Composer Volker Bertelmann Discusses His Score For HBO’s ‘Gunpowder’

Awards Daily TV speaks with the Academy Award-nominated composer Volker Bertelmann about scoring his upcoming HBO limited series Gunpowder.

Under the name Hauschka, German pianist and composer Volker Bertelmann has had an illustrious career most notably for his work with prepared piano. His work in 2016’s Lion, which he co-wrote with composer Dustin O’Halloran, received nominations from every major awards group including the Oscar. One year later, Bertelmann follows up his Oscar-nominated work in Lion with the upcoming BBC/HBO limited series Gunpowder which focuses on the Gunpowder Plot of 1605.

Speaking with Awards Daily TV, Bertelmann discussed the upcoming limited series, what first inspired him to be a composer, and his journey through last year’s awards season.

Earlier this year you received your first Oscar nomination for your original score with Lion. What was that process like maneuvering through awards season?

Sometimes when working on a project you aren’t really sure how it will end up, but with Lion it was clear from the beginning that it was a very special movie. I was pretty stoked by the feedback for the score. Working with Dustin O’Halloran was a wonderful experience in a lot of ways because it was a collaboration with a friend. On top of that, it was the opportunity to be involved in such a touching and very well done movie.

I was stoked that it continued throughout the entire awards season starting with the Critics’ Choice Awards, Golden Globes, BAFTA, and then the Oscars. It’s still happening too. Two weeks ago we won the AACTA [Australian Academy of Cinema an Television Arts Awards]. The film has been resonating for a long time now, and I think that will continue throughout the years because it feels like a classic. I’m really happy to be a part of it. Dustin and I found a good language for the movie. The entire process gave me confidence.

As a musician, one of the styles of music you are best known for is your work in prepared piano. Do you incorporate that style into all of your original scores?

The piano itself is an instrument that everyone knows. With the preparation you change the quality of the sound on the strings with different objects like erasers or wooden sticks. You can manipulate every string by itself and create a different sound for each string. In the end the only limitation is that you only have ten fingers.

Lion was my first score where I could use the technique extensively. Garth Davis felt it represented the world so well because it created so much noise and was a distinct soundscape in itself. After that experience I feel free to work in any style I want. The prepared piano acted as a door opener and for me it was something I connected with but am happy to stretch and reach out to other ways to make music.

As a musician your career has taken you down a lot of paths including rock & hip-hop bands. How did you first get involved in composing film scores?

There were many different elements that came together to help make that happen. In the beginning when I was in a band and struggling to get by one of the only ways I could make bigger chunks of money was writing music for advertising spots and throughout my career I continuously returned to commercials for experience and to get by. Later on bigger film projects started contacting me after they had used my music as temp scores. Through those experiences they started giving me a chance first through a couple of German films and from there I started to approach film music agencies in LA. Slowly I became soaked into this process. I’m glad it was a slow process because if it happened too fast I don’t know if I would have been able to handle it.

Your next project is the BBC limited series Gunpowder focusing on the famous Gunpowder Plot of 1605. What drew you to television and specifically this project right off of your Oscar nomination?

I was inspired to work on the show because it was a unique opportunity to work on a medieval piece  but at the same time with a more modern approach led by director J Blakeson. I wanted to create a very earthy and distorted sound because this time period of the show was very dark and evil. There were so many interesting elements to work with in the story from the overlying darkness to finding an expression for this group of people longing to be accepted for their religious beliefs. On top of that the story is dealing with the first terror attack on Parliament which is something we are once again dealing with and those once again modern themes were some of the elements I found so interesting about the project.

How did you approach the score for Gunpowder? Did you treat it as a traditional historical drama or did you utilize more modern sounds?

This was a period with no electricity and no cars, and because of that I wanted to find a language in the music that had interaction and warmth. In terms of instruments, we recorded a lot of drums, and I wanted to use them in a way that wasn’t bombastic. Another example is the main title theme that has a classical approach but also a dark electronic sound. We also used a synthesizer to create a filtered scratching sound that is always scratching at the surface to express the nastiness of some of the characters.

First with Gunpowder as well as the upcoming Patrick Melrose you have multiple upcoming limited series coming to television. As a composer are there any major differences between film and television?

For television there are core pieces that I draw from throughout the project. Everything begins with the title sequence which has the responsibility of expressing everything the audience needs to know entering the world. Then there are the themes for the characters that are needed to keep thematic connections throughout the series. Both of my recent television projects were completely different in that regard. Gunpowder featured a completely linear story while Patrick Melrose featured introduced new themes and characters each episode. Both shows had their own difficulty and introduced their own challenges but were both interesting and rewarding to work on.

Because Gunpowder is a three part series there were a lot more scenes to write music for and many of them were quite similar. It was important for me to connect them all but to also give each episode its own dynamic.

The chase scene at the end of the second episode where the characters are being chased by soldiers. The scene is around ten minutes. I’m very happy with the scene because the music has a lot of diversity in terms of what it required throughout the arc.

Where will our readers be able to find your work next?

Right now I’m working on a film called Hotel Mumbai that deals with the terrorist attack on the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai. It’s my second time working on a film starring Dev Patel, and it’s a really great movie. I’m working with director Anthony Maras, and this is his first feature. He is already earning a lot of buzz with publications like Variety. It’s a very touching and interesting project that I think will resonate well with audiences.

Next month, I begin work on Patrick Melrose and that should be released sometime in the spring. It’s an obscure project and I am very inspired by it because it deals with a lot of music that I work with intentionally. It incorporates the weird side of my composition and I am very happy to be working on it. It feels like there is more space for experimental music. I’ve already started working on pieces that Benedict Cumberbatch and Hugo Weaving performed in the series.

In the future I would love to work on a sci-fi film. I think my music would fit into the genre very well. I’ve loved sci-fi since I was a kid.

Gunpowder currently airs on HBO through December 21^st and will be available on their streaming platform HBOGO.