| As a composer, musician and teacher, it's very likely | | | | "The Storm": a violent start to the track, full of |
| that I've heard most kinds of music over the years. | | | | discordant harmony and very evocative of a storm. |
| However, I still love the music of the cinema and, in | | | | Pizzicato strings produce the rain and fast runs create |
| particular, old horror movie soundtracks (think Hammer | | | | an impression of speed. |
| Films, etc). Dracula music is a firm favourite! | | | | "Horrible Tragedy": not sure if this is bi- or tri-tonal! |
| Let's start with music by Philip Glass, composed for | | | | Sounds like every member of the quartet is playing in |
| the 1931 Bela Lugosi classic film Dracula and | | | | a different key. I like its hypnotic qualities and simple |
| performed by the wonderful Kronos String Quartet. | | | | short riffs. |
| Glass's minimalist style lends itself well to this | | | | "In the Theatre": a great haunting melody and easy |
| subject-matter. The album is modern sounding but with | | | | chord progressions - reminds me of Phantom of the |
| a kind of timeless chamber-music quality, and is a | | | | Opera for some reason! |
| great accompaniment to a dialogue-only film. | | | | "Renfield": a surprisingly beautiful and sympathetic |
| The usual Glass fingerprints are here: repetitive ostinati, | | | | sound for our resident madman! Very classical |
| arpeggios, motifs and rocking two-note bass lines, but | | | | sounding with some predictable chord changes and |
| touched with tender, lyrical moments. To me (being a | | | | two-note bass accompaniment, later moving into |
| melody-man at heart!), it was these melodic moments | | | | triplets. Very nice. |
| which prevented this album from becoming too tedious. | | | | This is not the usual blood-spattered Dracula music, full |
| Don't get me wrong; I enjoy modern, dissonant music, | | | | of diminished chords and squealing strings. Yes, it can |
| but eventually I long for a damn-good tune and this | | | | be repetitive, but Glass seems to be using a greater |
| album gave me something close to that. | | | | range of tone colours than usual and, for this style of |
| Most of the 26 tracks are quite short (1-4 minutes) and, | | | | music, I found it quite tuneful (although you'd be |
| although eerie, are surprisingly tuneful. The string playing | | | | hard-pressed to whistle along with the CD!). |
| is excellent, as you'd expect from the Kronos gang. | | | | Perhaps the disc gets rather tiring half-way through: 26 |
| Here are a few of my favourite highlights: | | | | tracks is a lot of minimalist music! I have to admit that |
| "Excellent, Mr. Renfield": an eerie piece with the | | | | I've not seen the film with this soundtrack, but I've |
| expected repeated ostinato/riff but with loud scary | | | | heard that it complements the images perfectly, |
| moments when the quartet suddenly burst in. The | | | | especially in 'Carriage Without a Driver', where the |
| ticking bass line keeps things moving and a great | | | | spinning wheels are clearly portrayed and the music |
| winding melody over the top completes the image of | | | | invokes a sense of menace. |
| the fly-eating lunatic who lives in the asylum! | | | | On the whole... I like it! |