# George Fenton scores on Planet Earth and Blue Planet



## MA-Simon (Jan 18, 2021)

Planet Earth, Blue Planet & Frozen Planet Soundtracks.

I find his scores much, much better then those of Planet Earth II and Blue Planet II.

Am I the only one? His scores invoke emotion, a sense of wonder and adventure.
These new ones (Planet Earth II and Blue Planet II) just sound overly cinematic and pompous to me.
When working I will always grab one of Fentons Scores over the new ones.
Georges Music just works much better on it's own, I think.


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## JohnG (Jan 18, 2021)

He's great. He wrote a score for a movie ages ago called, "Ever After," which is a modern take on Cinderella. Super score, very evocative and elevates the movie.


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## Symfoniq (Jan 18, 2021)

"Anna and the King" is another fantastic score by George Fenton.


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## Dr.Quest (Jan 18, 2021)

Fenton's scores have been favorites for years. Many walks taken listening to the Earth, Blue Planet soundtracks.


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## JohnG (Jan 18, 2021)

I think I will listen to him while taking the dog for a walk. Thanks for suggested titles.

John


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## batonruse (Jan 18, 2021)

JohnG said:


> I think I will listen to him while taking the dog for a walk. Thanks for suggested titles.
> 
> John


Before you grab the lead...don't forget "Shadowlands"


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## JohnG (Jan 18, 2021)

batonruse said:


> Before you grab the lead...don't forget "Shadowlands"


Will add to the playlist -- thanks!


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## Satorious (Jan 18, 2021)

George Fenton is great. I'd love to hear his rejected Interview with a Vampire score - he told me it was rejected by Neil Jordan for being too dark, he was replaced by the light and fluffy Elliot Goldenthal! Anyway, I agree with your first post - the new ones are more modern sounding - but feel too much like listening to "trailer music" - they lack the depth, sophistication and nuance of Fenton's originals (even though they are by no means bad)


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## patrick76 (Jan 18, 2021)

Satorious said:


> the light and fluffy Elliot Goldenthal!


Oh god, you have me laughing! Hahah


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## Gil (Jan 18, 2021)

Hello,
You can find the scores "In Concert" at his page in Issuu page of Scores in Demand:


Catalogue


They seem to be different from the non-live audio recording: does anyone know if the concerts have been recorded/TV broadcasted?
Thanks!


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## Cathbad (Jan 18, 2021)

MA-Simon said:


> Planet Earth, Blue Planet & Frozen Planet Soundtracks.
> 
> I find his scores much, much better then those of Planet Earth II and Blue Planet II.
> 
> ...



Agreed. The later scores sound very good of course, but it feels like they're just trying a bit too hard to be majestic. There's something about George Fenton's scores that sound a little more aloof and dignified.

And although I'm all in favour of maximum opportunities for artists around the world, I would have preferred the publicly-funded British Broadcasting Corporation not to have gone all the way to California to hire two Americans and a German who I hear is already doing ok for gigs. Not sure why none of the very many superb British composers were thought suitable...


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## d.healey (Jan 19, 2021)

Great interview by the Film Music Foundation


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## muziksculp (Feb 13, 2021)

Maestro George Fenton is one of my favorite film composers. 

I attended his live concert at the Hollywood Bowl a few years back, where he was conducting The Frozen Planet score against a large screen. Great Scores for the BBC documentaries he had scored. Very sophisticated score, added so much of an emotional dimension to these BBC docs. 

Wow.. That's an over 4 hr long Vimeo interview with him will be a pleasure to watch. Thanks for the link.


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## South Thames (Feb 13, 2021)

Little bit of trivia, but George Fenton was the sound of BBC news and continuity throughout most of the 80s and 90s, and wrote some of the most kick-ass, exciting news music ever heard. Listen to the epic balls on his 1988 theme for the 9:00 news:



YouTube



The news was seldom as dramatic as the music.


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## JohnG (Feb 13, 2021)

muziksculp said:


> Maestro George Fenton is one of my favorite film composers.


Same here. He's wonderful.


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## muziksculp (Feb 13, 2021)

I'm learning a lot of things I didn't know about him from The 4+ hrs interview link above. Haven't watched the whole thing yet, but will I watch the whole thing in 1 hr segments.


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## Dave Connor (Feb 14, 2021)

Gil said:


> Hello,
> You can find the scores "In Concert" at his page in Issuu page of Scores in Demand:
> 
> 
> ...


We’re you able to rent any of those? I didn’t see any for sale.


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## Gil (Feb 14, 2021)

Dave Connor said:


> We’re you able to rent any of those? I didn’t see any for sale.


I didn't try to rent or buy one of them, but some are visible directly in Issuu like The Blue Planet In Concert.


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## Dave Connor (Feb 14, 2021)

Gil said:


> I didn't try to rent or buy one of them, but some are visible directly in Issuu like The Blue Planet In Concert.


Thanks a whole lot!


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## Leslie Fuller (Feb 27, 2021)

MA-Simon said:


> Planet Earth, Blue Planet & Frozen Planet Soundtracks.
> 
> I find his scores much, much better then those of Planet Earth II and Blue Planet II.
> 
> ...


Some other great scores by George Fenton are Gandhi (along with Ravi Shankar), and Groundhog Day!

You mention the newer “Planet” scores sounding more “cinematic“, but aren’t Planet Earth II and Blue Planet II scored by Mr Zimmer and his team? 

A musician friend in the U.K. is part of one of George’s upcoming projects and says George was a joy to work with in the studio!


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