Composing an original score for a beloved piece of cinema is fraught with peril, but the Texas instrumental ensemble My Education proves graceful above all else with this album set to F.W. Murnau’s 1927 silent film Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans. It’s not quite post-rock and not quite orchestral, though there are vibraphone and strings involved. It feels like it’s informed as much by pure cinema as classical and other music genres.
The opening title track introduces a restrained cello and then weeping viola, gently bringing into focus a wide, calming backdrop and a number of small narratives pursued by each instrument. Viola is often the key melodic device, although acoustic guitar adds some lovely texture to the first track. ‘City Woman Theme’ is the closest things come to post-rock, thanks to its electric guitar, drums, and vibraphone. Almost danceable before closing on a noisy note, it makes clear how distinct each of these six tracks are. ‘Lust’ is dreamy and rich, while ‘Heave Oars’ climbs to a multi-guitar catharsis worthy of Explosions in the Sky and ‘Peasant Dance’ wields the viola for a sort of gypsy folk spell befitting the title. ‘A Man Alone’ supplies an eerie drone and then ‘Sunset’ closes the record on a triumphant yet understated note that’s rare in film scores today.
The big challenge in releasing this on its own is to allow the music to speak for itself without the images and story it was devised to accompany. But it does just that, and marvelously so.
Doug Wallen
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