MERLIN

"The luscious score by Grant Olding works hand in glove with the dance. It is fascinating to wonder which came first, and how the two artists worked together, for both are masterpieces in their own right. The 27-piece Northern Ballet Sinfonia relish the huge contrasts in the music, from crashing brass and booming drums for the military scenes to the glittering peal of a harp evoking an underwater world. Conductor Jonathan Lo leads them with great energy and focus, and the result is a monumental success." East Midlands Theatre *****

Merlin was filmed for cinema broadcast in 2022, and can be streamed HERE on the Marquee streaming platform.

DRAGONS, DUELS AND A DANCING WIZARD

Grant's first classical ballet took flight in the autumn of 2021 (revived in 2025). With an original story, direction and choreography by Olivier award winner Drew McOnie based on the Merlin legend. Featuring blistering dancing from the Northern Ballet company, a beautiful set and costumes as well as magical lighting, illusions and puppets Merlin was a feast for the eyes and ears and proved to be hugely popular with audiences and critics alike.

This was Grant and Drew's fourth collaboration having previously created the full length dance piece Jekyll & Hyde together for the Old Vic with Drew's own McOnie company as well as the now legendary dance and song cycle DRUNK and the Roald Dahl musical James and the Giant Peach.

"From the outset, we agreed that the piece would fully embrace melody and place storytelling at its heart. Working closely from Drew’s detailed synopsis, I began to imagine the ballet unfolding on stage. As I did, melodies and recurring themes emerged - chunks of musical material that would come to represent characters, emotions and pivotal moments in the scenario.

We travelled to Leeds to workshop early dance and narrative ideas with the Northern Ballet dancers, staging scenes to preliminary thematic demos. During those first few days, we also cast the ballet and got to know the dancers. This proved invaluable for me in the composing process as I could clearly picture the artists who would inhabit Drew’s characters, and understand the physical language they would use to tell the story. This, coupled with Colin Richmond’s beautiful costume and set design images, gave me an insight into the rich tonal palette we’d be experiencing in the theatre, and a vivid sense of the three-dimensional characters I’d be helping to bring to life.

I continued shaping the score while walking the wild hills around the Welsh Marches where I live. Melodies sprung to life, birthed from the gnarly hawthorn branches, while rhythmic ideas formed in counterpoint to my footsteps. Something of that wind-blown, enchanted landscape inevitably found its way into the score.

In 2021, the Northern Ballet Orchestra, under conductor Jonathon Lo, brought the score thrillingly to life. Returning to record it four years later with conductor Daniel Parkinson, I was once again struck by the extraordinary artistry and care of the musicians, and by the clarity and detail that Daniel drew from the score. Watching him on the podium at Clockwork Studios in Glasgow, with the music cascading around us, I found myself recalling small choreographic moments I had long since forgotten. The score and the ballet - the orchestra and the dancers - remain inextricably intertwined.

We moved into Air Edel Studios to mix the album, with the brilliant Nick Taylor in charge of the faders, and it’s on Air Edel Records that the music is now released.

It is my hope that, even without seeing the story unfold on stage, you will be able to picture the ballet in your mind's eye, just as I did when I first sat down to compose - before a dance step had been set.

This recording is dedicated to my father, Frank Olding, who would have loved it."

Stream the Original Soundtrack Album MERLIN here.

"Grant Olding’s original score is a great addition to the ballet music repertoire. He’s not only a memorable tunesmith but his feeling for the music’s colour and texture is as detailed and thoughtful as his ability to match music to movement. His sound world is equally good at evoking the magical and the epic as it is at pastiche, his set piece courtly dances witty and perceptive. He does ecstasy pretty well too – and tenderness too, as in the moving dance for Merlin and the Blacksmith towards the end. Conductor Jonathan Lo ensured that the Northern Ballet Sinfonia played like angels throughout." Reviewsgate *****