Michael Hyman is a respectable movie scorer and opera composer who is known for his use of otherworldly textures and harmonies. Use of sustain in one section of instrumentation while other lower and possibly synthesized portions move to change the texture into an ocean of creative harmony.
The saxophone and the strings that follow in melody over the harmony is just beautiful and his use of non-root chords add to the sweetness. Reed instruments make the whole first number pop with surprise.
The first piano number “Big My Secret” is a ranging improvisation in D major that seems to suggest privacy of location and that equals intimacy with the piano and trying to find one’s soul in the music. I love how the octaves range from the very low to the very high. Intimacy with music is a key. Intimacy with God is what could be inferred from this passage as well. The ending of this piece is rather abrupt, but it leads right into the next section, “A Wild And Distant Shore.” It’s back to the texture on “To The Edge of The Earth.”
On the third track, it starts off with a beautiful and rapid sketch of strings with the saxophone, oboe and English Horn joining in melody in various parts of the texture.
“My Heart Asks the Pleasure First” is another beautiful piano track that seems to suggest the intimacy theme again. The A minor is rushing to find true love or some other distant emotion in a great exodus.
The following number which seems to be a saxophone quartet is really beautiful and expected as we have had textures for full orchestra and the piano but we now get to see one of the instruments that Nyman loves to use time and time again.
The latter track is then followed up by a reprise (or so it sounds) of the “My Heart Asks the Pleasure First,” this time with the underpinning and brightening of strings to make the texture ten times richer. Beautiful explorations in melody and harmony breathtakingly follow.
These first few pieces set the tone for the rest of the album. I can only imagine what the scenery of the film is like with this spectacular music as the backdrop. If you ever get the time, do listen to this spectacular music and let it take you to another place for a bit.
