Born in Rome, composer Stefano Torossi began his musical studies by concentrating upon bass, he studied the instrument at the music conservatory in the Italian capital and also continued his studies whilst in the United States. The composers musical career began as a performer and he would play in various groups during the 1960,s. Whilst doing this Torossi became interested in writing music for film and he started to compose scores for motion picture and also television projects. Although his output for cinema was not vast, he was responsible for recording a number of albums which were part of a music libraries catalogue and these were utilized by production companies and also directors and producers within a number of movies and documentaries. The composers first film score was for the 1964 Italian/Spanish co- production, I DUE MAFIOSI, which was a comedy directed by Giorgio Simonelli and had a screenplay by Sergio Corbucci. The movie was a vehicle for the actors, Franco Franchi and Ciccio Ingrassia and proved to be a mild success at the box office. Torossi worked steadily throughout the 1960,s and continued to score movies during the1970,s and 1980,s. He wrote the scores for thirteen motion pictures in total, the last of which OLTRE LA QUARTA DIMENSIONE was released in 1996. Torossi collaborated with a number of fellow Italian composers and performers, these included, Edda Dell Orso, Alessandro Alessandroni and Franco De Gemini. Torossi has a unique style of composition and his approach to scoring motion pictures consisted of a fusion of dramatic and romantic colours which he merged with jazz and also easy listening flavours, creating music that not only enhanced and supported the images on screen but also remained appealing as music in it’s own right away from those images, thus making Torossi an innovative, talented and fascinating Maestro. He excelled at orchestration and arranging and his work can be compared and likened to other composers such as Luis Bacalov, Piero Piccioni and to a degree Gianni Ferrio and Stelvio Cipriani.
Monthly Archives: January 2014
FRANK ILFMAN.
One of your latest scores is for the Horror Thriller, BIG BAD WOLVES, how did you become involved on this movie and what size orchestra did you use for the assignment, and what electronic support did you utilize?
I got introduced to directors Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado by sound design supervisor Ronen Nagel when he was working with the directors on their first movie RABIES, as things turned out, it didn’t work out with the original composer on that movie, so I was brought in to do a rescue job, and we got along great. For Big Bad Wolves, the approach for the score was very old school in many ways, yet still fresh and modern. We wanted a dark fairy tale feel, a bigger then life score, we used the London Metropolitan Orchestra to perform the music, conducted by Matthew Slater who also orchestrated the score, we recorded at Air Lyndhurst with Paul Golding (Lord of The Rings) recording and Casey Stone (X-Man, Superman Returns) mixing the score.
We recorded a large chamber ensemble of violins, cellos and basses, where we would have the bass section in the middle, violins to the left, cellos to the right. We divided the cellos into two sections A and B, so section B would actually play the violas parts when needed and by doing this we would get a more solid rounded sound to the work. The winds and brass were then re-played trough our ‘3 speaker system’ via the hall we arranged and was then recorded again for the surround and effects with different positioning. All the percussion we used on the more bombastic cues, again we used the same approach, by re-sampling them again via the hall and our ‘3 speakers system’, so we had a very natural sound of the space, yet more controlled to when we wanted to use the close mics for some cues while keeping some of the space with different areas to align any instrument with full controller. For the electronics my team and I created all these metallic rusty sounds from an old saw or a violins bow played on an old bike wheels and then sampled and manipulated them, so it can be played at any register. There were also some old analog Moog basses to play undertones with the orchestra.
How much music did you compose for the movie?
I composed about 125 minutes of score, over a period of 3 months.We then recorded and mixed 90 min with 85 min ending up on the movie. I originally started working on Wolves from late August 2012 till mid January 2013, as the film was re-cut again and had new changes that eventually effected the use of the score, so we had to do rewrites till the very last night before our sessions.
You began to take an interest in music at an early age; did you always have your sights set on being involved with music for film?
As a kid I always had music surrounding me while growing up, mostly from my parents who loved and listened to albums non stop from classical to rock & roll , beach boys, disco, you name it, they played it!. At a later stage when I was 7 or 8, I got the first edition LP of The Good The Bad and The Ugly from my dad after taking me to the cinema and seeing it, so actually it was Ennio Morricone who introduced me into the use of film and music you can say.
When I was 14, I was invited by composer Klaus Doldinger (Das Boot, Never ending Story) to sit in on a film scoring session in Germany that he was doing and I just knew that this is what I wanted to do. I mean, as a child I was always sneaking into the theatres to watch some movies or with my dad as he loved Cinema, so I grew up in both these worlds even if at the time they were separated.
Your musical education I understand started at the Jaffa Conservatorium in Tel Aviv, where you studied Trombone and piano, but you left after a while, where did you continue to undertake your musical studies?
After my departure from the conservatorium, I studied piano with an old school Russian private teacher once a week at his house, as we could not afford a real or electric piano, so my parents got me an organ that’s had two sounds so I could practice at least, when that broke, with the money they saved for my 13th birthday they got me a Synthesizer and I started to get into electronic music and sounds, the teacher then told my parents that I better off doing what I was doing in writing my own music.
I had some more lessons and decided to do it my way, so I learned by listening to any music I got get my hands on, read orchestration books, talked to film composers who I met about the process, attended scoring sessions and just learned by working.
One of your earliest involvements with scoring film was when you worked on CHANCER for TV, I think with Jan Hammer, how much music did you contribute to the series and was this something of a baptism of fire for you as I understand you were just 17 years of age?
Yes, it was in a way.
I got asked by a programmer friend who was about to do it, but had another gig to do, so he asked if I would be able to help, as he knew I wanted to do film scoring. I think Jan Hammer was based in LA and was sending stuff over to the cutting room, so we had the same setup of synth, the R8 Roland drum machine and other sounds he was using and just re scored places the producers wanted. Jan wrote fantastic main title for that series, till today it’s one of my favorite scores.
Your score for BIG BAD WOLVES has been announced as being released early in 2014, when a score of yours is released do you take an active role in selecting what music will go onto any release?
Yes I do, or at least I see what the label put together first and go over it, then maybe start to suggest some changes, which could be other tracks to be included and giving the cues titles, names and so on. It’s always good to have another person listening and going over things. I think creating a listening experience of your score to stand on it’s own without the movie, it’s not the easiest thing to achieve.
Is orchestration an important part of the composing process for you and do you orchestrate everything that you compose or at times do you have orchestrators because of time schedules etc.?
In todays work process, composing and orchestrating goes almost hand in hand, as directors and producers all expect to hear mockups of the music and use it while editing or during the audiences test screenings, this is the standard today. Sadly as many films have very little budget to none for live recordings, composers are bound to do a realistic as possible synth mockup. I orchestrate as I go, both when it just electronic or orchestral, but sometimes it’s just impossible with the strict deadline and amount of music to be recorded and delivered these days, so Matthew Slater who is an great composer in his own right, orchestrate and conduct all my scores, leaving me to concentrate on the scoring part of it. I was lucky enough to work with a few directors in the 90’s who I just composed and played it on a piano to and then we went to the scoring stage, with the score been mixed and recorded straight onto a 35mm film in mono or stereo.
You have worked on numerous genres of film, these include TV series, documentaries and shorts as well as many features, what would you say were the main differences between scoring a full length feature as opposed to a documentary, or are assignments basically the same but because of budget, time etc your approach may differ?
I come from the world of cinema, my first solo project was a full feature with 70 minutes of score, when I was just 20, so on films, I am very used to reading the sub text, the sense of dramatization, even to read scripts in a certain way, but when I get hired to compose for say documentaries, directors may come to me when they want a slightly different approach and a more a unique score, so I would get involved in the early stages, others heard my scores and asked me to come in and score things in a more conventional way, but they want my sound and style so that’s another direction. The difference with all documentaries I would say in a general way, is that you need to stay as balanced as possible with the music, avoiding any manipulation to effect what the audience will feel, since it’s a very different way of story telling. Shorts are similar to a film in your approached to the way you would score it, but in a more compressed way, there is not much time to develop a theme and get attached musically to your characters, it’s more about using short musical motifs and short segments.
And of course budgets will always play a role as for how you will work, using musicians for the score and so on, score mixing for films is very different to TV, so all those elements do come to play with how to approach a project.
Do you try and stick to a schedule or routine when working on a project, by this I mean do you score the movie in a set order i.e.: main title through to end title, or do you like to develop a theme firstly and build the remainder of the score around it?
On most films I will try and get a main theme and a secondary theme by just sitting at the piano and having the film running in my head, creating the main melody and harmony, until it feels right, other times it could be a set of sounds or some sampled elements, I love writing a strong theme that will make the audience connect and resonate to the movie and characters involved. I may compose a full suite for the director at the early stages, and it will have all the elements of the score and the thematic ideas.
Once I have those nailed down, I always work chronologically so my starting point is cue 1m01, I always found it to be what works best for me, but its not written in stone.
I think I am right when I say that, CUPCAKES is a musical comedy, did you have a hand in writing the songs or were you just involved on the score?
Yes Cupcakes is a musical comedy, the movie has so many famous songs both on and off screen, I stopped counting!
When I got involved, most songs were already selected by the director and the music supervisor, so when we had the spotting session, we started thinking how can we use the songs and the score, so it will not feel a mess with so much music going on, I was very happy that the director on a few cues decided to remove some of the songs and replaced them with a score, as we found them to work better in that way, so the score had a more prominent place on the movie.
What do you think is the purpose of music in film?
Basically, the purpose of music in film is not to be noticed for itself. A score in a movie, has many functions, its all about manipulation or more about manipulating the audience. How to feel in a scene, where the movie is set, what emotions we want you to feel and when, it’s the palette of colors by the painter, sometimes its done in a very broad stokes, straight to face and at times in a very sneaky way, I always enjoy it when you can sneak in your music and sneak it out, so the audience didn’t even feel they were lead in a certain way.
When working on a score, how do you bring your musical ideas and thoughts to fruition, do you use piano, or another instrument to begin with then go to a more technical tool?
How many times do you like to see a movie or a prospective project before you begin to get set ideas about what type of music you will write and where it will be placed to create maximum effect etc?
A musical idea for a scene, could come from any direction, it could be an atonal sound, a set of chords, some synth, anything that will be evoked from watching the movie.
Once I have watched the movie, if they have tempted it, then I will only watch it once with the temp score, then I will have a discussion with the director, music supervisor and in most cases the film editor, once we know what direction and function we want the score to go, in most cases, I would approach the writing and finding the key elements at the piano sketching out my thematic ideas, if we decided for a more experimental or an electronic score, I would start by experimenting with different sound textures and sampling to try and achieve a more unique world of sounds as my palate.
Do you buy soundtrack albums by other composers if so what would you say were your most played, or even if you could maybe choose a top five or ten?
I used to when I was younger, buying vinyl or CDs of scores, but in the past ten years or so, I haven’t really bought any soundtracks albums, I do get sent some by records labels or from the European and British film academy.
I do listen on iTunes when someone recommends an album outside a movie, but I prefer to listen to albums that have no connection to film.
What composers or artists in the music business would you say have influenced you the most or have maybe even influenced the way that you score a movie?
I love the golden area of Hollywood composers like: Korngold, Copland, Raskin, Hermann, very bold and striking music, others are Morricone, Goldsmith, Barry and from the more classical world like Mahler, Ravel, Falla, Kilar, Webern to name a few.
I think it influenced me in a way of been more experimental with my writing, you’re listening to these masters and you compose something and you hear your self go, ohh it’s a very Goldsmith or Hermann type riff, now how do I make it different, there is a Goldsmith, there is a Williams already, these legends got to were they were and are for been original and having a unique voice, so its that drive that pushes me to be original and unique.
Do you conduct at all?
No, I don’t, it is very rare that I will be on the podium conducting myself,
Conducting is an art form by it self, there are people who spent years studying it and can communicate with the orchestra to get the best result then me as a conductor, so I leave it to them.
You work in Europe and also in the States, for you when it comes to orchestras and also recording studios are there any preferences or differences between the two countries?
Both countries have amazing musicians and world class scoring stages!
Sadly I haven’t had the chance yet to record in LA yet, because of how the musician’s union system works there; I do hope it will change soon, there some legendary stages there for film scoring.
London has two amazing scoring stages for me Abbey Road and Air Lyndhurst, each with its own characters, I always work with the London Metropolitan Orchestra for any film/TV work I do, or the LSO on a movie or two if the budget permits, I love recording in London as its my home and I am very fortunate that I manage to do most of my scores with these amazing orchestras.
How long do you normally get to score a movie, maybe you could use BIG BAD WOLVES as an example?
Big Bad Wolves was exceptional, as I was working on it for a very long time. On most films, I would get about 4-6 weeks, longer if I am lucky and there was a delay in the scheduling or times are getting shorter! By the time they come to me, the film release is just around the corner.
Staying with BIG BAD WOLVES, did the directors Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado have a hands on approach when it came to the music or were they happy to leave you to your own devices?
Navot and Aharon, are very hands own when it comes to every aspect of film making. They will temp the movie and will suggest musical thoughts/ styles before I start, its then my job to take what they envisioned both on screen and musically and put it into a musical language, I will start sending rough idea of the direction I am taking based on the script and some early discussions we had and I will progress almost hand in hand with the shaping of the movie.
A lot of movies have a temp track installed do you find this distracting or helpful?
Yes, most do, the temp is a blessing in disguise! it could be very helpful especially if it’s a new director and nobody is sure where to go musically, but it could be very destructive to a composer, as the director gets used to the music he has used and you end up fighting to be original, but ending up copying something and not been as productive as you can be. I always ask to watch it once with the temp and that’s it, but it’s not always possible, so I will mute it until I have a clean copy.
2013 was quite a busy year for you and already 2014 is looking the same way, what are you currently working on?
We are gearing up for the album release of Big Bad Wolves both on CD and … Vinyl and I am just finishing my score for the ABC of Death with Aharon and Navot, we then start on the next feature from the guys called ‘Once Upon A Time In Palestine’, with a bigger orchestra then we had for Wolves, I have two more features coming up later in the year that I cant talk about yet, a new television series with supernatural elements and another soundtrack album release of a score I recorded in Germany a while back for a movie called Killing Girls, a very melancholic and haunting score, exciting times indeed .
Many thanks to Maestro Frank Ilfman..
Rahman Altin.
You were born in Ankara Turkey, in 1971, when did you begin to take an interest in music of any kind?
Very Early. My father was a violinist and a conductor. The music was in my world from the beginning.
What musical education did you receive?
I’m an Opera Singer, a Tenor. I studied Opera in Turkey’s capital city Ankara at The State Conservatory.
At what stage did you begin to think that you would like to become a composer of music for film?
When I finished high school I was already a huge film buff. That summer I discovered the most important discovery of my life. All the films I was in love with have a common part. All off them were composed by the same composer – John Williams! And that moment I knew I was born to be a film music composer. I planned and shaped my education around this.
One of your latest scores is THE BUTTERFLYS DREAM, which is a really beautiful soundtrack, what size orchestra did you use for this assignment?
It was a fifty piece orchestra.
How did you become involved on BUTTERFLYS DREAM?
The director, Yilmaz Erdogan, was a friend of mine. I heard he was writing and going to shoot a film about two forgotten poets. It was the goal of my life to score that movie. He worked with some other composers for a year and then one day he called me on the phone and said ‘I’m in LA. Come & pick me up, let’s talk about my film’.
How much time were you given to score BUTTERFLYS DREAM and how much music did you compose for the movie?
I had the privilege to work with the director 6 weeks as I set up an editing room in my studio for him. He did his final cut while I was composing themes. Then another 4 weeks of pure composing. In total 3 months with the recording sessions. I composed 67 minutes of orchestral music.
Were you involved in the soundtrack release of BUTTERFLYS DREAM, i.e.: compiling or choosing specific cues that would appear on the compact disc etc?
Yes I was the only one on the charge actually. I did everything on the soundtrack; I was the producer of it. The main job was to down-mix the 5.1 recordings to stereo. It only took 5 weeks of mixing.
Do you conduct your film scores at all, or do you prefer to be supervising things from the recording booth when you are scoring a movie?
I conduct from time to time. On The Butterfly’s Dream, I supervised from the booth.
How many times do you like to see a project before you commence work on the music?
I like to see as much as I can, until I memorize the scene – the color of it, the speed of the edit, acting. Everything plays a role in my composition. With TBD, I saw the film so many times before I played a single note, I can’t remember.
Do you like to work in a set way, by this I mean do you approach a film score from the main titles to the end titles, or do you maybe compose a central theme and then build the remainder of the score around this?
I compose a central theme and compose around it. Finding the correct color of the music is my main goal. Then it sings itself. I only capture it.
What composers either film music, classical or popular music would you say have influenced you at all?
Ennio Morricone, John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, Lalo Schifrin, Vangelis.
Do you orchestrate all of your music, if so do you think that orchestration is an important part of the composing process and by orchestrating it yourself that you relay individuality to the music you have written?
I do my orchestrations. I compose with the orchestra, together we make the theme. Every single element of the melody line in the composition has its story in my heart, which constructs the main body of my music.
You have worked on video games, MONSTERS AND ALIENS, and also on TV series such as FEDAI, plus feature films and advertisements, what would you identify as the main differences between scoring a feature film and a video game, if indeed the scoring process does at all differ between the two?
Actually they are all quite same these days, in production quality angle. Of course, every field has their own dynamics. But there is always a client, temp love and a deadline. Only for my own compositions, I feel freedom, which I will release in 2014.
Also when working on a TV series such as FEDAI do you at any time re-cycle any of the music that you have written, by this I mean do you re-use any cues from say episode two in any of the subsequent episodes?
I usually do re-use themes in TV series. For the Fedai, I only scored the ‘Main Title’.
When working on a film score or any project at all, how do you work out your musical ideas, piano, keyboard or as is the case more often than not nowadays via more modern technology?
I always start to compose with piano, meaning my piano sounds from my keyboard. Then I build and write my orchestral mockup with the amazing sounds that are out there. I literally have all the Orchestral Sample Libraries available in the market today.
You worked on CANAKKALE 1915, which I understand was about Gallipoli, I see you are credited with additional music and end theme, did you come in after the score was written and provide additional cues?
Yes, the producer and the director of the film came to me one week before they locked their final mix saying they are searching for their final scene’s music. Normally I don’t like to get involved in projects, which have their own composers. But this time it was different; it was an epic historical film of our Independence War. And the part was the climax of the film. I only had a week to write, orchestrate, and record a small ensemble. But it turned to be a great one.
What is the state of the Turkish film industry at the moment, and do you work predominantly in Turkey, if so how do recording facilities compare to other countries?
It is in its growing process. I’m working for Turkey mostly but also exciting ones here in LA. For example, I licensed music for “The Making of The Amazing Spiderman” documentary, Star Wars Blu-Ray Ad Campaign, Marvel’s official Iron Man 3 Life Size Statue, web music and more and more to come..! J
Do you think that a good film score is able to help a bad movie?
No, not at all.
What are you working on at the moment?
Another astonishing film from Turkey.
Many thanks to the composer and also to Chandler Poling for his assistance with the interview.
Chandler Poling
White Bear PR
818-605-2237
BIG BAD WOLVES.
Many people will probably think that BIG BAD WOLVES is a horror movie that involves werewolves when they see the title, well they could not be more wrong, ok it is a horror thriller, but it does not involve wolves, well not the fur covered ones that howl at the moon that we all know anyway. It is a movie that is filled with numerous twists and turns and is not only full of tension and the odd (as in nasty) bit of violence but also has a scattering of dark comedy spread throughout it. In essence it is a revenge movie, but the Directors of the film say it works on two levels in that department, as revenge is the underlying motive within the movie and also that it is a film aimed at getting revenge on parents who have all at some time scared the living daylights out of their kids with tales of wolves in sheep’s clothing, when what they are really getting over to the children is the real danger of Paedophiles. This Israeli production centres on a police investigation into a child murderer, the authorities apparently have their prime suspect in custody but they lack the correct evidence to convict him and he will not confess, frustrated at this they just decide to beat him up and unfortunately for one police officer it is caught on camera and ends up being shown on You Tube, which leads to the detective involved being suspended and having his badge taken from him. The detective played by Lior Ashkenazi decides to start his own investigation and joins forces with one of the murdered children’s Father Gidi, who is played by Tzachi Grad, his daughter in the movie is murdered and be-headed but the head is taken from the scene by the murderer. Together they capture the supposed killer Eli and imprison him in a sound proofed basement in Gidi’s house, where they set about torturing him with various household utensils and other weapons that inflict pain. Although it sounds like a heavy and really macabre plot it also contains a number of one liner’s and satirical remarks which are both silly and funny and delivered with wonderful timing and expression. The duo’s plan to extract a confession from the suspected killer is interrupted by various phone calls, which are more than often from Gidi’s Mother checking on her 40 plus son with offers of chicken soup etc. One would think it would be hard to get laughs out of this situation, but they certainly do and these do take the edge off the matter in hand momentarily. In the end the detective begins to be convinced that the prisoner is actually telling the truth, and together they make an alliance against Gidi, who has become obsessed which punishing Eli for a murder even though he may not have committed it, the Father wants revenge and at this stage he is not worried who he vents his anger or aggression upon. The detective and the suspect then have to plan a way to escape from him.
The movie received an outstanding 11 Israeli academy award nominations including for best original score. The music for BIG BAD WOLVES is the work of composer Frank Ilfman, who’s name may not be a familiar one to you, he worked on the music for MERCANARIES, THE FERRYMAN and NEMESIS GAME, his soundtrack for BIG BAD WOLVES is in a word OUTSTANDING, it is an accomplished and also a polished and finely tuned work that is powerful and at the same time hauntingly passionate with richly dark and uneasy sounding textures and attributes that tantalise and tease the listener. The composer provides us with a lingering but subdued central theme on which he builds the remainder of his score, his dark and superbly strong musical passages evoked memories of the style of the late Woljeich Kilar for me personally, driving and at times romantically slanted sounding strings supported by percussion and almost growling woods which all combine and lend themselves easily and fully to the shady, foreboding horror and humour of the subject matter supporting and enhancing the proceedings wonderfully. The composer has successfully created a masterful and sturdy musical punctuation for the storyline and also underlines dramatic moments perfectly. Ilfman has produced a delightfully ominous and intensely fulsome sounding work which very cleverly augments the movie and assists in it dramatic impact, he builds anxiety marvellously by employing layers of taut musical passages and mixes these with a sense of urgency to ultimately relay a nervous but at the same time near wistful sounding atmosphere which at times brings forth a harrowing, edge of the seat musical experience that has the ability to work both in the context of the film and away from it. The Compact Disc opens with BIG BAD WOLVES;MAIN THEME, which commences with the string section introducing an atmosphere that is ominous and indeed dark, this soon alters to a sinister and apprehensive sound achieved again by the string section with the composer adding a gentle chime which sounds almost childlike. This too soon evaporates and we are returned to a more forceful and dramatic arrangement of the central theme from the score, which slowly builds into a malevolent sounding piece, strident strings acting as a background as more strings carry the theme supported by the use of brass and percussion, this is an effective and menacing opening to the score and establishes the core theme which is a six note motif.
This returns in track number 2, OPENING TITLES, but is more profound and given a greater and more expanded work out, enabling the listener to fully savour and appreciate this simple but affecting composition, strings are the main instrumentation interspersed and punctuated by woodwind, and it is woodwind that takes the theme from the strings momentarily to establish it then strings return and play in unison with the woodwind, supported by cello and piano that adds a certain melancholy to events, again the composition slowly builds with strings giving it depth and a slightly luxurious but hesitant tone, the cue reaches its conclusion with a calming solo piano, but even this brief respite is given a slightly threatening feel by the use of a violin bow on a bike wheel, pitch down, with FX so the composer told me. It more or less stalks the soothing piano turning the near calming performance into something more sinister.
Track number 3, MARCH, is a thunderous and powerful piece, and I have to mention once again Woljeich Kilar, as this reminded me of some of his music for DRACULA, it is imposing and dynamic with martial like percussion setting down the pace in the opening throws of the cue supported by vigorous strings and low woods which introduce the central theme, the percussion comes to an abrupt halt and strings segue into the equation becoming prominent, the percussion rising at strategic moments to create a sense of drama. The remainder of the score is in a similar vein, but of course the re-occurring theme is arranged and orchestrated differently as the composer serves us up a veritable smorgasbord of infectious and richly shadowy music, that will delight any film music fan because although it is largely action driven it has real heart to it. I am also impressed by the composer’s use of some driving and inventive sounding percussive elements that do indeed at times catapult the music along at break neck speed and create lively and imposing support. Frank Ilfman has in my opinion written a score that is a luxuriant as far as music for horror movies is concerned, it is an interesting and entertaining work, superbly written, meticulously orchestrated and performed to perfection by the London Metropolitan Orchestra, please go and buy this, you will I promise not regret it.
DEMONS OF ST.PETERSBURG.
Released in 2008, DEMONS OF ST. PETERSBURG is in many peoples opinion an accurate and imposing historical cinematic drama that centres on and around the life of Russian novelist Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoesky. Directed by acclaimed Italian filmmaker Giuliano Montaldo who has with this motion picture managed to create an at times thought provoking and imposing piece of cinema. DEMONS OF ST. PETERSBURG is not only grand in its appearance but it is also an impressive and somewhat lavish production. The director relaying to the audience the way in which the writer lived, at times struggling with epilepsy and also giving them an insight into his mental state. Montaldo has a number of notable movies to his credit, GIORDANO BRUNO, SACCO AND VANZETTI and the sprawling epic TV series MARCO POLO to name but a handful, he began his career in film as an actor but began to work on his own movies during the early 1960,s gaining experience by acting as assistant director for esteemed and respected directors such as Carlo Lizzani, Sergio Leone, Francesco Rosi and Gillo Pontecorvo. It was whilst working with these filmmakers that Montaldo became aware of the artistry and musical talent of Ennio Morricone, and the composer soon became Montaldo’s preferred collaborator on the music side of things. The composer creating memorable scores for many of Montaldo’s productions. So it was something of a natural step for the filmmaker to turn to Morricone when it came to the music for DEMONS OF ST. PETERSBURG. The Italian Maestro has fashioned a highly dramatic and also emotive sounding score for the production, it contains a number of broodingly dark and somewhat sombre compositions within its running time, but there are also as many stock Morricone sounding pieces within the score that are like shafts of proverbial light which every so often manage to break through and delight and enthral the listener. These at times evoking past Morricone scores or at least hinting at the style and sensitivity which we are accustomed to when listening to Morricone. The score which is for the most part quite low-key still manages to achieve a sound and create an atmosphere that one readily associates with Morricone, plus there is a freshness and a vibrancy to it that has manifested itself in more recent works by the Maestro. It has about it shades of the classic Morricone that we know and love which he developed throughout the 1960,s and 1970,s and developed further into the 1980’s, plus there are also elements that are more conventional in their sound that the composer employs alongside his recognised and familiar style to create a sound that is still undoubtedly Morricone but at the same time posses an originality and freshness all of its own.
The opening cue, NEW ATTACK (NUOVO ATTENTO), establishes almost at once the sense of drama and of nervous tension, low wind instrumentation enhanced with dark sounding strings setting the scene for an anxious and yet strangely alluring piece which is further bolstered and enhanced by the use of brass which although is just momentary stab like nuances add much to the overall atmosphere and mood of the composition, the opening introduction segues into more urgent and foreboding strings that seem to swirl around and engulf the almost growling sound achieved by woodwind and brass, whilst harp and subdued use of percussion and piano act as a foundation for Morricone’s harrowing and tension filled strings which carry the composition to its conclusion. Track number 2, PAINFUL ETERNITY (DOLORSAMENTE SEMPRE),makes its entrance in a similar fashion to that of the opening cue, woodwind and sinister sounding strings acting as an introduction, the composer then augments and expands the cue with cimbalom which is struck forcefully to create a threatening and somewhat un-nerving atmosphere, the cue reverts back to strings and a bittersweet sounding viola is played in unison with restrained woodwind to create an almost fragile sounding piece, cimbalom returns to the equation adding more sinister undertones, the strings gaining momentum slightly but never overwhelmingly. Some of the score to DEMONS OF ST. PETERSBURG reminds me a little of Morricone’s music for NOSTROMO, it has those almost guttural but impish sounding woodwind flourishes that act as punctuation and are embellished by the underlying strings which add greater depth to the proceedings and also relay a sense of darkness and tension. The composer also makes effective use of female vocal within the score, although this is not the soaring or sensual sound of Edda Dell Orso, instead it is a more down to earth performance, more akin to the work of Gianna Spagnola, whom Morricone utilized on a number of his scores during the 1960,s and 1970,s. The wordless vocal performed by Paola Cecchi conjures up for me personally a sense of loneliness and also underlines the fragility and vulnerability of the films central character. In track number 4, PAINFUL LOVE 1,(DOLOROSAMENTE AMORE 1) we hear for the first time the more emotive content of Morricone’s score, cello and viola combine to perform a love theme that is haunting and heart rending, filled with emotion and although it is not a lavish or lush piece it still remains a touching and effective composition. Track number 16, FOR MY FATHER (A MIO PADRE) the final track on the compact disc which is the end title music from the film, is a lengthy piece that runs for nearly 9 minutes, Morricone employing the love theme from the score and giving the theme a fuller and more emotive working via the string section that is punctuated and underlined by woodwind, the final cue from the score is I suppose an overture of sorts as it contains elements of the central themes that we have heard throughout the soundtrack, in this we hear fleeting references to styles that Morricone has employed in the past such as the near wilting viola from MARCO POLO, with a trumpet solo that is reminiscent of DESERT OF THE TARTARS and a violin performance that echoes some of the Maestro’s more haunting and melodic moments from L’UMANOID.
DEMONS OF ST. PETERSBURG is an interesting score, and one that I know will be loved and devoured by collectors, it is a score that demands repeated listens as on each occasion one will find something new, something that is fresh, vibrant and above all original and entertaining. Presented wonderfully by keep moving records, with attractive front cover art work and numerous stills from the movie all in full colour plus informative liner notes by Gergely Hubai, who discusses both the movie and its score. Highly Recommended.
http://www.keepmovingrecords.com/eng/disc/53/
MOVIE MUSIC INTERNATIONAL. (MMI) . 