Updated comments to Laura Rossi’s THE BATTLE OF THE SOMME

I’ve just updated some additional comments to my original post of my favourite score for a film from 1916: Laura Rossi’s The Battle of The Somme. Released by Virtuosa Records it’s a lovely piece of work.

TALL SHIPS: THE PRIVATEER LYNX – David James Nielsen

Original Review by Alan Rogers (First uploaded at maintitles.net)

Tall Ships: The Privateer Lynx is the first in a series of documentaries dedicated to some of America’s greatest sailing ships. This documentary follows the experiences of a group of individuals on – what is essentially – a floating museum, learning about American history through active sailing training aboard a real wooden ship of historical significance. The ship is an 1812 privateer ship named Lynx, built originally by a young American to “defend American freedom by evading the British naval fleet blockading American ports.” Built in 2001, The Privateer Lynx is an interpretation of that historic ship.

Documentary director Robert Margouleff turned to composer David James Nielsen to provide him with a score that would be “memorable, noble and majestic” and Nielsen’s score begins with a noble statement (in the brass) of a main theme that does evoke the open sea: a theme that rises and falls as though reflecting the ebb and flow of the sea itself. The theme reappears on several occasions throughout the score, with a particularly memorable playing on acoustic guitar in “The Isthmus”. With the various iterations of this theme and the heavy use of woodwinds in the orchestration, these all reinforce the maritime nature of the score. The light-hearted and jaunty, jig-like winds flutterings in “Learning The Ropes” add an innocent angle to the sea-faring adventures.