P h i l i p S h e p p a r d

Fantastic Mr Feynman

radiomovies — Fri, 10 May 2013 10:37:21 +0000

This Sunday sees the broadcast of Chris Riley’s wonderful account of the life of one of the great thinkers & polymaths of our time, Richard Feynman. I’ve written the music for the film. Here’s are a couple of tracks from the score;

Feynman brilliantly embraced the concept of playing – playing with ideas until they resolved into simple models of extraordinary concepts.

“But when it came time to do some research. I couldn’t get to work. I was a little tired; I was not interested; I couldn’t do research!… And then I thought to myself, “You know, what they think of you is so fantastic, it’s impossible to live up to it. You have no responsibility to live up to it!”… Then I had another thought; Physics disgusts me a little bit now, but I used to enjoy doing physics. Why did I enjoy it? I used to play with it. I used to do whatever I felt like doing – it didn’t have to do with whether it was important for the development of nuclear physics…. So I get this new attitude… I’m going to play with physics, whenever I want to, without worrying about any importance whatsoever. Withing a week I was in the cafeteria and some guy, fooling around, throws a plate in the air…. I had nothing to do, so I start to figure out the motion of the rotating plate… And before I knew it (it was a very short time) I was ‘playing’ – working, really – with the same old problem that I loved so much, that I had stopped working on when I went to Los Alamos; my thesis-type problems; all those old-fashioned wonderful things. It was effortless. It was easy to play with these things. It was like uncorking a bottle: Everything flowed out effortlessly…. There was no importance to what I was doing, but ultimately there was. The diagrams and the whole business that I got the Nobel Prize for came from that piddling around with the wobbling plate.” –

Richard Feynman, excerpts from Surely You’re Joking, Mr Feynman

So let’s begin

radiomovies — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 15:28:14 +0000

Morning in Monterey – the view from breakfast…

I’ve just returned from a blast of pure inspiration & friendships courtesy of the e.g., hosted in Monterey.

It’s very hard to articulate how much this annual get together means to me. Suffice to say, I’ve tried to put it into the music. Hope you like it.

Bending Light for Trey Ratcliff

radiomovies — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 12:38:26 +0000

Another stunning photo from Trey Ratcliff

A piece of music dedicated to Trey Ratcliff whose work I’ve loved for years.

He is a master of HDR Photography and I met him for the first time last year in Monterey.
This piece is recorded using tuned glass instruments and is an attempt to play with refraction, colour and shade in music.

I’ve no idea if it’s successful but it’s a new direction for me…

The girl who drifted by

radiomovies — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 15:25:23 +0000

Distant Hills by Cole Rise

Here’s a piece I’ve just written inspired by a fabulous photographer I know called Cole Rise. I love his air of magical realism… hyper-dreamy landscapes where gravity doesn’t quite work in the way it should…

The Melt

radiomovies — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 20:17:09 +0000

It’s hard to believe it’s nearly Easter. I love the biting cold thaw in the sunshine. The best light in the world…

Here’s a piece called ‘The Melt’. I hope you like it.

The haunting

radiomovies — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 19:48:06 +0000

Not so Silent Movies… Roxy Music Special!

radiomovies — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 16:21:44 +0000

I’m delighted to let you know that the next Not So Silent Movies… is going to feature two fantastic guests…
In this Roxy Music Special, the fabulous NSSM… house band are joined by Andy Mackay and Phil Manzanera from Roxy Music!
Pick up some popcorn and enjoy musical improvisations along to classic silent films. Perfect for all ages from kids to those who remember watching these films in their youth.

The wind across the downs

radiomovies — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 15:25:43 +0000

The Wind across the Downs by Philip Sheppard

Not So Silent Movies… with Talvin Singh

radiomovies — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 20:17:03 +0000

Talvin, Evelyn Glennie & Philip Sheppard – photo Julian Macedo

I’m very happy to announce that Talvin Singh has invited my group, Not So Silent Movies… to perform with him at the Royal Festival Hall on April 14th at 7pm, as part of the Alchemy Festival at the SouthBank Centre.

Not so Silent Movies… is my project which accompanies classic silent film comedies at monthly events at Kings Place. The musicians are extraordinary, as they improvise with no rehearsal, no sheet music, and no previewing of the films.

The Festival Hall group will include, Elspeth Hanson – violin, Pete Furniss – reeds, Mark Neary – bass, Hami – drums, Julia Thornton – harp and me – cello, all performing with Talvin Singh.

We’ll be accompanying a classic of silent Indian Cinema, which none of us will see until the performance itself…

If you’d like to join us, then tickets are available here.

And then she was gone…

radiomovies — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 14:05:23 +0000

Here’s a cue from a film I wrote earlier in the year.

I’m using Pinterest to collate images to help me write and the above, haunting picture is on a board I’ve made to combat writer’s block (not something I’ve suffered from.. yet!). It seemed to chime with the mood of a piece I was remixing…

Or does it? Let me know what you think!