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The soundtrack from Martin Scoresese's Scorsese's Shutter Island is as good an introduction to modern classical music as any. MP3 Maniaco:
Produced by longtime collaborator Robbie Robertson, the tale of two U.S. Marshals sent to a remote Massachusetts island to investigate a murder is lent enormous weight by a score cobbled from the dismal atmospherics (the majority of the film takes place in a hospital for the criminally insane) of modern classical heavyweights like John Cage, Ingram Marshall, Max Richter, John Adams, and Brian Eno.
Dismal atmospherics? I'd say inviting aesthetic worlds. Fog Tropes! Music for Marcel Duchamp! Christian Zeal! Lizard Point!...
Disc: 1
1. Fog Tropes (Orchestra of St. Lukes, conducted by John Adams)
2. Symphony #3: Passacaglia - Allegro Moderato (National Polish Radio Symphony, conducted by Antonio Wit)
3. Music For Marcel Duchamp (Philipp Vandre, prepared piano)
4. Hommage a John Cage (Nam June Paik)
5. Lontano (Wiener Philharmoniker, conducted by Claudio Abbado)
6. Rothko Chapel 2 (UC Berkeley Chamber Chorus)
7. Cry (Johnny Ray)
8. On The Nature Of Daylight (Max Richter)
9. Uaxuctum: The Legend Of The Mayan City Which They Themselves Destroyed For Religious Reasons - 3rd M (Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra; Peter Rundel, conductor)
10. Quartet For Strings And Piano In A Minor (Prazak Quartet)
Disc: 2
1. Christian Zeal and Activity (John Adams / Edo de Waart & San Francisco Symphony)
2. Suite For Symphonic Strings: Nocturne (The New Professionals Orchestra, conducted by Rebecca Miller)
3. Lizard Point (Brian Eno)
4. Four Hymns, II For Cello And Double Bass (Torleif Thedeen & Entcho Radoukanov)
5. Root Of An Unfocus (John Cage)
6. Prelude - The Bay (Ingram Marshall)
7. Tomorrow Night (Lonnie Johnson)
8. This Bitter Earth / On The Nature Of Daylight (Dinah Washington & Max Richter)
That opening music turned out to be Ingram Marshall’s haunting “Fog Tropes.” The 1981 new-music classic found its way onto the screen thanks to the famed singer, songwriter and guitarist Robbie Robertson, who was music supervisor for “Shutter Island.” And Marshall’s wonderful piece, which was a hit of the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s recent West Coast, Left Coast festival, is only the beginning of a remarkable and gratifying collection of classic avant-garde scores Robertson has assembled for Martin Scorsese’s new, and I think mostly misunderstood, film.
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