{"id":7042,"date":"2013-09-19T13:44:18","date_gmt":"2013-09-19T17:44:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=7042"},"modified":"2013-09-19T13:44:18","modified_gmt":"2013-09-19T17:44:18","slug":"cd-africa-bbc-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=7042","title":{"rendered":"CD: Africa (BBC) (2013)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Soundtrack \u00a0Reviews<\/a> \/ <\/em>A<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>Rating: Very Good<\/p>\n

Label: Silva Screen Records<\/a> \/ Released: March 18, 2013<\/p>\n

Tracks & Album Length: 26 tracks \/ (68:02)<\/p>\n

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Special Notes: (none)<\/p>\n

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Composer: Sarah Class<\/p>\n

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Review:<\/p>\n

Joining the BBC\u2019s team of nature doc composers \u2013 which includes George Fenton (Frozen Planet<\/a><\/strong> [M<\/a>]), Nitin Sawhney (Human Planet<\/strong>), and Martin Kiszko (Alien Empire<\/strong>) \u2013 is Sarah Class, and her roots in songwriting have given the score a highly melodic structure with each cue firmly rooted to a fully developed theme.<\/p>\n

Exploiting the breadth of the BBC Orchestra, Class\u2019 compositions are a mix of largely classical orchestral and contemporary melodic writing. The generally modest inclusion of percussion instruments adds a slightly exotic yet wholly accessible feel. Most of the score unfolds like complete chapters tied to groups of animals and \/ or behavioral montages, giving Silva\u2019s beautifully mastered album an elegant flow.<\/p>\n

The main theme is unusually passionate, but it matches the insanely detailed imagery in what\u2019s so far the BBC\u2019s most beautiful HD production. More attention was given to footage of creatures large and almost invisible, with incredible tracking shots on land and in the air, and Class\u2019 music emphasizes the lengthy segments where life and death struggles unfold in almost macro detail. The rippling percussion in \u201cLion and Lizards Rock Caf\u00e9\u201d is maybe a little too poppish (much in the way a few IMAX scores are sometimes designed to appeal to a broad, G-rated crowd with cheeky, jokey cues), but the mood & idiomatic change breaks up what could easily have been a score whose passionate tone could\u2019ve devolved into unintentional earnestness.<\/p>\n

The score\u2019s most impressive sections are perhaps the least emotional \u2013 the subtly of harp and resonant tones in \u201cLakes and Flamingos\u201d is a major highlight \u2013 and the handful of percussion cues have an upbeat style rather than harsh edges, such as the synth-augmented \u201cForce of the Whale.\u201d Solo violin and gentle piano carry the delicate theme in \u201cBeauty of the Aguillus,\u201d and the waltz rhythm in \u201cBangweulu Swam\u201d is refreshingly playful.<\/p>\n

A few cues are tinged with a kind of New Age, Spielbergian wonderment \u2013 \u201cUp in the Clouds\u201d works better in the doc than as solo cue \u2013 and \u201cTurtles\u201d is a little emotionally overwrought with an oft-used \u2018danger\u2019 surge, but Class\u2019 contribution to the BBC\u2019s nature series is pretty solid, adding another venerable credit to her existing body of documentary scores.<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 2013 Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

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External References:<\/p>\n

IMDB <\/a>— Soundtrack Album<\/a> — Composer Filmography<\/a><\/p>\n

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Select Merchants:<\/p>\n

Amazon.ca<\/a>\"\" —<\/span> Amazon.com<\/a>\"\" —<\/span> Amazon.co.uk<\/a>\"\" —\u00a0BSX<\/a> —\u00a0Intrada<\/a> —\u00a0SAE<\/a><\/p>\n

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Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Soundtrack Reviews<\/a> <\/em>\/\u00a0A<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Return to:\u00a0Home \/\u00a0Soundtrack \u00a0Reviews \/ A . Rating: Very Good Label: Silva Screen Records \/ Released: March 18, 2013 Tracks & Album Length: 26 tracks \/ (68:02) . Special Notes: (none) . Composer: Sarah Class . . Review: Joining the BBC\u2019s team of nature doc composers \u2013 which includes George Fenton (Frozen Planet [M]), Nitin […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[2232,502,2233],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-1PA","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7042"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7042"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7042\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7065,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7042\/revisions\/7065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}