Cast Adrift: Sounds to Accompany The Raft of the Medusa

Editor's note: Simon Fisher Turner composed the music for The Raft of the Medusa. He shares his thoughts on working with Derek Jarman.

I met Derek when I had no money, job, or light at the end of any tunnel. Soon I was driving him around and working in the production office. From then on it was rat keeper and runner on The Tempest, general shoot sound recordist on Caravaggio and then I fell into most of his film music world.

Derek knew I liked recording, recording anything that moved and was new. He knew I enjoyed messing with sound, and sampling and taking the long way round. He was far more knowledgeable than I, and this was always helpful.

He often let me get on with making the music and only heard the fished material at the dub. I have no idea why we worked together. I put it down to the forces: Tilda Swinton’s PA was in the army, Derek’s in the airforce, and my PA was in the navy. All bases covered, and I tended to say YES.

I’ve collated the following pieces to complement the music in the programme. I hope you enjoy the playlist's twists and turns.

Simon Fisher Turner - April 2015

Set in the near future, after months of continuous rain all coastal areas of the UK are flooded. Bella and Jude are marooned on their farm in Kent with dwindling supplies, made all too clear by the arrival of a stranger who 'floats' in.

Written by Simon Armitage, this radio drama was inspired by Derek Jarman and provides the soundtrack to a new film by Richard Heslop.

Shortly before his death in 1994, Jarman was considering making a film based on Theodore Gericault's The Raft of the Medusa which depicts a group of desperate men, abandoned on a raft at sea. He wrote about it in his notebook, but the film was never made.