Sound of Cinema

Matthew Sweet ventures into deep space and spins a few stellar cinematic discs to mark the launch of ‘Ad Astra’ and a new score from Max Richter. Featuring music from Lost in Space, Sunshine, and Solaris. In it's 40th anniversary year the classic score of the week is Star Trek: The Motion Picture by Jerry Goldsmith.

The big-screen version of Downton Abbey is released this week so the setting for today’s theme is the stately pile or country retreat - the des res much beloved by film makers. Featured music comes from 'The Duchess', 'Pride and Prejudice', 'Mansfield Park', 'The Shooting Party', 'The Remains of the Day', 'The Ruling Class', 'Skyfall', 'Rebecca', and 'Gosford Park. The Classic Score of the Week is...

With the next chapter in the 'It' series released this week, featuring music by Benjamin Wallfisch, Matthew Sweet turns his attention to music that underscores children in the horror genre.

Composer Alberto Iglesias has worked extensively with legendary Spanish director Pedro Almodovar since the late nineties, scoring All About My Mother, Talk to Her, Bad Education, Volver, The Skin I Live In, and Julieta. Their latest collaboration Pain and Glory, starring Antonio Banderas as an ageing auteur is released in the UK this weekend. Alberto studied music in his home city of San Sebastian...

Jed Kurzel's new score for The Mustang, which was released this week, is the spur for a programme looking at the horse in film. Matthew Sweet considers the role of the workhorse with music from John Williams and Ron Goodwin. Velvet Brown features in the National and International Velvet films and Black Beauty also plays a starring role. We go to the races with Seabiscuit, My Fair Lady and the Marx...

A look at the history of the Italian-made western, through its music, with Matthew Sweet. A genre that appeared in the mid-60s and soon became instantly recognisable through the music of Ennio Morricone - but not exclusively so.

Matthew Sweet talks to Monica Mancini, the daughter of one of the great icons of film music, the composer Henry Mancini, whose seminal scores for 'Breakfast at Tiffany's', 'The Pink Panther', 'Charade' and many others have worked their way not only into parlance of film buffs but into the hearts and minds of audiences internationally.

A look back on cinematic depictions of 1950's Britain through film music with Matthew Sweet, marking the release this week of 'Tell It To The Bees' - Annabel Jankel's drama set in 1950's Scotland, with music by Claire M Singer. How should we regard Britain in the 1950's? Matthew Sweet profiles the decade through some of the film music of the time and takes a "rear view mirror" look, courtesy of so...

With the release of 'Stuber' this week, Michael Dowse's action comedy about a taxi driver and a terrorist, with music by Joseph Trapanese, Matthew Sweet considers the differing ways in which cars appear in films, and the music that has been created to underscore them.

With the release of the bio-pic ‘Vita & Virginia’ this week, inspired by the correspondence of Vita Sackville-West and Virginia Woolf, Matthew Sweet reflects on the epistolary film - movies inspired by the exchange of letters. The programme features music from ‘Broadway Melody on 1938’; ‘The Lake House’; ‘Letters to Juliet’; ‘Message In A Bottle’; ‘The Shop Around The Corner’; ‘You’ve Got Mail...

Matthew Sweet meets the British composer Daniel Pemberton who started writing documentary scores aged 17. He's since collaborated with Ridley Scott on The Counselor, Guy Ritchie on The Man from U.N.C.L.E, and Danny Boyle on his Steve Jobs biopic and the newly released Yesterday, for which he wrote original music and Beatles arrangements. He talks to Matthew about changing his score to All the Mone...

This week sees the final instalment of the Toy Story franchise which in 1995 was the first feature length CGI film. Matthew Sweet considers it and other music from what was a great year of film. Featured scores include 'Die Hard With a Vengeance', 'Se7en', 'Batman Forever', 'Goldeneye', 'Waterworld, 'Twelve Monkeys', 'A Walk In The Clouds', 'Braveheart', 'Il Postino', 'Sense and Sensibility', 'Poc...

Matthew Sweet with a selection of Cold War inspired film music for films centres around the Berlin Wall marking the release this week of Michael Herbig's 'Balloon' with music by Marvin Miller and Ralf Wengenmayr.

Inspired by the release of 'Gloria Bell' with a new score by electronic musician Matthew Herbert, this week's programme with Matthew Sweet, looks back on the synth score, including the work of Jerry Goldsmith, John Carpenter, Carmine Coppola, Vangelis, Wendy Carlos, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, and Daft Punk. The programme features music from 'The Illustrated Man'; 'A Clockwork Orange'; 'Dark St...

With the release of a new Michael Dougherty film, ‘Godzilla: The King of Monsters’ this week, Matthew Sweet looks at Japanese Kaijū, which draws on ancient myths of giant monsters, and considers its impact on film and film music. As well as music for Japanese features, he also looks at the impact that the genre has had on Western film, from ‘The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms’ to ‘The Meg’.

David Lean was one of Britain’s greatest and most influential film makers, directing epics such as ‘Lawrence of Arabia’, ‘The Bridge On The River Kwai’ and Doctor Zhivago’. Matthew Sweet reflects his work through the music for his films. The programme makes reference to 'In Which We Serve', 'Bounty', 'Blithe Spirit', 'Brief Encounter', 'This Happy Breed', 'The Ghost Camera', 'Great Expectations',...

Roxann Dawson's new film "Breakthrough", with a score by Marcelo Zarvos, is the featured new release and puts Matthew in mind of films that explore the mysterious realm between life and death. The programme features music from Danny Elfman, John Williams, Joseph Bishara, Alexandre Desplat, Michael Giacchino, Hans Zimmer, Maurice Jarre, Delia Derbyshire, Georges Auric, James Newton Howard and Nick...

Inspired by 'The Hustle', with a new score by Anne Dudley, a remake of the comedy 'Dirty Rotten Scoundrels' gives Matthew Sweet his cinematic theme this week: the con artist.

Academia has provided a rich backdrop for cinema over the years. With the release of the biopic ‘Tolkien’ this week, based on the life of the Oxford academic and author JRR Tolkien, Matthew Sweet looks at film music written to underscore life at university. The programme features music by John Williams, James Horner, John Dankworth among others.

Matthew Sweet live from Sage Gateshead with a look at cinematic love themes as part of Radio 3's Free Thinking Festival.

Matthew Sweet presents a selection of music for films where things are not quite as they would have us believe, including music by Michael Abels for the new psycho-thriller Us.

He's the man who gave us the music for A Study in Terror, The Final Countdown, and Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan. He worked with John Barry, Henry Mancini and Jacques Cousteau, whistled on the River Kwai, played flute on the Lion in Winter and saxophone on Goldfinger. Matthew Sweet meets the English film composer John Scott.

Matthew Sweet considers music for the female super hero and talks exclusively to composer Pinar Toprak who's written the score for the much anticipated new Captain Marvel film, released this weekend to coincide with International Women's Day. Featuring music from Wonder Woman, Cat Woman, Super Girl, X Men, The Avengers, and The Fantastic Four, plus a rallying cry for equal pay from Bat Girl in 197...

Exactly how do you set about composing music for a video game? As part of Radio 3 and 6Music's exploration of video game music - "High Scores" - Matthew Sweet visits the studio of composer Stephen Baysted, who is presently engaged with major Hollywood gaming franchise - to discover some of the unique composing techniques that the medium demands. Matthew also features a selection of music from some...

Matthew Sweet selects music for vigilante films.