Svet-Ake
Andre Matthias
" The intimate musical palette and subtle soloists performances evoke a very transcendent,calm atmosphere, and the composer adequately crafted sober and honest music "Written by Joep de Bruijn - Review of the download only release
Svet-Ake (The Light Thief) is a Kyrgyzian film directed by Aktan Arym Kubat. The film tells the story of an electrician operating in a country in transition, not only does this man provide many people with light, but universal humanists tokens of love, kindness and laughter. The wonderful German composer Andre Matthias composed the music to the film. His career started back in Germany, but over the years he has build up quite an impressive international career with scores to films like Zhan. Gu (The Drummer) and Blessed Benefit (Inshallah Estafadit).
Matthias uses a variety of soloist playing the violin, oud, guitar, several forms of percussion and some portions of keyboards. The actual soul of the music is the result of soloist performances of four different kinds of woodwind instruments; the Arabic ney, the Southeast Asian suling, the Armenian duduk and the Japanese shakuhachi. The intimate musical palette and subtle soloists performances evoke a very transcendent,calm atmosphere, and the composer adequately crafted sober and honest music. It is a score with a great humanistic approach and forms an easily accepted whole to connect with the main protagonist of the film. There's is just something about this warm and yet melancholic sound and its richness in different musical colors that make this an instantly likable and memorable work.
Clearly, the composer did not set out to create a score that was full of authentic and traditional Kyrgyzian music. Initially I was expecting some charming performances on instruments such as the charming komuz and the kyl kiak, but the composer's mixture is splendid in its own right. Matthias smartly integrates parts of several cultures and it is perhaps closest to Mongolian music. He did, however, managed to incorporate two beautiful to traditional pieces. Another interesting aspect is that the composer emulates the sound waves of electricity through a simple, effective use of chords.
Svet-Ake's music was previously released on Kronos records in 2011, limited to 500 cd copies. I own the original cd release and apparently this has not gone out-of-print yet. Nonetheless, it is wonderful that the digital release by Plaza Mayor Company makes this grand score more widely available.
Tracklist
1. The Light Thief (02:54)
2. Sad Wind (02:11)
3. The Ride (01:15)
4. Svet-ake's Love (01:55)
includes "The Women's Song" (traditional), performed by Taalaikan Abazova
5. Feel The Current (02:27)
6. Native Land (02:47)
7. A Helping Hand (02:06)
8. My Dreamer (02:31)
9. Last Rites (03:15)
includes "Koshok" (traditional), performed by Jamal Seidakmatova
10. An honourable Man (02:30)
11. The Women's Song (traditional) (02:45)
performed by Taalaikan Abazova
12. The Light (03:31)
13. Suite (09:07)
Total Duration: 39:14
(written 21-10-20017)
Matthias uses a variety of soloist playing the violin, oud, guitar, several forms of percussion and some portions of keyboards. The actual soul of the music is the result of soloist performances of four different kinds of woodwind instruments; the Arabic ney, the Southeast Asian suling, the Armenian duduk and the Japanese shakuhachi. The intimate musical palette and subtle soloists performances evoke a very transcendent,calm atmosphere, and the composer adequately crafted sober and honest music. It is a score with a great humanistic approach and forms an easily accepted whole to connect with the main protagonist of the film. There's is just something about this warm and yet melancholic sound and its richness in different musical colors that make this an instantly likable and memorable work.
Clearly, the composer did not set out to create a score that was full of authentic and traditional Kyrgyzian music. Initially I was expecting some charming performances on instruments such as the charming komuz and the kyl kiak, but the composer's mixture is splendid in its own right. Matthias smartly integrates parts of several cultures and it is perhaps closest to Mongolian music. He did, however, managed to incorporate two beautiful to traditional pieces. Another interesting aspect is that the composer emulates the sound waves of electricity through a simple, effective use of chords.
Svet-Ake's music was previously released on Kronos records in 2011, limited to 500 cd copies. I own the original cd release and apparently this has not gone out-of-print yet. Nonetheless, it is wonderful that the digital release by Plaza Mayor Company makes this grand score more widely available.
Tracklist
1. The Light Thief (02:54)
2. Sad Wind (02:11)
3. The Ride (01:15)
4. Svet-ake's Love (01:55)
includes "The Women's Song" (traditional), performed by Taalaikan Abazova
5. Feel The Current (02:27)
6. Native Land (02:47)
7. A Helping Hand (02:06)
8. My Dreamer (02:31)
9. Last Rites (03:15)
includes "Koshok" (traditional), performed by Jamal Seidakmatova
10. An honourable Man (02:30)
11. The Women's Song (traditional) (02:45)
performed by Taalaikan Abazova
12. The Light (03:31)
13. Suite (09:07)
Total Duration: 39:14
(written 21-10-20017)