Unless, of course, you're not paying attention to the soundtrack, much to the chagrin of the film composer. "We're a lonely lot," sighed Harry Gregson-Williams, who half-kiddingly refers to himself as "a worker ant." Funny he should use that reference, since the English musician's 40-plus film credits include the animated film Antz.
His work on the blockbuster Narnia series and the equally successful Shrek franchise (the latest of which opens Friday) has certainly raised Gregson-Williams' profile to something more lofty than "worker ant." Though he's yet to capture a major award, Golden Globe and Grammy nominations for Narnia have garnered him respect after a late start. "I didn't start doing this until after I saw The Shawshank Redemption 12 years ago," he said.
"At that point, I realized that the music made me feel sympathy for the characters." Until then he'd earned his keep as a music teacher, armed with a "rigorous classical" education from Cambridge. His excitement about film composing was fueled by a meeting with a master of the genre, Hans Zimmer (Rain Man, The Lion King, Driving Miss Daisy).
"He became my mentor," Gregson-Williams said of the German-born composer. "We both seemed to share a lust for adventure." His first soundtrack was The Whole Wide World, with Ren e e Zellweger, and he's been working since, contributing scores to a variety of films - although his favorites are all rated G.
"I have a leaning toward a fantastical point of view," he said, "which is why Narnia was such a perfect fit for me. And I much prefer family films to all those sex-and-violence movies. Probably because I came from a big family, which was always the center of my world.
" Like so many in his profession, Gregson-Williams is a fan of his celebrated colleagues, with John Williams heading the list. "I so admire his effortless confidence. You need that sort of daring," he said.
It took more than daring to boil down the hour and a half of music he contributed to Narnia. "Not an easy thing, converting it into a suite, since there were something like 80 separate music starts, with few of them lasting more than five minutes." So grueling was the task that the CSO had to postpone the premiere from late September to this weekend, after Gregson-Williams realized he'd be unable to meet the first deadline.
Even though the music had already been written? "A concert performance is quite a different animal from the studio-recorded soundtrack. For example, in the (suite's) first movement, everyone in the orchestra accompanies a single flute.
In the studio, you can control that, but a live show puts a different spin on things." This suite follows the chronological progression of the film, with slides of scenes projected onto screens at Boettcher. The 30-minute work has been broken into five movements: Wartime and Family, The Deep Magic of Narnia, Aslan, The Battle of Beruna and Christmas and Coronation.
Beyond that, the composer remained mum on the suite's details. "The thing about film music is that one should expect the unexpected." Of note: Harry Gregson-Williams conducts the premiere of his suite from The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
The program also includes other film scores. Costumes from Narnia will be on display in the lobby. Film soundtracks: all three Shreks, Kingdom of Heaven, Spy Game, Enemy of the State, Antz, Chicken Little, The Number 23, Man on Fire, Sinbad - The Legend of the Seven Seas, The Rock and others Honors: The Chronicles of Narnia was nominated for a Golden Globe (2006) and a Grammy (2007).
Antz (1999) and Chicken Run (2001) both won ASCAP Film and TV Music Awards. Shrek (2002), Shrek 2 (2005), Chicken Run, Antz and Enemy of the State (1999) all won BMI Film and TV Awards.
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