FISH IN THE BOWL COMPOSER GEORGE FENTON AND HIS AWARD-WINNING SCORE FOR 'BLUE PLANET' SURFACE IN HOLLYWOOD THIS WEEKEND.Byline: Fred Shuster Music Writer The ocean always has been an inspiration for composers even as what lies beneath often remains a mystery. When scoring the natural history program ``The Blue Planet,'' however, five-time Academy Award nominee George Fenton could almost feel the sting of the sea. Fenton had remarkable material to work from. Taken from more than 3,000 hours of spectacular footage, BBC's acclaimed ``Blue Planet'' series (which ran on these shores on Discovery Channel) was considered the most exhaustive exploration of the world's waterways ever attempted. These tales from topographic oceans, narrated by David Attenborough Sir David Frederick Attenborough, OM, CH, CVO, CBE, FRS (born on May 8, 1926 in London, England) is one of the world's best known broadcasters and naturalists. Widely considered one of the pioneers of the nature documentary, his career as the respected face and voice of British and televised last year in eight parts, revealed aquatic life and behavior never before filmed. It was a daunting daunt tr.v. daunt·ed, daunt·ing, daunts To abate the courage of; discourage. See Synonyms at dismay. [Middle English daunten, from Old French danter, from Latin task. More than 70 percent of the globe is covered by sea, with the Pacific Ocean alone accounting for half the planet. ``The oceans dominate the world's weather systems and support an enormous variety of life, from the largest animal that has ever lived on Earth, the blue whale blue whale, a baleen whale, Balaenoptera musculus. Also called the sulphur-bottom whale and Sibbald's rorqual, it is the largest animal that has ever lived. Blue whales have been known to reach a length of 100 ft (30. , to the tiniest plankton plankton: see marine biology. plankton Marine and freshwater organisms that, because they are unable to move or are too small or too weak to swim against water currents, exist in a drifting, floating state. ,'' Attenborough explained on the program. Strike up the orchestra and bring on the singing phytoplankton phytoplankton Flora of freely floating, often minute organisms that drift with water currents. Like land vegetation, phytoplankton uses carbon dioxide, releases oxygen, and converts minerals to a form animals can use. . Fenton will conduct the Los Angeles Philharmonic The Los Angeles Philharmonic (LAP) is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California, United States. History Founded in 1919 by William Andrews Clark, Jr. in a mixed-media performance of his evocative, Emmy Award-winning ``Blue Planet'' themes tonight and Saturday under the stars at the Hollywood Bowl. Actor-environmentalist Ed Begley Jr. will narrate oceanic scenes from the documentary projected on the Bowl's seaworthy sea·wor·thy adj. sea·wor·thi·er, sea·wor·thi·est Fit to traverse the seas: a seaworthy freighter; a seaworthy crew. giant screens. ``There are entire sequences of animal behavior, and some of it is very moving indeed,'' said Fenton, a Britisher whose film credits include ``Groundhog Day,'' ``Shadowlands,'' ``Cry Freedom,'' ``The Company of Wolves'' and ``The Fisher King.'' With titles like ``Sardine Run,'' ``Spinning Dolphins,'' ``Surfing Snails'' and ``Elephant Seal March,'' Fenton's ``Blue Planet'' cues offer a dramatic musical backdrop to the squid's-eye view of life underwater. There's an Eastern atmosphere to his ``Turtles'' and a menacing feel to ``Sharks.'' It's a pity the Bowl's famous reflecting pool, which lay in front of the stage for decades, was filled in and replaced with additional box seating in 1972. One could imagine a dolphin or two knocking around the pond during this weekend's performances. Sadly, there won't even be a chorus of high-stepping squid in the joint. ``The Bowl is the perfect place,'' Fenton, 52, said by phone last week. ``Obviously, it's a historic venue with unique atmosphere. It holds a special place in the country's culture.'' Born in South London, Fenton took up guitar at the age of 8 before switching to keyboards. Trying acting next, he got a break in Alan Bennett's first stage play, ``Forty Years On,'' but decided to pursue a career in music instead. His first composing gig came in 1974 with a production of ``Twelfth Night'' in Stratford. By 1984, Fenton had been nominated for an original score Oscar for Richard Attenborough's ``Gandhi.'' Other academy music nods followed: for ``Cry Freedom'' (best score and best song), ``Dangerous Liaisons'' and ``The Fisher King.'' Along with ``The Blue Planet,'' for which he won the composing Emmy last year, Fenton has penned music for more than 100 television productions including ``Bergerac,'' ``The Jewel in the Crown'' and ``Talking Heads.'' He's also noted for his jingles for BBC BBC in full British Broadcasting Corp. Publicly financed broadcasting system in Britain. A private company at its founding in 1922, it was replaced by a public corporation under royal charter in 1927. news bulletins. ``When I started this project, I saw the sea as this magnificent, awesome, completely alien place,'' Fenton said. ``Yet, the filmmakers made it seem as natural as land. It's still a very strange world. But hearing the music and watching the films is not a deeply intense experience. It's relaxing, but engrossing engrossing, in English law, practice of acquiring a monopoly of goods in order to sell them at an inflated price. The offense was ordinarily limited to monopolies of foods. Related practices were forestalling, i.e. .'' Fenton has previously performed music from ``The Blue Planet'' at the Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London, England. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge. and in Hyde Park, London
``That was a rather benign view of things, wasn't it?'' the composer said of the Pixar blockbuster. ``The ocean isn't really like that, you know. But it shouldn't be all that disturbing.'' We'll be sure to mention that to any unfortunate mackerel mackerel, common name for members of the family Scombridae, 60 species of open-sea fishes, including the albacore, bonito, and tuna. They are characterized by deeply forked tails that narrow greatly where they join the body; small finlets behind both the dorsal and who finds itself the subject of a stray shark's unholy desires. THE BLUE PLANET LIVE! Where: Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N. Highland Ave., Hollywood. When: 8:30 p.m. today and Saturday. Tickets: $6 to $35. Call (213) 480-3232 or log on to hollywoodbowl.com. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: no caption (George Fenton) |
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