Come Together at Abbey Road

Radio 3’s ‘Sound of…’ marks the 90th anniversary of one of the most famous of all recording studios, London’s Abbey Road. Presenters Matthew Sweet and Louise Blain team up for a special programme for Christmas to mark Abbey Road’s important and illustrious history of making music for film - and more recently for the gaming world. Together they tour the building, taking a keen interest on the legendary Studio 1 - meeting some of the people who have shaped soundtrack recordings there. The programme is lavishly illustrated with music from the Abbey Road catalogue.

Abbey Road began its venture into film in the early 80s and quickly attracted the likes of Miklós Rózsa, John Williams and Stephen Spielberg, Jerry Goldsmith, and James Horner etc. It continues to play a major role in music for international film. One of the first significant scores to be recorded there was Raiders of the Lost Ark, which was soon followed with prestigious catalogue of titles: The Return of the Jedi, The Last Emperor, RoboCop, Aliens, The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, Skyfall, Gravity, The Shape of Water, Black Panther and so on. Matthew reflects both on the history, in conversation with engineers Merik Stiles and Ken Townsend, and with Hollywood composer James Newton Howard (The Hunger Games, The Dark Knight, Fantastic Beasts) who has recently been recording there. Meanwhile, Louise talks with Isabel Garvey about links with the world of Gaming. Titles such as Final Fantasy and Call of Duty have passed through Abbey Road’s doors. She meets composer Ilan Eshkeri who rectory recorded ‘Ghost of Tsushima’ there, and with cellist Caroline Dale, who explains some of the challenges that face the musician working on soundtracks.