He couldn’t avoid church music, but that doesn’t mean he had to totally embrace it. Writing the score for Edward Berger’s thriller “Conclave,” set inside the Vatican during the election of a new pope, composer Volker Bertelmann knew that any film that takes place within those walls would have to find a way to nod to the sound of ecclesiastical music over the centuries. “It absolutely needed to be part of it,” said the German composer. “This is one of the oldest places in Christianity, and the seat of power and mystery. I wanted to find music that was reflecting the holy halls.
Volker Bertelmann’s Key to Writing the Score for ‘Conclave’: Religious Music, But Nasty
TheWrap magazine: The German composer turned to a rare French instrument from the 1950s that can sound religious but also distorted
