Scottish Downton Abbey composer had to '˜become English' to do his job on TV hit

The composer behind the Downton Abbey soundtrack has said he had to 'become English' in order to craft the score that evokes a lost time.

John Lunn, who is from Glasgow, has said the music accompanying the dramas of Downton resonates with audiences who are looking for a faded era.

The composer is set to showcase the soundtrack at a concert next year, held in the grounds of Highclere Castle, Hampshire, which served as the stately home in Downton.

He has agreed that the appeal of the show is tied to the wish for a lost epoch which the drama series conjured up.

Lunn said: “I did listen to music of the time, but music was so overwrought then. It’s not that I don’t like it, I do like Elgar and Vaughan Williams.

“It’s not really my job to invoke England, 1912. But there were times during the series where I was required to be ‘English’ musically.

“I think people do like to be brought back to that period. The concert I did in Paris, people were actually invited to come as if they were coming to an event in Downton Abbey.

“Although the music doesn’t sound like 1912 or 1920, they associate with it.”

Lunn said that this evocation was part of the appeal of the show to fans around the world.

That’s a sentiment shared by one of the show’s stars, Jim Carter, who plays the traditionalist butler Charles Carson and says the show offers a haven from modern life and politics. Carter, 70, said the class system is in the DNA of the British people and that Downton offers an illusory ideal.

In real life he favours the fall of the class system. He has benefited from social fluidity, which allowed him an education and a career that was chosen not enforced.

But the Yorkshire-born actor believes the appeal of Downton and his character is one of preserved traditions.

He said: “It harks back to a more ordered time. It’s a big part of the appeal. It’s safe, and it seems like a safe world.

“Everything is ordered, everything is in its place. In the chaos of the modern world I think that’s a nice haven. You you can never go back. We just have to cope with the chaos of modern living – too much information, too many mad people in charge. It’s a spooky world.”

Downton is set between 1912 and 1926, which encompasses the period of the First World War and the first Labour government but also shows a deferential working class and traditional social attitudes.

Carter will be part of the show’s special retrospective showcasing Lunn’s sountrack.

For his part, Lunn has also had his turn as a Downton actor. He helped out on the show when a cast member was required to play the piano for a scene, and on one occasion donned a wig and fake moustache in order to stealthily provide the piano work on screen.

He is delighted that his score has become so recognisable. “It’s an amazing feeling. It’s a really good tune but it becomes iconic because of the number of times it has been played, then it takes on a life of its own.”

The score will be revived on June 22, 2019, with tickets available from December 14 for a concert in the grounds of the stately home.