Nitin Sawhney

I remember first reading the synopsis treatment of Wonders of the Monsoon on my way to Bristol, UK, to meet the production team. I was immediately transported to far away lands and beautiful imagery by just the words alone. It struck me there and then that this would be a truly breathtaking series.

I wanted to compliment the narrative of the series and do justice to the stunning imagery without creating a score that was too predictable or superfluous. It was important to find an appropriate vocabulary and palette of instrumentation and musical expression that would complete the incredible viewing experience of these majestic scenes.

I brought in some great string players, a London-based singer and a bansuri player from India, all of whom I have worked with regularly. I kept the musical team fairly small in order to maintain maximum control of the sound and feeling behind the music.

It was important to work closely and dynamically with series producer Paul Bradshaw and his team of producers.

There was so much music created for this series that it is hard to pick any one piece of music above the others that was particularly challenging. Each musical composition presented its own challenges and difficulties. However, if I had to select one piece of music that was particularly challenging I would definitely say the title music is the hardest as it has to represent so much about a series and needs to be composed at a very early stage.