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Nitin Sawhney will compose the score for Human Planet a new and ambitious natural history co-production between the ´óÏó´«Ã½, Discovery and France Televisions which will debut in the UK this Autumn on ´óÏó´«Ã½ One. Sawhney is renowned for drawing on a multitude of cultural and musical influences and his unique sound will add an extra dimension to the series which explores man's relationship with nature in the most extreme environments on earth.

The production was presented to international buyers last week at ´óÏó´«Ã½ Worldwide's annual Showcase event in Brighton and is set to be a key production for ´óÏó´«Ã½ Earth. ´óÏó´«Ã½ Earth was launched in 2009 to act as the global guardian brand for the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s natural history content.

Commenting on the collaboration with Sawhney, Dale Templar, Series Producer for Human Planet said, "Human Planet is about people who still live with nature in today's world, so I want a score that will be both modern and cinematic, influenced by music genres from across the world. Nitin is one of the few composers who has the enormous musical range, breadth and technical understanding to take on the challenge. Nitin Sawhney and Human Planet really are a perfect match. I am delighted to announce this exciting collaboration."

Human Planet is a celebration of the human race and explores our remarkable ingenuity and success as a species. How have we – uniquely among the animals – managed to adapt to every habitat, including the most extreme and inhospitable places imaginable? For the first time the ´óÏó´«Ã½ have turned the camera on ourselves: four years in production and filmed in over 70 locations around the world to capture the amazing ways that us human beings have learned to work with nature in order to survive and thrive.

Finding a composer with the breadth to match this series could have been a further challenge but Sawhney's reputation as one of our most versatile creative talents is well deserved and ideally suited to a series with the scope and vision of Human Planet. To date Sawhney has scored over 40 films and released eight studio albums winning 17 international awards for his work. An acclaimed flamenco guitarist and classical/jazz pianist Sawhney is trained in the Indian and Western classical traditions, folk, Latin and African techniques. His musical ability to transcend cultural barriers has gained him much recognition within the classical community and Sawhney has toured globally with some of the world's top orchestras. He remains the only artist to have sold out both the traditional ´óÏó´«Ã½ Proms and the pop-orientated ´óÏó´«Ã½ Electric Proms.

Talking about the series Nitin Sawhney said, "I have always believed in the idea that music can transcend barriers of nationality, religion and race. It is a universal language with direct input to our emotions and common human values. It excites me that I have this great opportunity to apply such a perspective to the Human Planet score and to celebrate the very essence of human diversity and resilience through musical narrative."

For more information about Human Planet online visit:

• International -
• UK -

NOTES TO EDITORS
´óÏó´«Ã½ Earth
´óÏó´«Ã½ Earth is the global brand for all the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s natural history content spanning the last 50 years. The ´óÏó´«Ã½ is the largest producer of natural history programming in the world and the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Earth brand highlights the vast scale of incredible content which is produced in this genre. Visible across all platforms; TV, DVD, licensing and digital, ´óÏó´«Ã½ Earth encourages engagement with current as well as classic programs such as Planet Earth and The Blue Planet. ´óÏó´«Ã½ Earth branding is only visible in the UK on commercial products, internationally the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Earth brand will appear across all platforms, including TV programmes. ´óÏó´«Ã½ Earth is from ´óÏó´«Ã½ Worldwide the main commercial arm and a wholly-owned subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation (´óÏó´«Ã½).

Emma Finlay