Film Music Magazine

CD Review: Black Sunday – Original Soundtrack

Daniel Schweiger — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:02:21 +0000

Composer: John Williams
Label: Film Score Monthly
Suggested Retail Price: $19.95
Grade: A+

In his 78 years, John Williams has been a composer of many faces, starting out as a two-fisted jazzman for TV’s M SQUAD, changing to a king of frothy comedy with the likes of HOW TO STEAL A MILLION, and then finally ascending to the top of the blockbuster map for all time as a sci-fi / fantasy maestro with 1977’s double-header of STAR WARS and CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND. But what might be one of his most effective career runs as a master of symphonic disaster also happened to cap off that same year with BLACK SUNDAY. It was a period for Williams that started with an upside-down ocean liner, growing to encompass a flaming super-skyscraper, a gigantic LA tremblor, and what could arguably be considered the catastrophe of having a monster shark ruin your summer tourist season. All were served by the composer’s rousing, and telltale melodic strains that played the terrifying emotions and gripping suspense of a catastrophic extravaganza.

Yet for all of the terror served up by the nature-spawned villains in THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE, THE TOWERING INFERNO, EARTHQUAKE and JAWS, no shattering menace would be quite as unusual, or as prophetically frightening as a giant Super Bowl blimp skydiving into a packed Super Bowl. For these were human threats behind the widescreen pyrotechnics, giving Williams’ approach a far more disturbingly human core, not to mention a relentlessly driving musical threat, all of which made BLACK SUNDAY into what might be Williams most effective “disaster” score, let alone one of the best entries on his formidable resume.

Back in 1977, you could have your bad guys actually be the PLO, as opposed to the politically correct radical-splinter offshoot organization that puts together a cinematic terrorist act these days. And while it’s questionable if the book’s author Thomas Harris (later to invent Hannibal Lector) or master suspense director John Frankenheimer (THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE) would envision two planes bringing down The World Trade Centers, BLACK SUNDAY did a painstakingly believable job of showing how an Arab terrorist and an enraged Vietnam Vet might wipe out thousands of Americans as a political statement- a plan thankfully stopped by good guy Israelis led by Robert Shaw at his burly best.

That was no small bit of ethnic pride for an impressionable Jewish kid like myself seeing BLACK SUNDAY in its theatrical run. But even better during my most impressionable film going years was hearing a powerful, instantly striking theme that drove those terrorist’s blimp like a motherf**ker. In addition to immediately being the best suspense picture I’d ever seen, BLACK SUNDAY also showed me the revelatory power of a truly great melodic motif, and one that never seems to stop as Williams’ varied it with the methodical darkness of the film’s conspirators. Sure getting the composer’s complete STAR WARS scores in the intervening years was certainly cool, but Film Score Monthly’s new release of BLACK SUNDAY is real John Williams jackpot for me, an exceptional release that shows just how much there is to BLACK SUNDAY’s score in addition to what stands as Williams’ best theme in my playbook.

But before Williams’ motif comes out with guns blazing, BLACK SUNDAY steadily unravels its suspense, its main “terrorist” theme first appearing as lite percussion backed by a string sustain in “Beirut” A secondary, darkly heroic theme for Kabakov (Shaw) is introduced in “Commandos Arrive,” a cimbalom accenting the exotic surroundings as the major and company take care of business (Jerry Goldsmith would do a similarly exotic take on the scene years later with Steven Seagal in black garb for the terrorist-busting EXECUTIVE DECISION). Williams lethally, and eerily builds the raid with “It was Good/ Dahlia Arrives/ The Unloading,” with subtle military percussion and dark piano chords giving the cue a JAWS-like feeling, except here it’s the PLO sharks who get their due, with Williams chords reaching a fever-pitch piano climax.

But the Israeli’s seeming triumph has come to late as Dahlia (Marthe Keller) and her blimp piloting lackey David Lander (Bruce Dern) have all the tools they need to proceed lacing the Goodyear undercarriage with steel darts. Williams enters the score’s darkest portion here, conveying equal parts of the characters’ deadly determination with the unspoken regret and anguish of their awful business, be it for right or wrong in such cues as the sadly noble “Moshevysky’s Dead” and the unhinged bells of “The Test.” Williams almost playful percussion for “Speed Boat Chase” recalls his latter crime busting music for SUPERMAN, the composer ups the ante, and further develops his main theme with the dark, steady piano and drum beat of “Nurse Dahlia,” giving just a hint of black humor to the femme fatale before she claims a victim to PSYCHO-like strings.

Many of Williams’ best cues have been about the wonder of flight, whether it’s done with superhuman powers, magic or via spaceship. But Williams’ soaring orchestra has never been as darkly wondrous as it is in BLACK SUNDAY, as his main theme takes glistening flight in “Building the Bomb.” One of the main pleasures of Frankenheimer’s pacing is how luxurious it is as the plot for Super Dead Sunday unveils itself, the machinations of which Williams propulsively follows with lush, jazzy propulsion for “Miami / Dahlia’s Call.” The sorrowful strings of “Last Night” pack dense, melancholy sound redolent of Bernard Herrmann, whom Williams would pay full tribute to with THE FURY. Then it’s game time with a mix of classical rhythms and patriotic brass for “Preparations.”

With “The Flight Check,” BLACK SUNDAY enters its amazing last act, a stretch of incredibly tense and exciting suspense for which Williams infinitely varies his major themes. Of course, the huge, evilly guilty pleasure of movies like this is the dark what if anticipation of the possibility of the bad guys actually winning, as Williams plays Dahlia and Lander’s elation at seeing their plot come to fruition with revels in sweeping bursts of strings. Williams finally unleashes the full-throttle ostinato of his terrorist theme with “Airborne / Bomb Passes Stadium,” which keeps bombastically building for “The Take Off,” his counter theme for Kabakov desperately racing against doomsday.

Where so many composers today approach this kind of elongated suspense sequence with meaningless rhythmic beats, hearing how Williams accomplished this awesomely endless sequence with actual piano and percussion-driven orchestral melody is a revelation, especially for its two part, nine-minute “Air Chase,” as every motif collides with the force of destiny- it’s music every bit as exciting as what Williams would come up for the final Death Star run. And it’s a testament to SUNDAY’s thrilling climax that the film, and music keep one-upping themselves as a flurry of vengeful, outraged orchestrations give way again to the ticking theme beat of “The Explosion,” with Williams’ ever-escalating themes cutting between Lander’s desperate attempts to light the blimp-bomb with Shaw (and his exceptionally brave stunt double) pursuing, and then jumping aboard the dirigible as it wreaks havoc. It’s a time bomb of a piece, relentlessly ticking off the moments to the big boom.

Surprisingly, a lot of Williams’ music didn’t get used here, or was restructured by Frankenheimer. But thankfully, FSM has made sure to present the composer’s original intentions in thrilling full. And while Williams’ music originally played “The End” with the somberness of all the destruction and death that’s preceded it, the final, fully triumphant version of “The Explosion” and “End Title” as heard in the movie’s ultimate soundtrack are here. While they definitely end the movie on an upbeat note, there’s no small irony that Dahlia and her like would ultimately complete their horrific flight into the heart of the American dream.

It’s not that John Williams hasn’t gorgeously played biblical destruction since BLACK SUNDAY with the likes of 1941 and WAR OF THE WORLDS. But there’s just something about hearing his sweepingly symphonic tones playing over the real world struggle between good and evil for its last hurrah, with all of its tones of grey that he’d use to much darker, and understandably less exciting effect in MUNICH. Sure he may have really kicked off after this cinematic Super Bowl game, but nothing’s quite as sweet as finally catching this helium-filled blast for John Williams’ past, its ever-escalating game of cat and mouse game becoming something truly mythic in the maestro’s hands.

Kick off for Super Bowl mayhem with John Williams here

Remote, Live Prague Orchestral Scoring On The Rise

No Author — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 08:43:40 +0000

Prague’s buyout scoring orchestras have noted a significant increase in recording work for film and television projects from around the world, including several projects recorded remotely using Source Connect technology where the composer communicates with the orchestra direct from his home studio over the Internet.

The sci-fi blockbuster film “District 9” was scored by Clinton Shorter who made use of Source Connect to monitor orchestral score recording sessions in Prague directly from his studio in Vancouver, while his orchestrator Jeff Toyne supervised the sessions in Prague at Smecky Music Studios.

Other composers to utilize Source Connect to record in Prague include Graeme Revell on a series of string projects, Pinar Toprak for the film “Last Will” starring Tatum O’Neal and Tom Berenger, and Steve Edwards working from his LA studio recording the scores for the films “Cool Dog” and “Ninja.”

Prague also saw projects including Guy Michelmore’s score for Marvel Productions for a “Hulk” adventure, Mark Thomas’s score for the Fox film “Flicka 2”, and projects for Disney Nature Films, the British animation film “Jackboots on Whitehall” and a score for the “Conan” video game series.

For more information on recording in Prague, contact James Fitzpatrick at Tadlow Music at http://www.tadlowmusic.com

Oscar Nominations For Original Score and Original Song Announced

No Author — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 13:41:52 +0000

The Academy for Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the nominees for music Oscars for 2010:

Best Original Score

James Horner – “Avatar”
Alexandre Desplat – “Fantastic Mr. Fox”
Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders – “The Hurt Locker”
Hans Zimmer – “Sherlock Holmes”
Michael Giacchino – “Up”

Best Original Song

Randy Newman – “Almost There” from “The Princess and the Frog”
Randy Newman – “Down in New Orleans” from “The Princess and the Frog”
Reinhardt Wagner and Frank Thomas – “Loin de Paname” from “Paris 36″
Maury Yeston – “Take It All” from “Nine”
Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett – “The Weary Kind” from “Crazy Heart”

BMI Annual Report: TV Remains Largest Revenue Source, Western Europe Largest Intl Revenue Source

No Author — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 13:11:57 +0000

BMI has released its 2009 Annual Review which has highlighted several aspects of the organization’s operations.

including a breakdown of domestic licensing income by category:

Television (cable & satellite): 29%
Broadcast Television: 17%
Radio: 36%
General Licensing: 16%
New Media: 2%

According to the report, BMI had revenues in fiscal year 2009 of over $905 million and royalty distributions totaling more than $788 million, indicating an operating expense of approximately 13%.

The organization’s international revenue was dominated by income from Western Europe:

Western Europe: 68.8%
Asia Pacific: 13.6%
Other: 17.6%

The organization’s new media revenues grew by 11%, including a portfolio of 6,700 digital media properties under license to BMI.

“As BMI marks its 70th anniversary in the year ahead,” said BMI’s President & CEO Del Bryant, “we know we will be looking at an extremely difficult economic environment. We will maintain our intense focus on efficiency and cost containment. We anticipate tough discussions as we negotiate new agreements for the use of our repertoire. However, we are encouraged by the steady growth in our market share, and by the expanded use of music by both traditional and digital media, two dynamics that drive our licensing revenues. These factors reinforce our ability to meet the challenges of this volatile economic landscape, provide a point of stability to our songwriters, and produce added value to our customers as the economy works its way toward recovery.”

Copyright Office Adopts Interim Regulation on Mandatory Deposit Governing Certain Works Published Only Online

No Author — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 13:08:22 +0000

The U.S. Copyright Office is adopting an interim regulation governing mandatory deposit of electronic works published in the United States and available only online. The regulation establishes that online-only works (those without a physical version) are exempt from mandatory deposit until a demand for deposit of copies or phonorecords of such works is issued by the Copyright Office.

The regulation also states that categories of online-only works subject to demand will first be identified in the regulations, and it names electronic serials as the first category for which demands will issue. In addition, the regulation sets forth the process for issuing and responding to a demand for deposit, amends the definition of a “complete copy” of a work for purposes of mandatory deposit of online-only works, and establishes best edition criteria for electronic serials available only online.

This interim regulation is effective on February 24, 2010. Further comment on its implementation will be sought later in 2010.

For further information, visit the U.S. Copyright Office at www.copyright.gov

American Composers Orchestra Appoints George Manahan Music Director

No Author — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 13:05:03 +0000

The American Composers Orchestra (ACO) has announced that conductor George Manahan will join the orchestra as Music Director. His tenure will begin with the 2010-11 season, during which he will lead all three of ACO’s concerts presented by Carnegie Hall in Zankel Hall. Manahan will also continue in his post at New York City Opera, where he is in his twelfth season as Music Director. He will be ACO’s third Music Director since its inception in 1977, following founding conductor Dennis Russell Davis (1977-2002) and Steven Sloane (2002-2006).

As Music Director of ACO, George Manahan joins the orchestra’s unique leadership structure, which, in keeping with the ensemble’s mission, includes not only the conductor but composers as well. Manahan has worked closely with Artistic Director Robert Beaser and Creative Advisor Derek Bermel in shaping the 2010-11 concert season, which will continue the orchestra’s focus on emerging and mid-career American composers, combined with works by seminal composers such as Charles Ives, Jacob Druckman, and John Luther Adams. The season will also see the continuation of ACO’s Playing it UNSafe program, the nation’s first professional laboratory for the creation of cutting-edge new orchestral music; as well as the world premiere of the second work commissioned as part of ACO’s innovative partnership with luxury goods company LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton. The new orchestral work will reflect on the theme of “A Greener New York City,” emphasizing the connection between new music and the issues of today. George Manahan with ACO

George Manahan has had an unusually wide-ranging career, embracing everything from opera to the concert stage, the traditional to the contemporary. His most recent appearance with ACO was in February 2009 at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall. Manahan led a concert of world premieres, which included the much-praised multimedia works BREAKDOWN! by Margaret Brouwer and Kasumi, Rand Steiger’s Cryosphere, and Fang Man’s Resurrection. In 2006, he workshopped and led performances of music by emerging composers Anna Clyne, Fang Man, Robert Gates, and Paul Richards during ACO’s Underwood New Music Readings. On May 21 and 22, he will again lend his leadership to promising up-and-coming composers during ACO’s 2010 Underwood New Music Readings at Columbia University’s Miller Theatre. In addition to his work with ACO, in fall 2010, he furthers his commitment to working with young musicians by joining the Manhattan School of Music faculty as Director of Orchestral Studies.

“George Manahan brings a rare combination of enormous musicality and adventurous imagination that will be a perfect fit with the American Composers Orchestra,” said ACO Artistic Director Robert Beaser. “George has built his international reputation on making strong cases for overlooked masterpieces, for reinvigorating warhorses, and trekking in uncharted musical territories. We all enthusiastically embrace his upcoming tenure here and look forward to a rich and energizing collaboration.”

George Manahan looks forward to the challenge. “I am extremely happy to be the next Music Director of the American Composers Orchestra and to make music with an orchestra that has such a long tradition as advocates and trailblazers for 20th and 21st century composers,” he said. “To give voice to rarely heard music and emerging composers is a privilege, and I look forward to finding ways to explore America’s vast repertoire and engaging our audiences in that excitement of discovery.”

At New York City Opera, Manahan helped envision the organization’s groundbreaking VOX program, a series of workshops and readings that have provided unique opportunities for numerous composers to hear their new concepts realized, and introduced audiences to exciting new compositional voices. In addition to established composers such as Mark Adamo, David Del Tredici, Lewis Spratlan, Robert X. Rodriguez, Lou Harrison, Bernard Rands, and Richard Danielpour, through VOX Manahan has introduced works by composers on the rise including Adam Silverman, Elodie Lauten, Mason Bates, and David Little.

“We congratulate George Manahan on his appointment to the indispensable American Composers Orchestra, and congratulate ACO on gaining the brilliant leadership of George Manahan,” stated George Steel, general manager and artistic director of New York City Opera. “At City Opera, we know the great insight, energy and commitment that George brings to contemporary music – a field that we are proud to share with ACO. We are no less proud to be sharing George’s formidable talents with ACO.”

Michael Geller, ACO executive director, agrees that Manahan is extremely well suited to leading ACO. “I know from our previous experiences working with George that he not only has everything it takes to lead an orchestra that tackles so much new and innovative American music – the clarity of technique, tremendous score reading abilities, omnivorous and stylistic diverse interests, and the energy and the intellect to tackle one of the toughest conducting ‘gigs’ in the orchestra world – but he has also shown himself to be a generous advocate for, and fearless interpreter of, the composer’s vision,” Mr. Geller said. “That committed, supportive and collegial approach shines whether he’s working with well-established composers or those at more emerging stages of their careers.”

George Manahan’s passion for the music of our time was ignited in 1980 when he was chosen as the Exxon Arts Endowment Conductor of the New Jersey Symphony. He made his mark on the opera world in his debut with the Santa Fe Opera, conducting the American premiere of Arnold Schoenberg’s Von Heute Auf Morgen. His wide-ranging recording activities include the premiere recording of Steve Reich’s Tehillim for ECM; recordings of Edward Thomas’s Desire Under the Elms, which was nominated for a Grammy; Joe Jackson’s Will Power; and Tobias Picker’s Emmeline. His enthusiasm for contemporary music continues today; he has conducted numerous world premieres, including Charles Wuorinen’s Haroun and the Sea of Stories, David Lang’s Modern Painters, and the New York premiere of Richard Danielpour’s Margaret Garner.

In 2009, Manahan conducted the sold-out world premiere of Ask Your Mama! at Carnegie Hall. An exuberant multi-media setting of Langston Hughes’s poem, the work is a collaboration among Emmy Award-winning composer Laura Karpman, renowned soprano Jessye Norman, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and members of The Roots. Ask Your Mama! took Los Angeles audiences by storm when it was performed at the Hollywood Bowl, with the jazz world’s stunning Nnenna Freelon joining the cast. It will be recorded in spring 2010, and will be performed elsewhere across the country this year.

Manahan has also conducted the symphonies of Atlanta, San Francisco, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Columbus, and New Jersey, as well as the National Symphony Orchestra, The Juilliard School and Manhattan School of Music symphonies, the Warsaw Philharmonic, and at Music Academy of the West and the Aspen Music Festival. He appears regularly with the opera companies of Santa Fe and Portland, and Glimmerglass Opera. He has led the opera companies of Seattle, Chicago, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Opera National du Paris, Teatro de Communale de Bologna, the Bergen Festival (Norway), the Casals Festival (Puerto Rico), and Minnesota Opera, where he served as principal conductor. As music director of the Richmond Symphony (VA) for twelve years, where he also appeared as piano soloist, he was honored four times by ASCAP for his commitment to 20th century music.

CISAC: 2008 Royalty Collections Top €7 Billion; Mechanicals Down, Performance Royalties Up

No Author — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 12:52:40 +0000

CISAC, the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers, has released its annual Global Economic Survey that uses royalty collections data provided by its members—over 220 authors’ societies in 118 countries—to identify trends affecting the 2.5 million creators and publishers they represent. Out of the 2008 report’s figures and analysis emerges a story of authors’ societies working hard to counter a weakening economy and declining record sales to bring in revenues of €7.035bn for creators and publishers.

“This report shows that creators have benefited from the resilience of their societies,” said CISAC Director General Eric Baptiste. “Authors’ societies’ efforts to develop new revenue streams, extend licensing, improve territorial coverage and cut costs kept incomes for creators relatively stable in 2008.”

Key Figures for 2008 worldwide royalty collections for authors’ rights include:

* 7.035 billion Euros – total collections of 222 authors’ societies members of CISAC in 2008
* Down 1.5% from 2007 to 2008 in current EUR
* The average ratio of collection per inhabitant remained stable with EUR1.34
* 64% of collections (4.51bn EUR) were made in Europe
* 71% (+3 pts) of collections were derived from Public Performance royalties (4.97bn EUR)
* Mechanical Reproduction royalties continued to decline (-12%) while Public Performance royalties continued to grow (+2.3%)
* 87% of collections (6.12bn EUR) came from the musical repertoire
* Non-musical repertoires (audiovisual, visual arts, drama and literature) grew by +11% 1/3 COM10-0197

While total collection figures were down 1.5% in 2008, this was due principally to major losses by a handful of societies who deal principally with mechanical rights, which are associated with recorded works. The majority of CISAC’s members (60%) experienced growth in 2008. This was particularly true in developing regions such as Africa, Asia and Latin America and for societies collecting royalties for the audiovisual and visual arts repertoires (both +23%).

There was also a 2.3% increase in collections of public performance royalties, which are collected when a work is “communicated” to the public, for example on radio, television or the Internet. This attests to successful efforts that authors’ societies are making to boost their licensing activities and expand coverage to new territories. Television, cable, satellite and radio paid 55.9% of public performance royalties, demonstrating the critical importance of creative works to the broadcasting industry. Collections for digital uses lagged far behind at 1%. Despite widespread speculation that live performance would compensate for losses in record sales, royalties collected for live performance remained unchanged at 11.8%.

“It is clear that creators are an integral part of the greater global economy and that their well-being impacts a great many industries.” said CISAC Director General Eric Baptiste. “Decision-makers need to keep this in mind. To play a positive role in the economy, creators need effective legislation, a functional framework for collective management and licensing, proper tools to fight piracy, and copyright awareness.”

For more information including the full report, visit http://www.cisac.org

Zimmer To Score New Brooks Comedy

Robyn Young — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 18:36:25 +0000

CD Review: The Last Station – Original Soundtrack

Daniel Schweiger — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 18:10:07 +0000

Composer: Sergey Yevtushenko
Label: Varese Sarabande
Suggested Retail Price: $13.99
Grade: A

At the beginning of every year, I end up seeing a film that I wish I could’ve gone back in time to put on my top ten movie and soundtrack list. So for the start of 2010, that honor goes to THE LAST STATION, Michael Hoffman’s gorgeously poetic film about the last days of the literary lion known as Lev Tolstoy. While I may have been expecting a stuffed shirt exercise as dense as the author’s WAR AND PEACE, THE LAST STATION turns out to be a vibrant, infinitely approachable picture that doesn’t require a B.A. in literature to appreciate, let alone to listen to, especially thanks to Sergey Yevtushenko’s beguiling score.

Hoffman’s last, equally wonderful period exercise for 1995’s RESTORATION inspired one of James Newton Howard’s best scores. And one can hope the same touch of class he’s created in Yevtushenko (best represented here for his scoring of the one-take art movie RUSSIAN ARK) will create a similar career renaissance for this hugely promising composer. But then, it seems apropos to get a Russian composer to score a film about one of his country’s greatest figures. Doubtless Yevtushenko’s approach could have been as dark and stormy as Stravinsky or Prokofiev, given what we’ve expected from his iconic figure. What we get in the personage of Christopher Plummer is a Tolstoy who’s got more in common with your old country grandfather, albeit one who’s unpretentiously brilliant, with a functioning libido. Whether Tolstoy is stroll through the great woods of his country retreat, or meeting his fate in a grimy train station, Yevtushenko is in warmly approachable tune with the man, while also never forgetting that he wrote, and is, the stuff of legend.

If Lev Tolstoy had a greatly identifiable prose style (though I can’t pretend to have read him), then one reason for the success of STATION’s score is a similar, immediately recognizable wealth of melodic themes. The first piano and violin motif is introduced with “Romanze,” an achingly tragic (though not overwhelmingly so) piece that’s soon overtaken by a full orchestra. It’s reminiscent of John Williams’ theme for SCHINDLER’S LIST, though with a different sadness behind it. And STATION’s instantly memorable hits keep on coming with the playful Balalaika and bell percussion of “Chertkov’s Waltz,” music that positively prances with Tolstoy’s earthiness. Things aren’t going to get sad for a bit in THE LAST STATION, allowing Yevtushenko to play his main theme far more lightly in “Holy of Holies,” his music conveying a star struck acolyte’s sense of wonder at being introduced to his version of Michael Jackson. Thankfully, Tolstoy himself tells the kid to lighten up, leading to another gossamer, sprightly waltz theme with “Yasnaya Polyana.”

Hearing a scratchy version of Mozart’s “Marriage of Figaro” on Tolstoy’s phonograph proves to an inspired way for Yevtushenko to introduce what might be the score’s most effective theme in “Morning Song,” as gossamer strings lead to a delicately simple, and infinitely moving solo piano melody. As the American composer Stephen Sondheim proved for that other great Russian historical epic called REDS, there’s nothing more effective than having a few, beautifully chosen keys to highlight a character, with all other sound effects dropping down to nothing. It’s a technique that cuts through to the human heart of an icon, and once again is simplicity at its finest for THE LAST STATION.

But there’s trouble in Tolstoy’s paradise, whether it comes from his smothering, yet loving drama queen wife Sofya (Helen Mirren), and the cultish followers of the author who view his work (and his long-suffering mate’s potential earning property) as a freebie for the Russian people, and humanity in general. Though kept relatively light, their sense of passionate yearning steadily fills THE LAST STATION’s score. Yevtushenko’s music quivers with impending destiny as his central themes bend to Tolstoy’s titular fate, the violins becoming more pronounced, the themes going down a notch. And with the expectedly emotional “Betrayal,” Yevtushenko’s music twists the knife into Sofya. It finally leads the score into tragedy, if not life’s inevitability with the funereal bells and sorrowful strings of “Flight” as Tolstoy gets on a train to nowhere. But leave it to Yevtushenko not to dive into the storm, as he treats Sofya’s suicide attempt with a few piano notes in “The Pond.” That’s all it takes to get across her violent emotions that essentially send Tolstoy to his feverish doom.

Yet Yevtushenko’s exceptionally well-constructed score lets us know where we’re headed, as his themes combine for Tolstoy’s death watch, with the “The Journey,” “Vigil,” and “Night” coalescing with equal parts anguish and destiny, especially in the darkening piano of “The Journey.” Then with the final funereal peels of “The Last Station,” the composer marks Tolstoy’s death and transfiguration, using violins and orchestra in a way that’s respectable instead of emotionally mawkish, His moving score is complemented by Hoffman’s crane up shot over the gathered throngs, a combination of visual style and swelling music that truly punches in the handkerchief-pulling emotion.

But in the end, what’s remarkable is that any tears that might be generated by THE LAST STATION are for a guy who used to be as dusty as your unread copy of WAR AND PEACE. THE LAST STATION’s greatest musical triumph might be that it makes you want to finally crack open that book. But in the meantime, there’s a hugely impressive film and score that turns Lev Tolstoy into a remarkably affecting flesh and blood figure. And Yevtushenko makes us get what makes his country’s greatest author so special, and human without being overly pushy about it. It’s music that beautifully romances us with the man, and the myth.

Listen to Tolstoy’s last stop here

Ten Ways The iPad Could Enhance The Film Scoring Process

Mark Northam — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 14:03:36 +0000

It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Apple computers and software. Simply put, everything works the way it “should” with Apple products. Their software and hardware engineers have a fanatical obsession with quality and it shows in their products. While some pundits in the tech press have been delivering lukewarm reviews of the new Apple iPad, I believe for our industry it could be the beginning of a huge leap forward in how we work as composers and musicians.

Based on the iPad as it was announced this past week by Apple, here are ten ideas for usages of the iPad based on existing published specs for the device that I think could change the ways musicians and composers work in our industry.

SketchPad – With the addition of stylus input, which is possible with the existing capacitive touchscreen technology Apple uses in both the iPhone and the iPad, entering and editing notes by hand on an iPad could make the iPad a quick and easy sketching tool wherever you might be. If you’d rather “play” your parts in, a keyboard or other instrument could be displayed for touchscreen input. You could create, edit, and transmit anything from lead sheets to full orchestral scores, and with an onboard sample playback technology you could hear what your music sounds like as you write it. Your writing studio becomes completely portable allowing you to write music when and where you’re inspired to do so. With Wi-Fi or a wireless internet connection, as you write you could have your new composition compared to your past compositions or to any external library of compositions to make sure you’re not subconsciously copying yourself or something you heard in the past. And once you’ve completed that amazing cue or melody, a single tap on the “Submit to Copyright Office” button could make sure that your copyright registration was properly completed.

MIDIPad – The iPad with its advanced multitouch input system could easily serve as a control surface or MIDI controller, creating unique ways to “play” sampled instruments and control both MIDI events and software such as digital audio workstations.

VideoPad – Using the iPad as an advanced audio or video editing tool, whether it functions as a control surface for Mac/PC editing software or apps are developed for the iPad that can handle the workload of audio or video editing, could be a huge leap forward compared to mouse and keyboard based editing.

TrackPad – One of the issue that is being talked about the most regarding the iPad is the fact that holding it in a position to work for extended durations of time may be inconvenient. It’s dock holds it at an angle that’s easy for reading, but entering a high volume of touchscreen input at that angle may be an issue. Enter the TrackPad, laying at roughly the same angle as your computer keyboard does now and functioning as a huge trackpad for entering multitouch commands into a Macintosh or PC computer. In a seated position, you look directly ahead into the monitor as usual, but control the software via sliding your fingers as you would a mouse, or entering multitouch commands. When you add in the idea of multiple specialized keyboard layouts on the pad in addition to whatever mouse-like input it can accept via multitouch, the new control possibilities for software are huge.

DemoPad – Imagine sitting down with a director and playing a demo of your latest cues on your iPad, using either the iPad display or driving an external display and sound through the 30-pin docking port. Instead of dealing with a laptop and typing, you can enter the director’s notes directly into the iPad as audio or written notes, synced to the points in your music they apply to.

ScorePad – Imagine a world where recording musicians brought their iPads to the session and their parts were downloaded electronically to the iPads, or maybe even sent before the session if the musicians were asked to prepare beforehand. The addition of a stylus input, which is possible with the existing capacitive touchscreen technology Apple uses in both the iPhone and the iPad, makes it easy for musicians to make notes on the virtual score parts during a session, and updates to the score and parts made during a session could instantly be transmitted to the iPads of the players whose parts are changed, and scores could be displayed for the conductor in larger format on an external display. With bluetooth input, a score-reading application like Sibelius or Finale could be put into “sync mode” to automatically turn pages and keep the displayed parts and score in sync with timecode. Whether your orchestra is in the same room or across the world connected to you over the Internet, instant part changes become quick and easy to make.

SpotPad – One of the most important events in the creation of a film score is the spotting meeting the composer has with the director at the beginning of a project. At these meetings, the placement and creative issues such as style and genre of music are discussed, and initial direction is given to the composer as to where music should go and what the director’s expectations are for that music. In these sessions, directors tend to use existing scores and films as landmarks to demonstrate what they want if they’re not able to sufficiently articulate it. As a portable sample-playback unit, the iPad could make it easy for a composer to “play” musical ideas and melodies on whatever instrument sample is appropriate to get some quick feedback from the director. As a way to record notes, the composer could load the director’s video into his iPad and make written or recorded audio notes during different parts of the film, with the notes synchronized to the film. References to other films and scores are easily handled with scores and video of other films available for download and reference on the iPad.

PracticePad / TunePad – Imagine the ability for a player to load the part for a piece of music into the iPad during practice sessions and have the iPad, with its built-in microphone, “monitor” the player’s practicing. As they player plays through a piece, the iPad app would follow where the musician is (simple pitch analysis would locate the player’s position in the music), turn virtual pages as necessary, and give the player feedback on pitch, articulation, and even tell the musician when it may be time to tune his or her instrument. If the musician is playing to an iPad-generated click or metronome, the iPad could give feedback as to rhythm and timing. I cannot imagine a more helpful practice tool!

SpeechPad – Speech recognition software is getting better and better, and once this gets to the next level, the iPad could integrate speech into its role as either an external controller for Mac or PC editing software or iPad-based editing software. Even without realtime full-speech recognition, commonly used tasks could be automated into voice control. Imagine “telling” your sequencer to “stretch the time in bars 48 through 52 so that bar 53 begins art 01:20:35:15, or to “change the g sharp in bar 80 to a d”

NotePad – I hate paper, and think it’s time to try and move beyond the use of scraps and sheets of paper to record ideas and information. During a film scoring project, a composer will receive a great deal of feedback, notes and other information, and recording those notes into an iPad could keep them all quickly available and in one place, indexed for quick access wherever you might be – writing, in the studio recording, in meetings with the director, or playing demo cues. The idea is to keep all information on a project, from documents like composer agreements and licenses to handwritten notes and feedback to music sketches in one place, accessible wherever and whenever the composer (or director) needs to.

Admittedly some of these usages are pretty forward-looking, and creating the software to implement them would be a pretty tall order. However when we look beyond the “cool” factor of new technology and focus on how we can use new technology to streamline and enrich our work processes, not to mention allowing us to spend more time writing music and less time dealing with technology, I think the iPad presents some amazing possibilities.