For more than two decades, former TIME Magazine senior correspondent David Aikman lived and worked amid the famous and powerful, reporting from across the globe as the history of the century unfolded before his eyes. During the course of those turbulent years, he encountered celebrities and personalities of every persuasion and lifestyle. Among these people, he was struck by a select few who had been propelled into the world's spotlight for not only their influence and accomplishments, but for demonstrating remarkable personal qualities. Their inner essence was not the result of fame or achievement however, but quite the opposite. These were men and women of deep character... whose unshakable convictions had led them to shape the outcome of our twentieth century for good. These... were GREAT SOULS. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- COMPOSER'S NOTES When I was commissioned with writing the music for GREAT SOULS, it came with an exceptionally unique opportunity. In addition to the necessary underscore for the six-hour documentary covering the lives of Billy Graham, Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Elie Wiesel, and Pope John Paul II, director Tom Ivy wanted to create a symphonic music video tribute for each of the six individuals that would play at the end of their respective episode. This would prove to be an extraordinarily fulfilling experience, albeit a challenging one. The music for the tribute pieces needed to be written and recorded with an orchestra and choir before a single frame of principal photography was captured. This was necessary because each music video was going to feature both archival footage (cut to match the "story" of each piece) and an on-camera orchestra re-performing the music. It's hard enough writing music for a movie or television show without any pre-existing material to guide you, but what made this project all the more challenging was MY ultimate goal, which was to literally translate each individual’s inner spirit into music. But what is music if not the stuff of souls, right? It was a responsibility I felt was unavoidable. These people were pillars of history with extraordinary substance and depth. To do anything less would be inauthentic, or worse, disrespectful. I certainly had my work cut out for me. Focusing on one person at a time from start to finish, I began with David Aikman's book GREAT SOULS. After reading a given individual's story several times, I meditated on their life for several days, spending hours looking at photographs... staring into their eyes, letting the "windows of their soul" (still viable in a photo) tell me everything else I needed to know. As I meditated, slowly, over time, pieces of the puzzle that would become their musical tribute materialized. What emerged first for each of them was different. For some, it was a theme or motif. For others it was a rhythm, or an overall "shape" based on their ideologies. . . . It was a painstakingly deliberate, isolated process, but the results hopefully speak for themselves. The individuality of each piece is a reflection of the uniqueness of each Great Soul, and I'm honored to have taken part in honoring them. Thanks for listening, David Ivy