Film composer DANNY ELFMAN: 3 questions – 3 answers

To mark the huge success of Tim Burton’s “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice”, whose main title was written by the genius Danny Elfman, here is a short excerpt from the interview Marcel Anders conducted for us on the occasion of Danny’s solo album “Big Mess”:

Question 1: What makes you a regular composer for Tim Burton?
I think we’re on the same wavelength. Him with his atmospheric images and me with the corresponding sounds. We complement each other perfectly. And we really enjoy working together: He doesn’t give me any big guidelines, he lets me have my way. Which – in contrast to many other directors – is a very pleasant approach and the reason why we have already made 15 films. I hope there will be a few more. But it’s by no means the only thing I do.

Question 2: You are considered a specialist for crazy, creepy music. What are your personal favorite films when it comes to unusual soundtracks?
I mainly grew up with horror films. I deliberately avoided anything like comedies or musicals. I was really only interested in science fiction and horror. The first really great horror score I ever heard was “Bride of Frankenstein” by Franz Waxman. Alongside “King Kong”, it was the first really long soundtrack – and a prime example of the effect a strong score can have on a movie. That it intensifies its intensity. That it acts as a catalyst. And “Bride of Frankensein” was this stirring, romantic, incredibly heavy score. There had never been anything like it before. In that sense, it was as if a new art form had been created, which is pretty incredible. Waxman invented the language of film music, and that made the studios say: “We want every movie to have an orchestral score from beginning to end.”

Question 3: And the best soundtrack of all time?
Definitely “Psycho” by Alfred Hitchcock – for me, by far the best soundtrack ever written. It’s bold and incredibly imaginative. Something that had never been heard before and which basically made this movie such a milestone. Without the soundtrack, it would have been a completely different movie. And that’s why “Psycho” is a statement in terms of what a score can do for a movie. However, I must also mention “The Shining” in this context – even if there were no composers. Kubrick preferred to use classical music that already existed. For example by Béla Bartók, Penderecki and others that he liked to listen to. And which he incorporated so perfectly into his films that you get the feeling he had created entire sequences around these pieces. In other words, the exact opposite of what Hitchcock and Bernard Herrmann did. Herrmann adapted his music very skillfully to Hitchcock’s film, but Kubrick arranged his scenes according to the music. The result, however, is the same, namely something outstanding.