WOLF HALL: THE MIRROR AND THE LIGHT

After 10 years, WOLF HALL is back on our screens and award-winning composer Debbie Wiseman returns to bring Hilary Mantel’s epic saga to its grim conclusion.

Silva Screen Records follows the classical chart-topping original series album with the release on 13th December of Debbie Wiseman’s score the WOLF HALL: THE MIRROR AND THE LIGHT

November 10th sees WOLF HALL: THE MIRROR AND THE LIGHT launch on BBC1 and BBC iPlayer. Directed by Peter Kosminsky, the six episodes tell the continuing story, post the execution of Anne Boleyn, of Thomas Cromwell (Mark Rylance) and his complex relationship with Henry VIII (Damian Lewis).

May, 1536. Anne Boleyn, Henry’s second wife, and five of her coterie are dead. As the axe drops, Thomas Cromwell emerges from the bloodbath to continue his climb to power and wealth, while his formidable master, Henry, settles to short-lived happiness with his third queen, Jane Seymour.

Eagerly awaited and years in the making, Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light will trace the final four years of Cromwell’s life, completing his journey from self-made man to the most feared, influential figure of his time. Cromwell is as complex as he is unforgettable: a politician and a fixer, a diplomat and a father, a man who both defied and defined his age.



Peter Kosminsky sees parallels with current world situations -
"Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light is about the politics of despotism. On the face of it, Henry VIII is an absolute ruler. But Cromwell, his factotum, has to deal every day with the limits of that ‘absolute power’ - the threat from the mob, of invasion by a more powerful neighbour. And, in the process, Cromwell must try to protect himself from the dangerous capriciousness of a man who thinks himself an absolute ruler but is daily frustrated by the realities of the new, evolving politics - political problems not so very different from those we face today."

The new series reunites him with The Locrian Ensemble and composer Debbie Wiseman
"The Mirror and the Light is told entirely from Thomas Cromwell’s point of view, and it is only through the score, each episode’s music, that we hear his inner voice, his private thoughts and emotions - shielded, as they must be, from enemies and friends alike. Debbie Wiseman, my long-time musical collaborator, and I began our discussions about the score many weeks before I shot a frame of the series - searching for exactly this inner voice, a way to chart the emotional temperature at each moment in the story. As a result of those early conversations, Debbie wrote themes and melodies which run through the six episodes. The joy of this way of working is that I then had those themes playing in my mind as we shot the scenes, guiding me towards the correct pace and tension."

And equally, the composer was thrilled at being able to fully immerse herself in that world -

"The distinctive sound of Wolf Hall is all about immediacy and being in the present with these characters. Drawing on elements from the original Wolf Hall score, new themes have been created for our soprano, Grace Davidson, our viola player, Philip Dukes, and our mandolin player and guitarist John Parricelli.

It’s been the most thrilling experience composing the score for this production."

1 Faith and Truth
2 Salvage
3 The Five Wounds
4 Obedience
5 The Image of the King
6 Broken on the Body
7 Killing Vein
8 Defiance
9 Man of Sorrows
10 Wreckage
11 Betrayal
12 New Found Lands
13 Another Life
14 A Patient Man
15 Forgiveness
16 The Leper’s Spit
17 A Little Heaven
18 The Mirror and the Light
19 Wolf Hall