Sound of Cinema

Matthew Sweet marks the forthcoming release of Dominic Cooke's thriller 'The Courier', with a new score by Abel Korzeniowski, and focuses on films based on true espionage stories. Matthew features music from the new film as well as from 'Argo', 'Mata Hari - Agent H21', 'The Good Shepherd', 'Confessions of a Dangerous Mind', 'Black Book', 'Bridge of Spies', 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy', 'Red Joan...

Matthew Sweet looks back on the music for the films of the great French director Bertrand Tavernier, who died earlier this year, including Herbie Hancock's Oscar winning score for the film 'Round Midnight'. The programme includes music by some of France's greatest film composers including Antoine Duhamel and Philippe Sarde and music from revered films such as 'Quai d'Orsay'; 'A Sunday in the Count...

A selection of film music written to evoke the start of spring and the idea of rebirth, including scores by Ji Bark, John Williams, Danny Elfman, Isobel Waller-Bridge and David Schweitzer, Nino Rota and Jerry Goldsmith, among others. The Classic Score of the Week is Jerry Goldsmith's music for the 'The Reincarnation of Peter Proud'. Matthew also takes a close look at how music works to picture in...

It’s 25 years since Rachel Portman composed the music for Emma and collected an Academy Award for Best Soundtrack, the first woman to merit such recognition, since which time there has been an array of talented female composers all eager to follow her lead - and yet a recent survey noted that an annual list of top 250 box office rated films, 94% of them were scored by men. Matthew Sweet marks Inte...

With the upcoming release of a full length big screen outing for Tom and Jerry, Matthew Sweet meets composer Christopher Lennertz to talk about his music for this and other films.

As we enter the third decade of the 21st century, Matthew Sweet features a selection of music for film from across the years that has presented its own vision of the 20s, such as Children of Men and Terminator.

Mark Isham, Hollywood composer of 'October Sky', 'A River Runs Through It' and the new 'Judas and the Black Messiah' has scored over 400 films and is a favourite composer with the likes of Robert Redford and Jodie Foster. He joins Matthew Sweet to discuss his career and some of his thoughts on scoring film in a programme that features music from ‘Fire In The Sky’, ‘Blade’, ‘A River Runs Through It...

Matthew Sweet looks at music for some of the recent On Demand small screen series and in particular at those with a supernatural theme, in the light of the release of the new drama 'Fate - The Winx Saga' featuring music by the Canadian composer, Anne Nikitin. Other series featured in the programme include ‘WandaVision’, ‘Bridgerton’, ‘Game Of Thrones’, ‘His Dark Materials’, ‘Dark’, ‘Stranger Thing...

The American composer and jazz trumpeter, Terence Blanchard, talks to Matthew Sweet about his career in film music and his artistic association with film-maker Spike Lee. Terence's latest score for One Night In Miami, about a fictionalised meeting between Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, Sam Cooke and Jim Brown, is out this week. Matthew features music from that and also from The Blackkklansman, Da 5 Bloo...

With the release of Kornél Mundruczó’s award winning ‘Pieces of A Woman’, with a new score by Howard Shore, Matthew Sweet looks at film music inspired by the idea of autobiography.

'Tis more than just a season of snow-clad backdrops and tinkling soundtracks as Matthew Sweet illustrates in his sparkling assortment of film music for cinematic Christmases.

With the recent on demand release of David Fincher’s new film ‘Mank’, exploring the background to the 1941 classic film, 'Citizen Kane' and starring Gary Oldman as writer Herman J Mankiewicz,, Matthew looks at the music and cinema of Orson Welles. As well as featuring some of the new score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for the new Fincher film biog, the programme also includes music from Welles...

As part of a weekend profiling Radio 3's New Generation Thinkers, Matthew Sweet is joined by film historian Iain Smith, a past member of scheme, for a look at one of his pet interests - how popular English speaking film titles and their music often appear adapted and remade in other countries of the world. Virtually every major franchise has its equivalent local version in some part of the world....

Heaven Can Wait, On Golden Pond, The Champ, The Firm and The Fabulous Baker Boys are some of the best-loved film scores of the past 50 years. Matthew Sweet meets their composer, Dave Grusin, for a look back on a long and distinguished career in film.

Matthew Sweet with a selection of film music inspired by the theme of Halloween, from the classic The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari to more recent manifestations such as - Halloween. Matthew looks at representations of Halloween in film in the likes of 'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial' and 'Meet Me In St Louis' and turns to scores from some of the great and scariest horror films, such as Suspiria, The Quater...

With the cinematic release of a new telling of the classic Frances Hodgson Burnett children’s book The Secret Garden, featuring a score by Dario Marianelli, Matthew Sweet looks at this and other music for secret worlds in film. From the fantasy worlds of Lewis Carroll's Wonderland and C.S Lewis's Narnia, to the dinosaur ridden terrains of Jurassic Park and the Valley of Gwangi, the mind of John Ma...

This week's featured new release is The Trial of the Chicago 7, with a new score by Daniel Pemberton, a true story set against the background of protest and unrest of 1968, a year historically regarded as being a watershed for social change. Matthew takes a look at the film and its new score and looks back to some of the many films released in 1968. The year that saw the arrival of 2001 - A Space...

Zbigniew Preisner first came to international attention through his collaboration with the great Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski, for films such as the Dekalog series, The Double Life of Veronique and the critically acclaimed Three Colours Trilogy. Matthew explores Zbigniev's philosophy about music for film. He looks back on Preisner's early career in political cabaret in communist Poland, hi...

With Christopher Nolan's 'Inception' now back in cinemas alongside the eagerly awaited arrival of 'Tenet', Matthew Sweet looks back on some of the music his films have inspired, including some of the most original scores of recent years, from the likes of Hans Zimmer, James Newton Howard, Benjamin Wallfisch and David Julyan; for movies such as 'Dunkirk', 'Interstellar', 'Momento', 'The Prestige',...

Matthew Sweet marks the release of the new Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter 'Bill and Ted' adventure - 'Bill and Ted Face The Music' - with a selection of scores for movies which tackle historical subjects, often with an imaginative take on the past. Travelling from the present day back through time he draws on music from 'The Crown', 'Darkest Hour', 'Battle of the Bulge', 'The Imitation Game', 'Downf...

Matthew introduces a selection of music that underscores some of cinema's most tyrannical characters. The programme draws on music from Star Wars -Phantom Menace, You Only Live Twice, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Maleficent, The Hunger Games, V for Vendetta, Nineteen Eighty-Four, The Great Dictator, Man In The High Castle, Appassionata, Animal Farm, Novecento, The Last King of Scotland, Land of the Bl...

Matthew Sweet meets the British-born composer Harry Gregson-Williams for a retrospective on his career in film. He’s been a hugely successful figure in Hollywood film-scoring for the past two decades, with music for the Shrek franchise, The Chronicles of Narnia, as well as having scores for the films of Tony and Ridley Scott, Ben Affleck and the Aardman animations of Nick Park to his credit. In ad...

'Rising Phoenix', a new documentary film charting the history of the Paralympic Games is launched this week with a new score by Daniel Pemberton. Matthew Sweet features some of this music and other soundtracks which have taken their inspiration from the history of the Olympics, at a time originally earmarked for the launch of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. The programme includes music from ‘Clash of...

Featured this week is 'Project Power', a new film starring Jamie Foxx with music by Joseph Trapanese. The film is centred around a new drug which gives its recipient super powers for up to five minutes. Matthew Sweet foregrounds the music for this and other soundtracks to films inspired by the notion of empowerment. The programme includes music from ‘X-Men: First Class’, ‘Code 8’, ‘Spider-Man 2’,...

With the 40th anniversary re-release of Mike Hodges’s Flash Gordon into cinemas at the end of the month, Matthew Sweet is joined by guitarist Brian May for a look back on the film's groundbreaking score composed by Howard Blake and Queen. Matthew also takes a timely look back across the decades at music for films that have taken their inspiration from comic strips and comic books. Featured films i...