LUZ DE SOLEDAD.

 

Composer Oscar Martin Leanizbaruttia, is a newcomer to film music and a very welcome newcomer he is as well. His music is filled with a freshness and a highly emotive aura that is not only poignant and haunting but it not only does its job, which is to support and enhance the movies it ingratiates, but also stands alone as an entertaining and enriching experience when one savours it just as music without the images. LUZ DE SOLEDAD, was released in 2016 and is a biographical drama. It focuses upon Olga who is an only daughter and when her Father needs care after becoming ill it falls to her to carry out these duties as well as working all day in a law firm. She becomes exhausted and turns to the Church for help and in particular to a nun Sister Ines, who is a servant of Mary, much to the annoyance of her Father. The film tells of the beginnings of the order of the servants of Mary which is a religious order that was established in Madrid in 1851 by Father Miguel Martinez, and one which was guided, developed, and further established by Soledad Torres Acosta until her death in 1887. We see the persecution that the order has suffered during its formative years and the hardship that the servants of Mary had to endure, via wars, epidemics, and ignorance. The musical score as one can imagine given the films storyline has within it a deep and profound religious atmosphere, which the composer creates via the utilisation of subdued woodwinds, that are woven into the lilting and potently poignant strings, which together bring forth a rich and affecting spiritual mood. The score in places reminded me somewhat of the works of Italian composer Marco Frisina and at times lean towards the style and sound achieved by another Spanish composer Oscar Navarro (LA MULA), the composer purveying a fragility and an earthiness within his simple but powerfully emotive motifs. Solo violin is featured throughout as is a beautiful solo Female soprano, which adds so much depth and emotion to the score and becomes a mesmerising and vital component of the work. It is in the main a symphonic work but I think although I cannot be 100 percent sure that there are maybe a few synthetic aids used along the way, these however fuse and unite with the fully orchestral sound that is achieved. I must say that this is a rather lovely score, brimming with a richness and an abundance of themes which are varied and hauntingly beautiful, certainly an unexpected and wonderfully entertaining treat.

TRACK LISTING.
1.
Titulo
1:04
2.
Chamberí
4:39
3.
Quiero Ser Monja
2:04
4.
Una Nueva Fundación
1:42
5.
Los Votos
3:34
6.
Adelita
1:26
7.
Josefa
2:49
8.
En el Hospital
1:58
9.
Ciudad Rodrigo
2:24
10.
Madrid en Llamas
5:09
11.
Negativa en Palacio
1:22
12.
Despedida
2:17
13.
Dificultades
4:36
14.
Don Arturo
1:17
15.
En la Lechería
1:03
16.
El Sueño de Gabino
1:21
17.
Adelita No Responde
2:44
18.
Cólera
2:00
19.
Cuarentena
3:22
20.
Hasta el Final
2:24
21.
Hermana Soledad
1:02
22.
“Adelante!”
3:19
23.
Créditos Finales