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PREVIEW | Interstellar: Organist Roger Sayer Talks About The Movie And The Tour

By Anya Wassenberg on October 4, 2024

L-R: Organist Roger Sayer; Roger Sayer at the ‘Interstellar organ’ at Temple Church; Roger Sayer in concert (Photos courtesy of the artist)
L-R: Organist Roger Sayer; Roger Sayer at the ‘Interstellar organ’ at Temple Church; Roger Sayer in concert (Photos courtesy of the artist)

The Royal Canadian College of Organists is presenting Interstellar, Roger Sayer’s 10-city cross country tour of Canada to celebrate the movie’s 10th anniversary. British organist Roger Sayer worked closely with composer Hans Zimmer on the original movie score.

For the tour, he’ll be playing his own arrangements of highlights from the soundtrack for solo organ, along with other space-themed classical music, including Holst’s The Planets. In Toronto, Sayer will be performing at the Metropolitan United Church, sporting the largest pipe organ in Canada, on October 19.

Sayer has been touring the music throughout the UK and Europe since January.

What’s it like to work on the music for a film that’s become a sleeper favourite with a growing cult following? We talked to Sayer about the movie and the tour.

Roger Sayer: Pipe Organist

Roger Sayer began pursuing music singing in the choir in Portsmouth, UK, and went on to study at the Royal College of Music. He studied the organ at St. Paul’s Cathedral, and went on to win the 1989 St Albans International Organ Competition, among others. He tours across the globe often as a recitalist and accompanist.

The pipe organ, in general, seems to be enjoying a kind of revival of interest. “I would say so. I think that is true,” Sayer says. “It’s odd in a way, because the attendance in churches are going down.”

Rather than church music, it’s films like Interstellar, and social media, that are driving the new interest.

“There’s a renaissance of young organists coming through, who aren’t necessarily associated with church.”

As he points out, the pipe organ is a versatile instrument, an element that’s often forgotten. “The organ has […] a great history of transcriptions.” He often performs orchestral transcriptions, like Holst’s The Planets. “It works so well on the organ,” he says. “It’s got very broad shoulders.”

Interstellar: The Soundtrack

When Christopher Nolan’s movie Interstellar came out in 2014, it received mixed reviews. Many critics pointed out the lack of action scenes in the sci-fi drama, the preponderance of big ideas along with emotions and personal connections.

But, support and appreciation for it has grown over the years, and for the soundtrack on its own. As he tells it, Sayer’s involvement was a matter of happenstance.

“By chance,” he says. “Hans Zimmer was looking for an organ, and he was looking in London.”

At the time, Roger was Director of Music at Temple Church in central London. Someone from Zimmer’s team was researching organs in the city, and came up with Temple Church. They also looked into Sayer and his reputation.

“I always say that I was in the right place at the right time,” he laughs.

When it came down to work, Zimmer had come with a score that he’d already recorded using digital sounds. He’d decided at the last minute to record with a live organ and chorus instead. “There was an element of trial and error,” he explains. Sayer would play the score, and suggest different sounds, which Zimmer ended up preferring to the digital samples he’d been using. But, the whole time, it was something of an experiment, and if it didn’t pan out the way he liked, the composer was prepared to go back to the US with he experiment unrealized.

“It was very impressive,” Sayer says. Zimmer, of course, had the budget and clout to take those kinds of risks, and be open to new ideas even down to the wire. “It says a lot about him.”

Zimmer became a pipe organ enthusiast, and loved the layers of sound he could play with. “I thought he was a bit like a child in a sweet shop,” Sayer recalls. “That was very exciting for me.”

An Enduring Appeal

Why does the music itself, even apart from the film, continue to resonate?

“I think because it came from his heart,” Roger says. “It’s a well known story that he was given, Hans was given, 24 hours to write something.”

As the story goes, writer/director Christopher Nolan sent Zimmer a manually typed letter describing story where a father has to leave his child to take care of an immensely important task. There was no mention of space, or the science fiction aspects of the story. He asked Zimmer to spend a day working on ideas, and came up with a piece for piano and organ about four minutes long. “I really just wrote about what it meant to be a father,” said Zimmer in an interview.

As Sayer notes, he wasn’t looking at any images — it was only the emotion he wanted to capture.

“That became the heart of the film score,” he says. “I think that has given the score something very special. It hits people of all ages.”

After the performance, there’s a question and answer session with Sayer. “This for me is the high point of the event,” he says.

The Q&A reveals the very personal connections the music has with its listeners. “The receptions in the concerts have been more than I’m used to,” he says. “And I’ve been on the road for decades.”

The response to the UK/European dates has been gratifying. “It’s a niche market, but with Interstellar I’m playing to full houses,” he says.

“I’ve been surprised, I think, by how popular this music really is.”

He’s sure the tour, and the music, have made a few more fans for the pipe organ. It’s a connection, and point of entry to the instrument for people who have no connections to either church or classical music, with a friendly and informal atmosphere.

“Every single time, you can hear a pin drop,” he says. “There’s almost a united feel of enjoyment and appreciation as everyone listens,” he adds.

“That’s actually quite special.”

The Interstellar Tour: Details

The tour kicks off October 5 in Halifax, Montréal  on October 8, and hits Toronto on October 19. He’ll then be moving on to Calgary on the 22nd, and Vancouver on the 25th.

Each concert has been followed by a Q&A.

  • Find tickets for Roger Sayer’s Interstellar tour [HERE].

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