BEHIND THE MUSIC
Picture this: a five-year-old girl, eyes glued to the television. is playing, and a crucial moment is about to unfold both onscreen and in real life. If this were a movie, it’s when the score would kick in. Elliott and his new friend E.T are trundling merrily along on a bicycle through the woods. The accompanying orchestral soundtrack by John Williams is a dazzling and dizzying melange of strings, zipping up and down the register as the pair cycle on. And then, suddenly, that bicycle takes off into the sky and the score swells to its full majesty: triumph and joy, wonder and incredulity, and through it all a total lightness. “That music almost felt like it was behind them, propelling them up into the air,” reflects Natalie Holt, a violinist and Emmy-nominated composer from London. It was the moment that got her into film and television.
