British period dramas have always been a source of interest for American TV viewers.  In 1986, Channel 4 in the UK produced this unusual four-part series and feature film based on Percy Bysshe Shelley’s first novel, Zastrozzi, a Romance.  The series premiered in the Spring of 1986 and at the time was one of the largest budgets for a C4 drama.  The rather unwieldy story became an unusual commentary on the decay of contemporary England wrapped around the theme of desire.  It was adapted by David G. Hopkins who also directed and is known for some as some of the first work for the likes of Tilda Swinton, Geoff Francis, Mark McGann, Hillary Trott, and Chris Barrie (Red Dwarf).  Music for the series was commissioned prior to the beginning of principal photography—a rather unusual approach.  Composer Martin Kiszko used the novel, Hopkins’ screenplay, and other of the director’s ideas to craft his score.  It was his first television scoring job.  Since he has provided music for a number of documentaries and series and film scores, most recently for the BAFTA-nominated The Killing of John Lennon (2006).

The opening titles have a slightly smaller string ensemble with flute and harpsichord that set the stage.  The harpsichord does add a slightly odd quality to the score as it appears against often beautiful lyric writing that does a nice job of implying early 19^th-Century parlor music with an often quite intimate quality.  There are fun little waltzes strewn across the album, the first “Petrol Pump Attendant’s Waltz” being one of many.  “I Will Love Who I Love” combines a string quartet with saxophone and piano for a rather unique, and troubled romantic moment.  Some tracks provide very brief brushstrokes with the longer segments creating a rather engaging variety of melodies and delightful writing for solo flute, clarinet, or saxophone.  The light touches add an often gentle underscoring option that is reminiscent of Richard Rodney Bennet. Beautiful poignant melodies for flute and other solo instruments are quite engaging.  Some of the harpsichord moments (“Priest’s Rant”) are like mad Handelian interludes.  Kiszko’s melodies move between these period styles, and those which move just slightly off what one might expect making for some rather unique harmonic shifts that feel like part of a Gothic horror score at times, but always return to more familiar harmonic realms.

The score moves through these seeming almost Gothic romance/mystery style.  The intimate quartet quality allows for a chamber music approach that is heightened by the piano lines which lend the music a more contemporary feel.  The presentation is a snapshot of the some 140+ cues Kiszko wrote for the series.  The music is sequences well allowing for an almost suite-like feel to this rather unique score for a forgotten 1980s British program.  There is much here that one can hear in more familiar recent BBC dramas putting Zastrozzi showing how this style has descended and adapted some over the years.  This will be a delightful find.

The International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA) announces its list of winners for excellence in musical scoring in 2016, in the 2016 IFMCA Awards.

The award for Score of the Year goes to Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson for his work on the critically acclaimed science fiction drama “Arrival,” directed by Denis Villeneuve, starring Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner. IFMCA member Jon Broxton said that “Jóhannsson’s approach to solving the film’s musical problems [is] absolutely fascinating, and the way he was able to musically convey some of the film’s more challenging cerebral ideas involving language and communication is astonishingly accomplished,” while IFMCA member Daniel Schweiger said that Jóhannsson “brilliantly captures both a sense of wonder and fear with beholding the mind-boggling, verbally-scrambled unknown, as whale cry motifs join with alternately moaning and chattering voices, backed by a strong orchestral sound that serves as a powerful universal musical translator in a way that’s both harmonically understandable, and profoundly strange.” This is the first IFMCA Award win of Jóhannsson’s career, him having previously been nominated for Best Original Score for a Drama Film for “The Theory of Everything” in 2014.

Composer Michael Giacchino is named Composer of the Year for the second year in a row, having written four outstanding works spanning multiple genres in the past year. His work in 2016 included the action-packed Marvel comic book fantasy film “Doctor Strange,” the socially aware Disney animated film “Zootopia,” the third installment of the rebooted Star Trek franchise “Star Trek Beyond,” and the score for the first of the Star Wars spinoff films, “Rogue One”. IFMCA member James Southall called “Rogue One” “a very impressive achievement indeed,” while IFMCA member Christian Clemmensen described “Doctor Strange” as “a mystical, optimistic, and smart superhero score with an alluring primary identity and generally excellent combination of electronic and ethnic accents with standard orchestral and choral elements.” This marks the fourth time Giacchino has been named Composer of the Year, following his previous wins in 2004, 2009, and 2015.

Composer Justin Hurwitz won three awards – Breakthrough Composer of the Year, Best Original Score for a Comedy Film, and Film Music Composition of the Year – all for his work on the massively popular and critically acclaimed musical comedy-drama “La La Land” directed by Damian Chazelle, starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. “La La Land” is only the second full theatrical score of Hurwitz’s career, and for it he wrote a jazz-inspired orchestral score, and half a dozen original songs (with songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul), the melodies of which flow through the majority of the underscore. IFMCA member Mihnea Manduteanu called “La La Land” “delightful and playful” and claimed that it captures “what it means to fall in love, to play, to dream,” while IFMCA member Jon Broxton heralded the score as “a masterpiece”.

The various other genre awards are won by Abel Korzeniowski for his music for the darkly stylish revenge drama “Nocturnal Animals”; Christopher Young for his wildly exciting action score for the Chinese historical adventure “Xi You Ji Zhi: Sun Wukong San Da Baigu Jing [The Monkey King 2]”; James Newton Howard for his score for lush and whimsical fantasy score for the Harry Potter prequel “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”; Laurent Perez del Mar for his evocative, emotional music for the French animated film “La Tortue Rouge [The Red Turtle]”; and Panu Aaltio for his wonderful music for the Finnish nature documentary “Järven Tarina [Tale of a Lake]”.

In the non-film categories, composer Ramin Djawadi wins the award for Best Original Score for a Television Series for his magnificent work on the sixth series of the critically acclaimed HBO fantasy drama “Game of Thrones,” while composer Austin Wintory wins the award for Best Original Score for a Video Game or Interactive Media for the second year in a row, this time for his work on the meditative, dream-like undersea adventure game “Abzû”.

Oakland, California-based Intrada Records is named Film Music Record Label of the Year in recognition of their ongoing excellence in restoring and releasing the most beloved film scores of the past. They were also honored with the award for Best New Archival Release - Re-Release or Re-Recording of an Existing Score for their lavish expanded release of Elmer Bernstein’s classic 1956 score “The Ten Commandments,” which IFMCA member Craig Lysy described as “one of the finest [scores] ever written and a glorious example of Golden Age film scores”. Finally, Burbank, California-based La La Land Record and producer Mike Matessino wins the award for Best New Archival Release – Compilation for their superb re-mastered release of “The John Williams Jurassic Park Collection”, a compilation of the timeless 1990s dinosaur adventure scores “Jurassic Park” and “The Lost World”.

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COMPLETE LIST OF WINNERS

FILM SCORE OF THE YEAR
•    Arrival, music by Jóhann Jóhannsson

COMPOSER OF THE YEAR
•    Michael Giacchino

BREAKTHROUGH COMPOSER OF THE YEAR
•    Justin Hurwitz

FILM MUSIC COMPOSITION OF THE YEAR
•     “Epilogue” from La La Land, music by Justin Hurwitz

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A DRAMA FILM
•    Nocturnal Animals, music by Abel Korzeniowski

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A COMEDY FILM
•    La La Land, music by Justin Hurwitz

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR AN ACTION/ADVENTURE/THRILLER FILM
•    Xi You Ji Zhi: Sun Wukong San Da Baigu Jing [The Monkey King 2], music by Christopher Young

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A FANTASY/SCIENCE FICTION/HORROR FILM
•    Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, music by James Newton Howard

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR AN ANIMATED FEATURE
•    La Tortue Rouge [The Red Turtle], music by Laurent Perez del Mar

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A DOCUMENTARY
•    Järven Tarina [Tale of a Lake], music by Panu Aaltio

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A TELEVISION SERIES
•    Game of Thrones, music by Ramin Djawadi

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A VIDEO GAME OR INTERACTIVE MEDIA
•    Abzû, music by Austin Wintory

BEST NEW ARCHIVAL RELEASE - RE-RELEASE OR RE-RECORDING OF AN EXISTING SCORE
•    The Ten Commandments, music by Elmer Bernstein; album produced by Douglass Fake and Roger Feigelson; liner notes by Frank K. De Wald; album art direction by Joe Sikoryak (Intrada)

BEST NEW ARCHIVAL RELEASE - COMPILATION
•    The John Williams Jurassic Park Collection, music by John Williams; album produced by Mike Matessino; liner notes by Mike Matessino; album art direction by Jim Titus (La-La Land)

FILM MUSIC RECORD LABEL OF THE YEAR
•    Intrada Records, Douglass Fake, Roger Feigelson