....and here's Hayley's interview for Cinefonia in one post.
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James Horner’s incredible capacity to find enchanting voices astonishes us. Not only he found a voice that suits his music and the environment he created for the movie perfectly, but, more importantly, he also found a voice that distinguishes itself. A pitch perfect voice and a unique tone.
To represent Pocahontas’ interior flame and her communion with nature, the ‘Maestro’ found what he was looking for in New Zealand. It was not a random choice to ask the young Hayley Westenra to join the project. The movie cruelly misses her voice – she would have brought an additional enchanting spirituality – but, fortunately, the ’New World’ soundtrack includes her participation. She has a crystalline voice and its fragility is mixed with power, passion, light and wisdom.
You have never heard a voice like hers before and she largely contributes to make ‘Listen to the wind’ the most beautiful song written by James Horner.
How did James Horner contact you?[/u][/i]
My manager received a phone call while I was finishing my new album
‘Odyssey’. He came to see me and said :
’Mr Horner would like to work with you on his new film. Do you know who he is?’. I shouted : ‘TI-TA-NIC’!
Do you know why he wanted to work with you?[/u][/i]
He told me he had been following my career so I was touched. He liked my voice, my diction and the variety of my work. Only great compliments! He liked my album and he especially liked
’Ave Maria’ by Franz Schubert. He said he liked my interpretation of the song. He liked how my voice complemented the melody and, more importantly, how I personally immerged myself into the song. He was looking for a singer who was able to perform songs like this one but also radically different tracks like Kate Bush’s
’Wuthering Heights’– without imitating her, or songs in Maori like
‘Pokarekare Ana’. During our first meeting, he explained to me his vision of Pocahontas and said something like :
’A hymn, an aria, a song around Terrence Malick’s Heaven. You will be the voice of Pocahontas’.. I actually had accepted to work with him before I met him. Imagine how excited I was after hearing this!
How did you transform James Horner’s composition into a vocal performance?[/u][/i]
I knew quite well his previous work…
’Titanic’, ‘Troy’ and ‘A beautiful mind’. I knew what he was expecting from his performers: a precision and a perfect sound for the movie’s visuals – sometimes even different to what we see on the screen. Regarding this,
‘Titanic’ was fascinating and
’A beautiful mind’ impressed my for its visuals and the technical expertise he brought in. When James Horner was talking about Pocahontas, I quickly understood that he wanted her to be of different colours , of different horizons. He explained to me how the character would be linked to his music, and the fact that my voice would intervene for the narration.
How did you achieve this?[/u][/i]
First, I watched again Disney’s Pocahontas. I absolutely loved it when I was younger. I made my own research on the character in order to have more precise ideas. Then James showed me extracts from Terrence Malick’s movie and we were both like kids, totally enchanted by what we were seeing. James was very passionate about the project – and I quickly became very passionate about it too. Before each recording, we were more talking than practicing. He was explaining everything, every note, every inflexion. He has a gift to make everything easier!
By which song did you start?[/u][/i]
James sat down and played
’Apparitions in the field’ at the piano. It was very moving. We saw images from the movie in the morning and we talked about the way Mr Malick was working during lunch time. He also wanted me to understand how he envisioned the movie in order to have a perfect vocal interpretation. We also worked with his favourite pianists: Ian Underwood and Randy Kerber. What a team! It was very impressive and intimidating. They all knew each other so well already and there I was, the new little one. James played the music again and began to sing my own part to explain me when I was supposed to sing. He said :
’I know it’s going to be difficult but I don’t want your voice to be too luminous. I’d like you to move people, and then reassure them with your voice. Be sweet and try to find a timidity in your voice.’ We only recorded it once. It’s the track you can hear on the album!
James talks a lot about ‘luminosity’ for this project. How did he explain it to you?[/u][/i]
He’s always looking for the little spark, the little difference, the new colour. By ‘luminous’ he means the richness of the music combined with a voice. He expects you to be very good vocally and, more importantly, to reach a sort of spiritual state. For Pocahontas, the voice was always meant to be intimist, even in big numbers like
’Winter – Battle’ and
’A flame within’. James asked me to do as if I was mute, as if a beloved one could only hear me with a spiritual voice. After doing this song, we tried to portray perfectly Pocahontas so that her image was making only one with her voice. It was actually a very complex task because James only showed me fixed images. He didn’t want me to be seduced and influenced by the whole movie sequence. He preferred that I find the right voice on my own. He was very patient with me. After a few days, I tried something on
’A flame within’. With Ian and Randy, we started to build the title step by step. There was really something happening there and James said :
’The light and the colour are the good ones. It’s exactly what we need’.
Colours and light seem to be a full part of his music.[/u][/i]
Of his music, no, but of his expectations, yes. He explains everything separately. For
’Winter – Battle’, he showed me battle scenes from the movie that Terrence Malick had sent to him. I asked to see the sequence again but he refused and said:
’Work with your memory. Pocahontas won’t see anything either but she will imagine the slaughter.. I tried to sing something. He said to me :
Not enough.’ ten times, maybe even fifteen. He really wanted me to sing it with all my heart.
’I don’t feel anything. You need to surpass yourself. Push your voice beyond its purity!’. He says things in an incredible way and he manages to get the best of his performers. I had to provoke my imagination to build a voice that would transform itself in the light of the movie sequence. During the battles, my voice was the only witness, as if I was supposed to transmit a message, spread it and incite everyone to think about it. There certainly was a metaphysic aspect to the music. The technical aspect was important, but this other one was even more crucial.
What is the role of a vocalist in a movie like’The New World’?[/u]
James is composing the music first. He builds the entire architecture alone because he’s the only one who knows how he envisions the whole thing. The soloist could be ‘just’ an element of his vision, but it’s more than that. He’s always looking for the seduction, the emotion and the affection. Like I said earlier, he’s constantly seeking for the little spark that will make the performance unique.
What was the more intense moment?[/u][/i]
The final – ‘
A dark cloud is forever lifted’. Unlike what we had done earlier, James wanted Ian, Randy and I to know the movie’s final sequence perfectly – when Pocahontas smiles and runs with her son. It wasn’t really necessary for the track, but it was more important on a philosophical point of view. We scored this scene more than ten times and we were all taken by James Horner’s wonderful composition. We worked on the credits at the same time. James managed to compose a music that would be breathing with our hearts. It probably sounds naïve but
’The New World’ was all about these emotions.
Why is ’Listen to the wind’ so different to the rest of the soundtrack?[/u][/i]
The boundaries of my implication on the soundtrack were very clear from the beginning. He was always saying:
Neither too much, nor too less. But he insisted that I attend all the rehearsals with his orchestra. He wanted me to be implicated and to see how the soundtrack was being shaped according to the images he was receiving. It was a long process but it was also incredibly creative. There were hours of music on the table and every day, a new sound of nature was born.
’Listen to the wind’ was the accomplishment of all this hard work. The space wasn’t the same and the rhythm was slightly faster. We accompanied Pocahontas as she went through the seasons.
’Listen to the wind’ is sort of her ‘American Indian summer’.
How do you do to listen to the wind?[/u][/i]
I’ve been listening to the wind since I was born. Sometimes the wind is called Johann Sebastian Bach, sometimes it’s James Horner, and sometimes it’s a sound from where I live. I abandon myself to the mysteries of the world and I try to share this through a vocal performance.
Do you think your voice is an ode to nature?[/u][/i]
Nature is a full part of my country, New Zealand. It was even more amplified for
’The New World’ . Nature is in my culture. James Horner helped me to translate it into poetry and the admiration he had for Pocahontas clearly had an impact on my work.
James Horner used quite a lot of pauses for this movie. How did it influence your singing?[/u]
James Horner manages well the absence of sound. Tracks like
’An Apparition in the field’, ‘Forbidden Corn’ or
’All is lost’ are based on silence. I was sitting next to him during the recording sessions. Even though I already knew by then that my singing part wouldn’t be featured in the movie, James still wanted to share what I would call ‘the spirit of the composer’. James was very implicated and each recording had its own history, its own poem. It is true that he considers time and slowness as part of the music. I was very attentive because, like I said earlier, I often had to capture a specific tone very instantly, depending on the scene. It was really unique and magical.
What will you remember from this collaboration?[/u][/i]
The disappointment that Terrence Malick didn’t understand what we wanted to achieve altogether. It is unbelievable – even scandalous – to refuse a piece like
’Of the forest’ or to remove the gorgeous song that is
’Listen to the wind’. It had all it needed to compete in the major American music ceremonies. Instead, it has stayed in Virginia.
There is also the satisfaction to have worked with the most poetic of composers. One can identify with Pocahontas, a bird, a light…the soundtrack of
’The New World’ invites us to a journey which is alternatively oneiric and esoteric. Each piece of music offers an esthetic pleasure and no matter what is your point of view on it; all paths are leading to the sun.
How would you define his work on precision and cohesion?[/u][/i]
His soundtrack is full of elegance and harmonies. He’s doing his best to push his performers to mix their soul with the music. The result is perfumed with nature and I am very proud to be part of one chapter of James’ compositions. He maintains a very good equilibrium in his music. He helped me to give my absolute best. Sometimes, he was waiting until I was sure to have found the right tone and the right voice. He’s a musician born to share emotions and colours. He chooses his co-workers very meticulously.
Before the recording of
’Listen to the wind’, he told me:
’You know, I haven’t discovered anything from your voice that you didn’t have already. I listened to the wind of your voice and I made it dance with the trees, the seasons and the lights. Now, just discover yourself!’. James gave me all the technical requirements – about precision – and yet he let me discover on my own the right poetic tone – or the cohesion – of my voice.
Even though I’ve already recorded a few albums, it was the first time that I was facing alone an appealing tune like this one! In one day, the song was in me. I wasn’t only a performer. I had discovered in myself poetry because I had listened to the wind in a different way. His work is also to know how to have the best from his performers.
Which track do you prefer on the album?[/u][/i]
Without hesitation, it is
’Of the forest’. There are birds singing ion that one. I didn’t think it could be that beautiful to listen to James Horner’s music sounding like the light.
When we interviewed James Horner, he made a moving parallel between you and Pocahontas. Did you both talk about it?[/u][/i]
Being confronted to the obscure Terrence Malick resulted into a strong bound between all of us. We were in our own new world. James had his, even more of his own, and he worked on the movie as if he was creating a piece of art. He made a lot of parallels, simply because the movie offers many: past/future, good/bad, errors/possibilities, nature/civilization…His music was metaphoric and he invited us to guess the harmony of these images. It was the parallel with Pocahontas for me. All these moments were truly surreal.
How do you look back on your young career? What do you think ’The New World’ will change for you?[/u][/i]
I like crossover music and I want to continue on the same road. Singing is my life. Singing all types of songs. James Horner understood it very well. While I was working with him during all these weeks, I realized that a life is not enough to explore everything a voice has to offer. I’m going to pursue my odyssey creating albums and meeting people like James Horner. He was smart enough to listen to the wind and offered me the opportunity to listen to it with him. It’s up to me to continue in this vocal and musical environment, and to discover my own new world.
Would you be interested to continue working on movie soundtracks?[/u][/i]
For my album
’Odyssey’, I did a cover of Enya’s
’May it be’ from
The Fellowship of the Ring. I also know Howard Shore, who magnificently transposed the gorgeous scenery of New Zealand to his soundtracks for
The Lord of the Rings trilogy. As long as poets like Enya, Howard Shore or James Horner will exist, I'll still be interested to listen to this wind of music.[/size][/quote]
Stephany
I will await developments!
