This struck me, particularly near the beginning, as a more demonstrative cousin of Adam Janota Bzowski’s Saint Maud track from the film of the same name; as you put in your review of Bzowski’s soundtrack, “…something akin to a funeral dirge played on a dark day with glimpses of sun piercing through the clouds…it sounds like the music is walking on eggshells…”. Later, there seemed to be something of the impassioned-but-ever-circling search for spiritual direction one encounters in the later Schnittke symphonies. It all added up to a hard act for the later Proms premières to follow…
Yes, i know what you mean Chris. i think what Bzowski does in Saint Maud is more sophisticated and nuanced than what Hildur Guðnadóttir is doing here, but that’s because she’s more directly focused on melancholy than menace. This has grown on me – i’ve always had a bit of an up-and-down relationship with Guðnadóttir’s music (Joker was okay; Chernobyl was excellent; but a lot of her non-film solo stuff leaves me utterly cold), and it took a little time before i felt convinced that this piece works. i like its simplicity – for something like this, it’s essential.
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This struck me, particularly near the beginning, as a more demonstrative cousin of Adam Janota Bzowski’s Saint Maud track from the film of the same name; as you put in your review of Bzowski’s soundtrack, “…something akin to a funeral dirge played on a dark day with glimpses of sun piercing through the clouds…it sounds like the music is walking on eggshells…”. Later, there seemed to be something of the impassioned-but-ever-circling search for spiritual direction one encounters in the later Schnittke symphonies. It all added up to a hard act for the later Proms premières to follow…
Yes, i know what you mean Chris. i think what Bzowski does in Saint Maud is more sophisticated and nuanced than what Hildur Guðnadóttir is doing here, but that’s because she’s more directly focused on melancholy than menace. This has grown on me – i’ve always had a bit of an up-and-down relationship with Guðnadóttir’s music (Joker was okay; Chernobyl was excellent; but a lot of her non-film solo stuff leaves me utterly cold), and it took a little time before i felt convinced that this piece works. i like its simplicity – for something like this, it’s essential.