Each new season of âBridgertonâ brings a bounty of reveals: Steamy romances. Elaborate balls. Whistledown dispatches. And string quartet covers of pop hits to accompany it all.
âWeâre always looking for covers that are pretty recognizable and also enhance the story weâre telling,â said music supervisor Justin Kamps. âSometimes we like the more straightforward cover with the steady tempo thatâs perfect for the ball sequences, and then other times we like the ones with a bit more creativity in the arrangement so itâs a bit more emotional.â
Picking and placing orchestral covers for the Netflix series is an intricate process, beginning with what Season 3 showrunner Jess Brownell estimates to be âa playlist of maybe 100 or 200 orchestral versions of pop songsâ that â with input from directors, producers and Netflix â is trimmed down to a dozen or so standouts.
According to the Economist, itâs led to a surge of classical musicians recording pop covers, string quartet bookings at weddings, and live events that merge classical music and pop. After the release of the third seasonâs first batch of episodes last month, Spotify searches for âBridgertonâ content increased 1,700%, while the creation of âBridgertonâ-related playlists on Spotify spiked nearly 400% in the U.S.
âBridgertonâ includes orchestral covers of pop music, but the show finally debuted its first original song.
(Liam Daniel / Netflix)
âItâs been so exciting to watch the âBridgertonâ sound become solidified and become so popular,â said the seriesâ composer Kris Bowers. âIn the beginning, it was really an experiment, but now that weâre a few years into it, thereâs this huge ocean of classical covers of pop songs that exists, either because of how many people were inspired by âBridgertonâ or people who make one in hopes of getting into the show.â
After renditions of hits like BTSâ âDynamite,â Ariana Grandeâs âpovâ and Taylor Swiftâs âYou Belong With Me,â Season 3 ends with an orchestral cover of âAll I Want,â the franchiseâs first original song. The cover evokes the seriesâ now-signature sound (this one performed by a string quintet instead of a quartet, noted Bowers) and echoes the pop sensibilities of songs regularly covered for âBridgertonâ â which is coincidental, because the songwriters for âAll I Wantâ didnât even know they were writing for the hit show.
âThe prompt was to write a love song for a Netflix project that could be a first dance at a wedding,â said RogĂ©t Chahayed, who wrote âAll I Wantâ with friends and fellow songwriters Wesley Singerman, Taylor Dexter and Nicole Cohen in the span of a day. âIt can be a lot of pressure to write to a prompt, but in the middle of the session, we all looked at each other and agreed that it sounded like a song youâd want to hear at a memorable event you share with your family and friends.â
According to Bowers, an original âBridgertonâ song has been in the works for years; he was part of an attempt to create one for last yearâs spinoff series âQueen Charlotte,â but it didnât come to fruition. For âBridgertonâ fans, âAll I Wantâ is worth the wait: the full track features the intricate vocals of Tori Kelly; its lyrics are a litany of similes for perfect fits and long-lasting love.
âA lot of people [writing music today] try to be aware of TikTok and trends and things like that,â added Chahayed. âBut we really wanted this song to almost outlive social media and feel timeless, sound beautiful and say something really heartfelt.â
So with all the work put into âAll I Want,â why does the orchestral cover play during the final episodeâs end credits, a section regularly cut short for the viewer by Netflixâs previews, instead of during a key âBridgertonâ scene? Itâs because of timing. According to Kamps, the initiative was âmostly spearheaded by the Netflix music team and the Netflix marketing teamâ for the âBridgertonâ wedding event earlier this year (Kelly debuted the track for the first dance between two newly wedded superfans).
âEveryone loved the song so much that they wanted to try to find a way to incorporate it into the actual show as well,â he explained. âKris then did an amazing job with the cover and we were looking for somewhere [in the show] that made sense, but we had already found all these other spots for music that we love. So now itâs a lovely way to cap off the season.â
Thankfully, fans who want to hear âAll I Wantâ in full â both the Kelly version and the orchestral cover â can listen to it on the seasonâs soundtrack, now streaming on all digital platforms.