Weekly Review No. 11 | The Gift of Mortality
- Rebecca D'Souza
- Apr 9, 2021
- 2 min read
Composed and conducted by James Horner for Bicentennial Man (1999)
Track 16 from the original motion picture soundtrack. | (Defense1280, 2011)
Review
This review comes to you strewn with a few links to orchestral music. I think I’ve been fascinated by classical music that mirrors the passing of time for a while – as well as classical music with pizzazz that encapsulates change. I identify both of those qualities in Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, with Winter, for me, being particularly energising. Listening to the whole symphony on a cool rainy day is so satisfying and settling.
Now coming to The Gift of Mortality, the message more so than the music stands testament to bridging humanity and high tech advancement. The music also suits Andrew’s character (played by Robin Williams) very well. Iconic by the fact that it opposes the aeon-long search for the elixir of life. Rather that our limited days on earth is a gift. That garners appreciation for smaller, more benign moments in our lives. A pat on the back, a funny e-mail.
A strew of links,
The Passage Of Time, A Changing Of Seasons.
Track 8 from the original motion picture soundtrack. | (Defense1280, Bicentennial Man - The Passage of Time, 2011)
Starting at about 5:24, the music grows into the culmination of an enduring experience. Where one rests ones bones, after a life long-lived. Like Andrew.
The Arrival of the Birds
Original soundtrack by the Cinematic Orchestra from The Crimson Wing, The Mystery of the Flamingoes. Disney Nature | (The Cinematic Orchestra, 2018)
A fan-based edit of Arrival of the Birds (Extended) | (Bennett, 2015)
Cover image: The Theory of Everything (2014)
An orchestration that presses the keys to the musical scale of human emotions.
Fitting, how the book The Theory of Everything (2002) by Stephen Hawking explains the creation and laws of the universe, where an end of music can do the same. Likewise, Ludovico Einaudi’s music expands and then retracts back again, to a singular point.
Fly (Visualizer). A piece taken from the album Divenire by Ludovico Einaudi | (Einaudi, 2021)
To morph into one’s shell.
Though there isn’t variegated, telescopic patterns and colours like a usual visualizer, the microscopic, flitting imagery here is spot on.
Videos
Bennett, P. (2015, June 9). Arrival of the Birds (Extended). Retrieved from YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GYvLyfa0Lg
Defense1280. (2011, April 9). Bicentennial Man - The Gift of Mortality. Retrieved from YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_q10Bmr9ssg
Defense1280. (2011, April 8). Bicentennial Man - The Passage of Time. Retrieved from YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBttCh0Eq2Y
Einaudi, L. (2021, February 4). Ludovico Einaudi - Fly (Visualizer). Retrieved from YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LRwYKpV-6A
The Cinematic Orchestra. (2018, March 30). Arrival of the Birds. Retrieved from YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9gFLkNdHvA
Image Sources
Declercq, L. (2014, August 10). the arrival of birds cinematic orchestra. Retrieved from YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6tqaMfk74o
IMDb. (2000, January 21). Bicentennial Man (1999). Retrieved from IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0182789/
silvatrend8553. (n.d.). Smile! You're at the best Book Deals & Review site ever. Retrieved from Dog Eared Pages: https://silvatrend8553.blog/2017/08/23/wonderful-wednesday-bargains-freebies-reviews-56/4-stars-2/
Comments