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ABOUT Beyond the commotion of the cities, there is a THE FILM stunning natural life. Unbeknownst to anyone, millions of plants and animals put on a show filled with splendour, grace, ferocity, candour, and humour. Untamed Romania is a 90-minute cinematic journey into this amazing world, encompassing the Carpathian Mountains, the Danube Delta and Transylvania as its major areas of interest. The images are breathtaking, the scientific information about the flora and the fauna is well-balanced, and the music has been specially composed for the film. These are the factors that explain the unusual success of the production. Shot in some of the most biodiverse places in Europe, the documentary reveals a side of the continent that we thought we knew everything about. The music is an original creation by British composer Nainita Desai. Nainita is based in London and has written extensively for broadcasters such as the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Netflix, and National Geographic. In 2016, she was named a BAFTA Breakthrough Brit. Once the score for Untamed Romania was written, the compositions were recorded in two phases, whereby the majority of the score was performed by BBC National Orchestra of Wales in Cardiff, and the more intimate cues recorded in London, at Angel Studios. C O M P O S E R At its heart, the story-telling through the music sound design and synths to represent some STATEMENT was of paramount importance. There are universal of the ‘under-worldly’ caves in the Carpathian themes of hunting, conflict, power, parenthood, Mountains. They provided textures and sounds young animals growing, playing and learning. The for moods and scenes that the pure orchestra animals had strong characters that I wanted to couldn’t reach. These electronic elements also bring out musically and the visuals were rich and injected character and colours into cues such inspiring. as Mayfly Season (a sequence where millions of mayflies take to the sky) — a nod to 80’s Working with director Tom Barton-Humphreys synthwave and analog synths that has an almost and supervising producer Alex Pă un was an Blade Runner-esque quality to it. incredibly fruitful experience, where I was allowed a great deal of creative freedom. You can hear the lynx’s own theme in two forms — one with a playful light arrangement for two I wanted to take the viewer on an emotional lynx cubs and one at the end of the film when a journey throughout the film, with varied musical single female lynx is struggling to survive in the colour and textures. I developed a lyrical thematic harsh winter forest. score using melody, something not so common in contemporary film & TV soundtracks. It was important for me to utilise the whole orchestra, with interesting arrangements for The music had to evoke the fairy tale feel of woodwinds and brass alongside a string section. Transylvania with its magical forests which can You can also hear the interplay between silence, be heard in Legend of the Fire Salamander. sound effects and impact of brass in Wild Boar, which covers the wolves and boar hunting scene. Each season had its own individual theme. Spring is light and playful, summer is hot and languid, There are a few musical influences that come autumn is quite melancholic and beautiful, while through, such as hints of a Gershwin-esque motif winter is cold and inhospitable. when a bear cub falls out of the tree in Bear Antics, or the moments of humorous light jazz in The bears also had their own theme that took Catch the Mayfly. various twists and turns — from the playful and curious to that of power and aggression which My own favourite cue is A Chrysalis Awakens. I you can hear in Bears vs Wolves. experimented with my own vocals and the cue came together in a very organic way as the Alongside the orchestral cues, I incorporated butterfly scene in the film unfolded. Recording in Cardiff with BBC National Orchestra of Wales was a real highlight. Having 73 musicians playing together as a band had a very live organic feel to it. I selected them because they all know each other’s nuances and play together regularly, giving a cohesive liveliness to the recording. During our London session at Angel Studios, we recorded some of the more intimate cues with leading London string players including Richard Harwood, principal cellist of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. He also performed all the cello solos. Nainita Desai Composer 01 UNTAMED ROMANIA 10 CHICKS IN DANGER 19 THE CARPATHIANS 28 APPLES AND BEARS 02 SLEEPING GIANTS 1 11 FLOWERS IN BLOOM 20 GOLDEN EAGLE HUNTING GROUND 29 AUTUMN APPROACHES 03 A CHRYSALIS AWAKENS 12 BEAR MISCHIEF 21 THE APUSENI MOUNTAINS 30 PIATRA CRAIULUI RIDGE 04 WILD BOARS 13 CURIOUS BEAR CUBS 22 EAGLE CHICKS 31 BEARS VS WOLVES 05 SPRINGTIME IN CARPATHIA 14 GRACEFUL PELICANS 23 BEAR ANTICS 32 THE CHAMOIS 06 WOLVES IN CARPATHIA 15 CATCH THE MAYFLY 24 MAGNIFICENT BEAST 33 THE LYNX 07 LEGEND OF THE FIRE SALAMANDER 16 ANCIENT HISTRIA 25 LUSH MEADOWS 34 SLEEPING GIANTS 2 08 LYNX CUBS 17 LAZY SUMMER DAYS 26 STRANGE CATERPILLARS 35 THIS GLORIOUS LAND 09 THE DANUBE 18 MAYFLY SEASON 27 STORK DELIVERY C O M P O S E R BIOGRAPHY Nainita Desai is a BAFTA Breakthrough Brit and has written numerous bespoke scores for multi- award winning projects. Amongst other accolades, Nainita is a NaturVision Best Film Score winner and a Gopo Best Film Score nominee, both in 2019, for Untamed Romania. Recent highlights include documentary For Sama (which has to date won top prizes at prestigious festivals such as Cannes and SXSW), feature film The Reason I Jump, interactive film/ video game Telling Lies for Annapurna Interactive, and the prestigious BBC royal wedding broadcast of Meghan and Harry (for which Nainita wrote the title theme). Writing in a wide range of musical genres, Nainita Born in London, Nainita’s eclectic musical moves seamlessly from working with orchestras upbringing as a child led her to studying the (including the London Contemporary Orchestra sitar, piano, guitar, tabla, singing and violin. She and BBC National Orchestra of Wales) to ethnic obtained a degree in Maths, before attending the influenced music, utilising her collection of National Film & Television School to specialise in custom-made instruments from around the world. sound design. She incorporates electronics, sound design and song-writing into her music, which has led to collaborations with artists such as singer Eivør Pálsdóttir and writing documentary musicals for the BBC, including the acclaimed City of Dreams – The Musical. Nainita’s musical foundations are rooted in documentary, where she has forged an enviable reputation scoring hundreds of landmark productions. She has worked with leading film makers on projects that have garnered Oscar, BAFTA, Emmy, Cannes awards and nominations. As a sound designer, Nainita’s career began on feature films for directors such as Bernardo Bertolucci (Little Buddha), Werner Herzog (Lessons of Darkness), Anthony Hopkins (August) and Iain Softley (Backbeat and cult modern classic Hackers). Her passion for music technology led to her working in music engineering for many top artists, including Tori Amos, Peter Gabriel, Billy Cobham, Daniel Lanois, Jane Siberry, Nigel Kennedy, Sinéad O’Connor, and Ravi Shankar. CREDITS Orchestral contracting Michael Garvey (BBC National All titles published by Manners McDade Music Publishing Orchestra of Wales) Copyright for all titles is owned by Auchan Romania Hilary Skewes (London session) Music composed by Additional musicians (Angel Studios) Nainita Desai Jonathan Morton (session leader), Richard Harwood (cello soloist), Orchestrator/ conductor Warren Zielinski, Max Baillie, Alastair King Beatrix Lovejoy, Thomas Gould, Simon Blendis, Marije Johnston, Mix engineer Martyn Jackson, Michelle Fleming, Steve Parr Meghan Cassidy, Ann Beilby, Helene Clement, Brian O’Kane, Score preparation Pierre Doumenge, Leon Bosch Dave Foster Recorded at Composer assistant and additional programming BBC Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff, Wales Javier Blanco Angel Studios, London, UK Orchestral engineers Photos: © Max Milligan (2018) Huw Thomas (Hoddinott Hall) Mat Bartram (Angel Studios) Executive producers for Silva Screen Records Chris Parker – assistant (Angel Studios) Reynold D’Silva David Stoner Album mastering Peter Beckmann (Technology Works) Design & layout Stuart Ford Orchestra BBC National Orchestra of Wales Thanks to Nick Whiting (Associate Leader) Tom Barton-Humphreys, Alex Păun, Allison Bean, Andrew Wilson, Dan Schwalm, Malcolm Laws Motion picture produced by Auchan Romania, Off the Fence and The European Nature Trust. Ⓟ & © 2019 Auchan Romania SA under exclusive licence to Silva Screen Records Ltd. Unauthorised duplication / copying / download is a violation of applicable law. Made in the E.U. SILCD1600 .