of people who are listening to my music are inspired to write stuff. And so maybe the directors who were choosing me were very close to my music in the first place. So that’s something that they perhaps all have in common.
But in general, I have a feeling that I would love to do other projects. Like, I’m a big fan of science fiction movies. But it definitely needs a good script and a good director where you suddenly think “this is exactly the movie that I want to do when it comes to science fiction or for a very good story that is not based on real facts.” And a lot of times that needs a long, long writing process and a really good narrative to transport you there.
In the last two or three years, I’ve mostly received films and scripts from movies that are based on real stories. And maybe that’s, at the moment, the more interesting stories for me.
Well, it’s surprising to hear you say that your music is based in realism, because I remember reading an interview where you said that German folklore and mysticism had a strong influence on your music style. So how do you reconcile those two seemingly clashing ideals? Or are they clashing?
It’s more like….I was born in a very small village in Germany. First of all, I was born in 1966, 21 years after the war was finished. There was a lot of realism in our country because there was hardly nothing: no stone was left standing on the other. And my parents, and their generation, came out of it all very raw. And of course they were, in a way, responsible for that situation, but at the same time they tried to get back on their feet. So everything was realistic and pretty down to Earth because there was hardly anything: you had to build up from scratch a house and you had to find a new job.
When I was a kid, I remember we didn’t have a TV for a long time, so I didn’t watch TV till I was maybe 14. And then of course I did it very extensively. But in a funny way, my operating as a kid was based on me being outside and working with my own fantasies. And at the same time, I always had a strong relation to real emotion.
So now, I would rather go for the real emotion than to bring a state of mind where I’d had an artificial emotion. And it was always important for my relationships to friends, to women, and my wife. So everything, I think, was always me searching for not wasting time with artificial stuff. And perhaps that is coming altogether when a story hits me and I feel what’s going on. I try to express that emotion and bear it if these elements are coming into place as well.
No, that’s a fascinating story to hear. My condolences to your parents for their harsh experiences, though at the same time it is amazing that you emerged so successful.
Yeah, I mean they were always happy, but it was very rudimentary [laughs].
Now, let’s talk about Patrick Melrose, because that is your most relevant work at the moment. First off, I just have to ask, is it a coincidence that you’re doing two Benedict Cumberbatch projects in a row with The Current War and this?
It was pretty much a coincidence. I remember when we had the premiere of The Current War at the Toronto Film Festival, which was last year, and I met Benedict for the first time, and I was talking to him about it because he was, at that time, already learning a piano piece that I had written for him: he had to practice piano pieces, and I had to write, I think one for him and one for Hugo Weaving. It was the first thing I had done before he was starting to shoot because they needed the pieces for practicing.
And then I remember at the premiere party, I was talking to him about that, and he mentioned that he takes some lessons and that he’s very happy about the piece. So that was a very nice conversation that we had. And in a way it was funny that I was working on Patrick Melrose while I was having the premiere with him at the same time.
Well, that’s how connections build up in a way.
Yeah.
The Patrick Melrose novels are very unique in that, though they have a period feel to them, they were published relatively recently. And based on the trailer, I see that the show has taken up that aspect very well. As the composer, how did you balance those two atmospheres: the Jane Austen aristocratic feel and the modern debauchery?
Well, that’s always tricky because, first of all, we have a film that goes over a period of time, so even in only five episodes time is changing or switching. So we were jumping between his childhood and modern times and the 80s: it was always going back and forth. And if you stylistically go with the time and you are getting trapped in the period style, it is always tricky.
So when Edward Berger, the director, and I were talking about the music, I said to him “I think it’s better to actually detach the timeline a little bit from the music,” and I tried to find rather characteristic pieces for each episode. So we were thinking much more thematically and instrumentation-wise more for every entry. And we ended up actually splitting the themes a little bit into the episodes. Of course there are themes that are connected with each other, but stylistically we tried to, for example, keep one instrument as the primary focus per an episode.
In the first episode, for instance, it is mostly the harpischord that is the instrument for the older Patrick. It looked to me a little bit like a Rock ‘n’ Roll instrument in a way [laughs]. It had a little bit of glam rock. So I felt like I wanted to work it in, and at the same time create some weird, electronic, dark rhythms.
So, the older times somehow clash with modernity in the music as well.
And, it’s funny that you mention the different instrumental styles, because the show really tackles a lot of mature subjects like alcoholism, drug addiction, and child abuse, but chooses to cast them through a black comedy veil. And taking a humorous look at real-life problems that destroy lives is very risky, but given the positive reviews it appears that the show more than pulled it off. I’m curious, what where some steps you and Edward Berger took in the beginning to ensure that the series didn’t fall into the realm of mockery? Because music is integral in forming the tone of a scene. It can instantly tell audiences how they’re supposed to feel.
It’s a little challenging because the first episode had quite a high speed. And it had a lot of information and there was a lot of dialogue: there was the normal dialogue, but then there were all these voices in his head that were coming on top, plus the sound effects. And when you have all this plus music, it’s pretty hard to find the right balance in those themes. And so Edward and I were trying to figure out what kind of elements we were using and what we were going to put in the foreground and how minimalistically we could work so that nothing was getting too swamped. So it was very difficult to find the right level of information for each scene.
So what ended up happening was, first of all, I swamped him with music [laughs]. That’s what I mostly do. I wrote at least three versions of each cue, just to feel out the variations because, a lot of times, you can make up something in your head and follow that and it’s all fine, but once you see the music with the scene suddenly you realize “I’m not sure.” And then you need options. And so what we did with the first episode was we wrote 60 cues or something like that, which is a lot for one hour, and then we found the right piece for each particular character or for each particular situation.
There was also the whole rape issue in the series that was very delicate, but at the same time we didn’t want to make it too dark, in a way. Of course everything in the series was based on [Patrick Melrose’s] bad childhood experiences, but you also don’t want to put too much heaviness on that topic because that creates a whole different focus.
That’s fascinating that you were able to devote that much time to each episode, because usually with television or a miniseries composers are a little more rushed.
Yeah, I think it is also a matter of how much time you have and how much time you want to invest in a project. Of course, the budgets are smaller, but I don’t see for me, personally, an instant piece of artwork. It needs your full attention, and I think that TV shows are getting better and better and more developed and more interesting. And recently they’ve also shown a lot of room for experimentation, which is really wonderful for someone who wants to try things out or find a different approach. So that was a wonderful option.
Right, and also this is Showtime, and Showtime is of course a subscription service, which tends to have more money and therefore more freedom to do what they want. Now, I know how very busy you are, so I just have a couple of quick questions. One is that I understand that you have an collection of solo piano works that are set to come out in 2019. Do you have any thoughts you wish to share about them?
Yeah, it will be my first solo record on Sony music and, unlike all my recent albums before this one, it won’t be based on prepared piano recites. Of course, prepared piano is a big part of what I’m known for, because I did something that I really really loved to do, experimenting with sounds and going a little mad with a piano.
But at the same time, I had the feeling that the purity of the piano is always something that I loved as well, and I thought that it might be time to go back to that purity. And last year, when I was recording my last record called “What If”, I recorded as well about 20 pure piano pieces. And when I was listening back to them, I felt very inspired, and so I went back into the studio and recorded another set of piano solo works. And then I had, at the beginning of this year, around 50 pieces written, and then I made a selection of my favorites. And right now, the last tracks are mixed and the album is finished and it will be released in Spring next year.
And I think in today’s times, with all the stress of everything that’s going on internationally, it will be very relaxing for most people to just sit down and listen to classical piano compositions, so I do thank you for doing this.
No absolutely, that’s why I do it.
And my last question, and this is something I like to ask most composers I speak to, is what are three musical pieces that have had the biggest influence on you? They can be band albums or movie scores or classical compositions. Whatever you want.
One is Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. It was maybe one of my first experiences of epic rock music that sounded composed. I remember when I was listening to it I was completely flashed as a kid. The second one is maybe a piece by Arnold Schoenberg called Sechs kleine Klavierstücke which is a classical piece. It is one of my favorites classical written pieces because it has a lot of that longing that I think human life, in a way, is composed of. And its limitations and its melancholy, and Arnold Schoenberg’s composition is an outstanding one. And the last one is Aphex Twin, he’s one of my favorites, especially his Drukqs record, which was very influential.
And thank you once again Mr. Bertelmann for taking the time out of your day to speak with me. I think your reputation more than speaks for itself. You’re a master composer and I can’t wait to see your future works. Thank you again.
And thank you so much for talking to me. Have a great day!
Red Stewart
