[But, he says,] I listened to the Grieg and said, 'OK, that's great music' and never listened to it again. ... but they are not direct. I consciously decided what comes out, comes out.

It's not a musical. It's a play with music -- albeit a lot of music.

The relationship found its rhythm. He began to rely on me for ideas of where music could express ideas that he wanted to achieve.

I find it always sad when there's something that means a lot to me in music and there are people who can't get the exposure to it ever to understand it, let alone love it.

But other than that, I go from the text and the rhythms of the words. The melody comes from that,

It's about the play. Where does it need to be really spare? Where do you need to start to drive the tempo? You figure out the tempo of the scene and support it. Basically, it's how to keep the storytelling clear, how to support it and, ideally, enhance it.