Carl Davis

“The music has to tell you what the characters are feeling, because they can't tell you themselves in a silent film.”

“The silent film is a very pure form of filmmaking. It's all about the image, and the music has to support that image.”

“My job is to serve the film. The music should never overpower the story.”

“Scoring a silent film is like writing an opera without singers.”

“I think the most important thing for a composer is to have a voice. You have to have something to say.”

“I'm not interested in writing music that's just wallpaper. I want my music to have an emotional impact.”

“You have to understand the drama of a scene to be able to score it properly.”

“Conducting is about communication. You're communicating with the orchestra, and through them, to the audience.”

“Every film has its own musical language. My job is to find that language.”

“The best film music is the music you don't notice.”

“For me, writing music is a very solitary process. It's just me and the piano.”

“There's a great tradition of Hollywood scoring that I'm very proud to be a part of.”