To celebrate the final first-season episode of “Da Vinci’s Demons,” I sat down with the visionary series creator / director / writer / executive producer David S. Goyer to discuss my music for the show:

Scoring a series as thematically layered as “Da Vinci’s Demons” is a daunting task. I have to write dozens of themes. Each must serve the creative needs of the scene at hand, but also be malleable enough that it can support the drama in future twists and turns, multiple episodes or even seasons down the line. This process allows me to build up a tremendous toybox of musical material. Big finale episodes are where I get to bust out all my toys and really play. All my work setting up character themes finally pays off, and the process of writing is truly exhilarating.

My recent video blogs have detailed how I dove headfirst into the sounds of Renaissance and used period-appropriate instruments and performance practices to evoke the era.  Going one step further, I actually used compositions from the time period in my score. (If Lorenzo de Medici were to travel through time and watch this series, he would recognize his own theme as the one composed by his court composer!) In tonight’s video blog, I sit down with series music historian Adam Knight Gilbert and discuss two themes in particular that were drawn straight from the pages of music history:

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD: “The Devil” introduces a new character to the series: Vlad III, a.k.a. Dracula, the true historical inspiration for Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

During the past four video blogs, I’ve detailed the main themes of my “Da Vinci’s Demons” score and introduced several essential instruments, including the Calder Quartet, choirs, and percussion. At last, my new video blog highlights the soloists and their instruments that give my score its distinctly Renaissance flavor:

SPOILERS AHEAD: The first few episodes of “Da Vinci’s Demons” were all about setting up character conflicts and musical themes.  Now, we’ve reached the point where story threads cross, characters develop and new conflicts arise. In response, I was required to develop the score and push the now firmly-established themes into newer variations to keep pace with the story.

Tonight’s episode of “Da Vinci’s Demons” introduces a new theme, for the titular magician, Cosimo de Medici.  His theme features a variety of new percussion sounds, expanding on the percussion I’ve used thus far for The Turk.  Tonight’s video blog details how percussionist M.B. Gordy and I discovered the right instruments to use for this series:

After “The Magician,” we are halfway through the first season. By this point, character arcs and conflicts are firmly established, and similarly, all the principal musical themes are clearly defined.  “The Magician” is musically remarkable not for introducing new material, but instead for the way in which the themes expand and develop, along with the twisted narrative.

The third episode of “Da Vinci’s Demons,” called “The Prisoner,” allows the series to explore the Gothic horror genre. The spooky imagery of a damned convent is accompanied by ethereal female vocals that take center stage in the score.  Tonight’s video blog introduces a few of the vocal ensembles you will be hearing during the first season:

MAJOR SPOILERS BEYOND: “The Prisoner” begins with an introduction to the titular character: a mysterious old man with a long grey beard who’s clearly being held prisoner in Rome and whose face we will not see.  Riario enters the dungeon and engages him in the ancient Chinese game of Go, that will be a framing device for the entire episode.  I wrote a theme for this character, called The Prisoner Theme:

One of the great joys of scoring ”Da Vinci’s Demons” is that it allows me to collaborate with some of my favorite musicians.  This week’s video blog introduces you to four who are essential to my score, The Calder Quartet:

SERPENTINE SPOILERS BEYOND: If you missed my blog entry for the first episode of this remarkable series, catch up on it here.  The second episode of “Da Vinci’s Demons,” “The Serpent,” begins with Da Vinci having a conversation with the Jew who was hanged in the first episode in what turns out to be a dream sequence.  The score begins with the same, dreamy ambient tones as began the first episode, with a subtle thematic reference to the Sons of Mithras Theme:

This month, my sweeping score for “Da Vinci’s Demons” is finally unleashed upon the world, with the premiere of the series on STARZ in the United States, and the international premieres following this week. Dive right in to my epic score with the Main Title track, which is already available as a digital single from iTunes and Amazon, courtesy of my new label Sparks & Shadows. For an introduction to my work on this series, check out tonight’s spoiler-free videoblog, where I discuss my themes, instrumentation and inspiration:

“Da Vinci’s Demons” is the brainchild of writer / producer David S. Goyer, known for writing some of the most important scripts in the cinematic superhero genre.  The series is a fantastic re-telling of the young life of Leonardo Da Vinci, one of history’s most intriguing figures.  Abolishing our image of Leonardo as a wisened, wrinkled old sage, the show depicts his youth as a dashing, arrogant adventurer.  Caught between the warring nation-states of Florence and Rome, Da Vinci is swept up in a quest for the promise of ancient knowledge.