Composer Guy Farley is one of those names one sees on numerous credits of movies and is a composer who always produces wonderful scores for any genre of film. Sadly he seems to very rarely get credit for his musical prowess and his expertise in the art of film scoring, which can also be said for many composers who work in film and television who continue writing great scores that are unfortunately sidestepped or overlooked for the more lucrative and spotlighted scores from big Hollywood productions which contain music by composers who in most cases do not even come close to the talents of lesser known Maestros who work in the field such as Guy Farley. The SECRET SHARER is an interesting score and contains a number of oriental sounding instruments within its make up, it has a central theme that is in my opinion very European in its style and sound, in fact the utilisation of the accordion and later the trumpet and woodwind to relay this piece did remind me some what of IL POSTINO and also evoked memories of Rota’s GODFATHER soundtrack. It is however the highly melodic and romantic sounding themes that fill the score which attracted me to it. The composer uses the string section and also piano to purvey a sense of romanticism that is tinged with melancholy throughout the work, Farley also brings into the equation woodwinds, harp, horns and ethnic flutes and percussion. For me also there were little nuances and quirks of orchestration etc that gave the work a certain Barry-esque sound, the rich sounding strings and also the composer’s obvious gift to create haunting musical passages that are delicate, fragile and highly emotive bringing forth some beautiful and stunningly touching melodious pieces. This score is certainly worth having as I know that you will return to it many times to sample the highly emotive and poignant compositions. But hang on there is more as they say. The compact disc also includes the unused score for the South African movie TSOTSI (2005) why this score was unused I do not know as it is wonderfully earthy and haunting. Farley employing the distinct vocal talents of Nicola Emmanuel (who also performed on George Fenton’s CRY FREEDOM). Farley enhanced her vocal performance with ethnic flutes, Ocarina and punctuated these with a sprinkling of African percussion underlining the proceedings with plaintive and at times dissonant strings that bring a richness and depth to the work. Again I have to say that this is work of merit and quality, the composer conveying sadness via his thematic material and also creating an atmosphere that is both dramatic and emotive. Both scores on this compact disc are in a word stunning.
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http://caldera-records.com/portfolio/secret-sharer/gallery/soundtracks/
MOVIE MUSIC INTERNATIONAL. (MMI) . 