On IndieWire’s Craft Roundtables, Brenton Vivian explained how he scored Taylor Sheridan’s Western series “The Madison” to support Michelle Pfeiffer’s grief-stricken widow—starting with a minimalist undercurrent and building in presence as her character moves
Michelle Pfeiffer doesn’t just carry “The Madison”—she anchors it. And for composer Brenton Vivian, the job wasn’t to compete with that performance.
“She’s such an incredible actress that really I didn’t need to do much,” Vivian said during IndieWire’s Craft Roundtables. “Just something to hold that performance in place really, and have an undercurrent of score underneath it and let her do her thing.”
The Western series, built by Taylor Sheridan, follows a widow who relocates her family from New York City to Montana after her husband’s sudden and tragic death. Vivian’s score is designed to sit close to that emotional center—there, but not grabbing the spotlight.
At the IndieWire composer roundtable. Vivian appeared alongside a range of composers tied to some of the biggest shows of the past year. Also in the room were Jeff Russo. composer of “Alien Earth”; John Paesano. composer of “The Boroughs”; Kris Bowers and Michael Dean Parsons. composers of “Spider-Noir”; Amanda Jones. composer of “Murderbot”; and Mac Quayle. composer of “Monster: The Ed Gein Story.”.
Vivian tied his approach directly to Pfeiffer’s character arc across the show’s first season. In the beginning. as her matriarch Stacy processes her grief. Vivian described the music as minimalist—kept more in the background of the series. As the season moves into later episodes and Stacy starts to work through the idea of moving on from the tragedy. the score grows in presence. becoming “much a much larger part of the show’s tapestry.”.
For Vivian, the emotional pacing mattered as much as the instrumentation. He said he didn’t want the audience redirected toward the score at the expense of Pfeiffer’s work—especially during moments of mourning.
“The last thing I want to do is be like, ‘Everyone listen to the music!. This is what we should be listening to, not her performance,’” Vivian said. “A lot of her performance was helping me strip back the score. It’s only until she starts getting through it all. and starts having a better understanding of her loss and her grief. that I can start to bring the score back in. and have it tell a bit more of the story.”.
The full panel is available in the video above. IndieWire’s TV Craft Roundtables is streaming on @PBSSoCal and the PBS App, as well as IndieWire.com and the outlets’ social channels.
The Madison Brenton Vivian Michelle Pfeiffer Taylor Sheridan Craft Roundtables IndieWire Jeff Russo John Paesano Kris Bowers Michael Dean Parsons Amanda Jones Mac Quayle