EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Composer Max Richter Tells Us Why Making The Score For HBO's 'The Leftovers' Is 'Like Christmas,' & More!

HBO's new series The Leftovers is quickly becoming the most addicting show of the summer for many reasons - the cast, the writing, the confusion - but one of the biggest reasons is the music. Composer Max Richter delivers the powerful scores that we hear throughout the episodes, ranging from intense walls of sound to dismal piano compositions. In our exclusive interview with the Germany-based, English composer, we learn how The Leftovers creators Damon Lindelof and Tom Perrotta landed Richter for this gig, and find out how Max's own musical voice was perfect for the new series.

How did you get into composing for TV and Film? I know outside of that, you're a classical composer as well.

Basically, I started in the classical music world, also making records with my own stuff. Filmmakers, over the years, started to use things from the records in Film and TV. Then, sort of organically, people just started to ask me to do things. Up to this point it's been cinema, really. This is the first TV thing I've done. It's been very fun, actually.

How did The Leftovers come about?

I got a call from Damon. He talked to me about the show and knew my earlier work from the records - and various other things I had done. He was very keen that I read the script; look at the pilot, and stuff like that. I thought the script was just fantastic. Really, really good; very powerful, great writing. And then it transpired that [Peter] Berg (who's executive producing and directed the first couple episodes) had been to see a thing of mine on Broadway - Macbeth. He'd heard the music, and it turned out that they were both talking about me, but they didn't realize it. I guess it was a happy accident!

Then I had a look at the pilot. I thought the pilot was fantastic. It was so powerful, you know? Such an interesting world. I just thought it would be a great thing to be involved with.

Did you read the book at all?

No. I deliberately didn't want to read the book. The pilot isn't obviously a one-to-one cover of the book. I just wanted to respond more to the images, rather than to Tom's writing. I think when I'm done, I'll read the book because I have interest in it. But for now, we're still in the middle of it. I've sort of kept away from that.

Just to pick out a specific scene that definitely stood out: The pilot episode, when the guilty remnant cult comes to the "Heroes Day" parade - it erupts into this crazy riot, then all of a sudden, the sound drops out and it's just the piano. Did you have all creative control over that scene? What made you decide that instead of making it a riot song?

The thing to say about that scene is, it's a huge journey. It starts with Nora reflecting on her life, which is an incredibly sad story. Then it erupts into a sort of primal violence; we've got this fantastic guitar tune. Then, where can you go? It gets worse, the situation. We're already on eleven with the music. Then it sort of beams up into another space, which is a reflective kind of space, gazing down on this carnage. That piano melody there, it's like a slow-mo version of the "Departure" theme for the beginning of the show. We kind of recognized it's DNA, and we sort of get it.

How much creative freedom do you have?

There's a lot of freedom in this show. Everything we do is collaborative. There are always conversations about things. But I'd say, the creative team on this show, Damon and Pete and everyone involved, are just really good at their jobs. It's just an absolute A team all the way through. That sort of process of getting to something we can all agree on and be happy with is amazingly painless. It's just really good fun.

The other thing that I should say is that they hired me to do my thing. The kind of TV music we normally get, which is much less kind of thematic, you know? More like color - They didn't really want that at all. They wanted me to just kind of do my thing, as I do on my records. That's brilliant. They're looking for me to have my voice, which is great.

Do you remember anything in the first three episodes that you remembered that you liked working on the most?

Well, there are quite a few. In the first episode, there's that big montage where Liv Tyler's character joins into the cult and then Tom dives into the pool. That's towards the end of that first show. That's amazing for me. The second show, I love the ending, with Liv Tyler's character was chopping down that tree.

The third show I love - there are plenty of sequences with the Matt character - where he takes his paralyzed wife out of the bed and gives her a bath. It was a beautiful, tender scene between them. That was great to write to. There's so many great scenes. Every time I get an episode, it's like Christmas to me.

Are you working on any other TV shows or Films right now?

No. My other big project is a ballet, which is coming to London next May. Aside from that, I am working on a record. A solo album.

You're considered one of the most influential, modern day composers. You've spearheaded this movement of neo-classical composition into this indie music world. How does that make you feel? Is that pressure when you're working on projects?

I never really think about things like that because I think that would be paralyzing. I definitely try to follow the music where it goes, you know? Keep faith with that. Try to kind of be the best version of me in that project. I almost feel, honestly, that I write music and I make a living. That's an incredible thing to happen, you know? After that, it's all good - it's all bonus after that!

Are there any artists in or outside the world of classical or neo-classical that you're excited about currently?

There's a bunch, aren't there? There's like a load of people who've been around who, you know, you sort of connect the two worlds. Someone like Jonny Greenwood from Radiohead, the Bedroom Community guys ... There's a lot of it going on in New York; Things like Wordless Music Project. Even Sufjan Stevens who's really outside, but it's like a written down music ... There's a lot, actually. They sit in two worlds. They have a sort of "emphatical" note, universe, inside of them. But they also have this indie, art-rock, post-thing as well.

I think it's a really interesting time, in that way. Really, those categories are almost disappearing. I think that's good. People are listening to things without worrying too much about whether they are listening to something the way it should be allowed to be listened to. I think it is more democratic now.

Do you have any advice for up-in-coming composers that could be following your work?

I think the thing for all musicians is to just try to figure out what your own voice is. Because that's the only thing you've got that no one else has got. That's the Holy Grail, trying to make that happen. It can take a long time, years and years and years. But that's the sort of project. Try to figure that out and just do that. [Laughing] That's my sort of basic plan. That'll be my tip!

For more information on Max Richter and his work, click here!

Check out our exclusive interview with The Leftovers star Emily Meade as well!