HBO has kindly allowed us to break the word on one of the last major crew announcements for its production of Game of Thrones. They have informed us that Stephen Warbeck, has been selected to score the series. Warbeck’s best known for producing the soundtrack to Shakespeare in Love, for which he received the Academy Award. He has a long list of credits, including award-nominated films such as Billy Elliot and Proof, as well as other notable Hollywood productions such as Quills, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, Charlotte Grey, and last year’s Princess Kaiulani.
Rather than leaving you with a sample of his Shakespeare in Love work, here’s a video for the soundtrack for Charlotte Grey which shows a nice range—7:40 in has an atmospheric, staccato piece of music that creates a great sense of tension and could almost fit right into the series as I envision it:
But just in case you want your memory refreshed… here’s a sampling of his Shakespeare in Love work:
Brilliant,memorable scores, to say the least, but bear in mind that Warbeck’s compositions may well be radically different (and influenced by things such as medieval music) compared to his previous work. Regardless, Warbeck’s a highlight in an already-amazing collection of cast and crew members.
UPDATE:
Here’s a remark that Miltos Yerolemou, who plays Syrio Forel, left in response to trolling at Winter is Coming’s post on this topic:
i know stephen warbeck personally and professionally. i worked with him when he arranged music with the royal shakespeare theatre and particularly when we worked with me on Othello. the amazing thing with this guy is that his musical knowledge is so vast. and he is the guy who can be given an idea and then just runs with it. always thorough, always surprising and a true collaborative creative to have on such a project where integrity and understanding of the material is more important than ‘star’ or known names. remember these big name people sometimes bring their own adgendas and styles with them. (sometimes a good thing, sometimes a bad thing).
be patient folks, from what you know about how carefully this project is being put together, do you really think they haven’t thought this through?