From scoring Tim Burton's films to writing ambitious works for orchestra, Danny Elfman reflects on his career so far and explains why his next project is so important to him

Danny Elfman has always pushed boundaries, whether that’s during his time working as a street musician, playing in an experimental rock band, composing film scores or with his move into classical music.

Music lovers will get the chance to enjoy the London premiere of his Concerto for violin & orchestra (Eleven Eleven) next April at the Royal Festival Hall. “After thirty-plus years of being ‘picture-driven’ for films, it is quite terrifying to be composing classical music but, at the same time, it is exhilarating to be diving into the pure void,” the 66 year-old says.

When I did the soundtrack for Batman...in 1989, the orchestra was all-male. Now there is something like a 50 per cent female make-up in orchestras

As a young member of Los Angeles avant-garde musical theatre troupe Oingo Boingo, Elfman taught himself to write music by notating the jazz arrangements of Duke Ellington. “Ellington’s work was really interesting and the skill of writing down music came in really useful when I was doing the score for Pee-wee’s Big Adventure in 1985,” he says.

After a spell in the rock band The Mystic Knights, Elfman began a remarkable collaboration with director Tim Burton, which resulted in iconic film scores, including for Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands andThe Nightmare Before Christmas. “I had always been a movie music nerd and I loved the scores of Bernard Herrmann, Nino Rota and Erich Wolfgang Korngold. Getting the chance to do my own was like a knowledgeable fan being pulled from the crowd to play in a big game. I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity Tim gave me. My proudest catalogue of work would definitely be connected with him. He is still amazingly unpredictable.”

Writing pieces for violin, piano and percussion has meant Elfman is sometimes treated as “a big-shot Hollywood composer coming to our world” by some of classical music’s old guard. The reaction won’t put him off. “I got three commissions behind the violin concerto and the hostility is fuelling me,” he insists. “I am committed to a new work out every year.”

Classical music is changing for the better, he believes. “In terms of female representation, it is opening up, which is a good thing,” says Elfman. “I notice there are more female composers every year. When I did the soundtrack for Batman, which was recorded in London in 1989, the orchestra was all-male. Now there is something like a 50 per cent female make-up in orchestras. I also think the doors are opening for black and minority ethnic classical musicians, which is another encouraging change.”

Danny Elfman performing with Los Angeles avant-garde musical theatre troupe, Oingo Boingo, in 1983 Credit: Getty

Although Elfman is still heavily involved in the movie business – he scored the 2020 film Dr Dolittle – classical music offers a big appeal for the four-time Oscar nominee. “I’m putting energy into something of me that I hope will survive, mean something and touch people in a different way. Hopefully, it is payback for the luck I had in the other part of my career,” he says.

After composing for television and writing more than 100 soundtracks, this new phase was sparked by an approach in 2014 from the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, asking if he wanted to write a concerto for the superb violinist Sandy Cameron. “I just said ‘yes’, but I had no idea what was really involved,” laughs Elfman. “Six months later, I was listening to dozens of violin concertos and going, ‘oh, man, these things are hard.’” For his violin concerto, Eleven Eleven, Elfman was inspired by some celebrated Russian composers – Prokofiev, Stravinsky and Shostakovich – and Leonard Bernstein’s “gorgeous, inventive” violin concerto Serenade. What would Shostakovich have made of Elfman’s famous theme tune to The Simpsons? “I don’t think he would have liked it,” says Elfman. “He would have gone, ‘Hmm, it’s amusing.’”

My message is: come, give me a chance, let me get through to you

Cameron will join the BBC Concert Orchestra at Elfman Classical on 21 April 2020, a concert that features the Ice Dance from Edward Scissorhands and the London premiere of Eleven Eleven. Elfman is full of anticipation. “In London there is an exciting energy about accepting new work,” he says. “Some of the American symphony orchestras are very rigid about what fits their niches. It is more open in England. I feel much more welcome.”

When it comes to the title of his concerto, the name Eleven Eleven was pure luck. “It was originally called Concerto for Violin and Orchestra,” he says. “It was only given a name when I counted the number of bars, for a lark. It was fortuitous and bizarre, because it has 1,111 bars and I have always had a fascination with the number 11.”

Elfman hopes his music will be accessible to all types of fans. “Those who have experienced my film music will really love my new music, but I think a classical music listener will also find something that will satisfy them. My message is: come, give me a chance, let me get through to you.”

Breaking boundaries

Classical music is arguably more relevant than ever. The BBC BBC Concert Orchestra has teamed up with Telegraph Spark to show how its concerts are reaching new and younger audiences.

To find out more about Danny Elfman’s concerts, see bbc.co.uk/events