Life On Our Planet, the ground-breaking 8-part documentary series that tells the incredible story of the epic, four-billion-year journey of life on Earth. It is now being given another dimension in a spectacular audio-visual live experience – Life On Our Planet in Concert.
Touring across 6 prestigious UK venues during October 2024, the power, drama and excitement of the series can soon be experienced on the big screen along with a sweeping soundtrack composed by Lorne Balfe, performed by some of the UK’s finest and most highly regarded orchestras.
Life on Our Planet was created by Silverback Films in association with Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Television, and narrated by Academy Award®- winner Morgan Freeman. Life On Our Planet in Concert (from esk film, in association with Netflix and Silverback Films) allows audiences to see the story of life unfold on the big screen through its most pivotal moments – from the first single-celled life form to the first animals to move out from the sea and onto land, to the first creatures to take flight.
The Concert is an exciting musical experience, with a score that captures the evolution of nature to striking effect.
“It’s exciting to be able to bring the Score for Life On Our Planet to the live audience. It’s a journey through billions of years, a concept of Life and Breath and music that will connect you to every step of the way” says Lorne Balfe, Scottish composer and producer of the musical score. His broad range of credits (including Top Gun Maverick / Argyle/ The Crown) have earned him many accolades including a Grammy as well as an Emmy and Bafta nomination.
Each of the six acclaimed orchestras taking part in the Life On Our Planet in Concert tour are leading cultural institutions in their own right with worldwide reputations. Of the six, the London Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra recorded the score for the film.
Storytelling is pivotal to the composition of the score which features a multitude of distinct motifs reflecting different creatures and the journey of evolution. Meticulous research by Balfe led him to choose some instruments for their physical presence. The score was inspired by some of the oldest instruments (bone flutes found in caves) mixed with state-of-the-art electronic production. An organ at the Royal Albert Hall – a classical instrument which has air pumped through it – is itself, reminiscent of the concept of life and breath.
For 90 mins, the orchestras will deliver music which describe the five mass extinctions that have shaped the planet – plus the sixth we’re facing today. The series brings creatures to life known only from fossils in dramatic, photo-real fashion. Revisiting one of Earth’s longest-lived dynasties, the dinosaurs, viewers will bear witness to the age of the mammals and the rise of the most dangerous animal the earth has ever seen: us.
Life on Our Planet in Concert traces our lineage across this epic journey. It helps to describe our unique status as the only species in the four-billion-year story of the planet to understand what is happening to our world and, perhaps, the only ones who can put it right.
