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Engineered by Released by Album cover copyright (c) 2005 Commotion Records; review copyright (c) 2006 James Southall |
MY ARCHITECT Splendid,
moving documentary music A review by JAMES SOUTHALL A documentary about famed architect Louis
Kahn, directed by his son Nathaniel, My Architect is an acclaimed (though
little-seen) film. Documentaries are, of course, all the rage these days
thanks in large part to Michael Moore; whatever you think about him and his
films, the impact they've had, to reignite the whole (very important) aspect of
filmmaking has been remarkable indeed. The success of March of the
Penguins in 2005 is further proof. As they become higher profile,
everything about them is becoming slicker and smoother, sometimes stretching to
orchestral scores. Such is the case with My Architect, which
features a string orchestra plus a few soloists, playing original music composed
by Joseph Vitarelli. I must admit that I don't know much about
Vitarelli and his previous music, but he caught me off-guard here. Far
from the quirky style one might expect, My Architect features moving,
frequently tragic-sounding, always beautiful music. It opens with the
elegiac "Adagio", which sets the tone for most of the score, with the
strings playing a poignant, heartfelt piece. It recurs much through the
relatively brief score, and is always moving. Similar ideas crop up in the
two excellent "American Hymn" pieces, and the end title suite which
closes the album nicely summaries it all. The album is slightly eclectic though, with
those moving string pieces being broken up by a couple of more lighthearted
score tracks from Vitarelli (the sprightly, fun "Beginnings"
and"Travel Waltz") and an eclectic mix of source music, from ragtime
through Copland to the middle east. There's nothing wrong with any of
them, but they do disrupt the emotional flow of Vitarelli's score as a
whole. There is much to recommend here, and those who admire scores with a
complete lack of showboating, but which feature highly-effective emotional music
all the same (perhaps similar to what Mark Isham might have written) will surely
find a lot to enjoy. Buy
this CD from amazon.com by clicking here!
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