Mr. Turner (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack to the 2014 film of the same name directed by Mike Leigh based on the life of English painter J. M. W. Turner. Gary Yershon composed the film's score which released through Varèse Sarabande on 9 December 2014 to positive reviews and earned him a nomination for Academy Award for Best Original Score.
| Mr. Turner (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Film score by | ||||
| Released | 9 December 2014 | |||
| Recorded | 2014 | |||
| Studio |
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| Genre | Film score | |||
| Length | 28:29 | |||
| Label | Varèse Sarabande | |||
| Producer | Gary Yershon | |||
| Gary Yershon chronology | ||||
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Background
editMr. Turner is Yershon's third collaboration with Leigh after Happy-Go-Lucky (2008) and Another Year (2010).[1] Both Yershon and Leigh refrained from emitting the 19th century through the music—which is the style of music for most conventional period drama—as the latter did not want it to be felt pastiche. This provided him Yershon freedom for exploring other musical vocabularies. He had composed music from the Royal Academy sequence to Turner's encounter with Soane and Pickersgill in the ante-chamber. But, as he discussed with Leigh, he came up with a conclusion that a lot of music being unnecessary which resulted him cutting down the cues from several sequences.[2]
Yershon used the saxophone, clarinet and strings and eventually performed in glissando to follow the modern techniques. For the Royal Academy sequence, the timpani is played by an unconventional musical ensemble which involves saxophonists and tuba players. Initially, Yershon wanted the string ensemble to play for a concerto grosso for a string quintet, but eventually led them to play for the particular sequence.[3][4]
Release
editThe original score for Mr. Turner was distributed as an album through Varèse Sarabande. The 21-track album which runs for 28 minutes, was released internationally on 9 December 2014 and accompanied by the music for Leigh's short film A Running Jump (2012), also composed by Yershon. The album also contained eight cues from the short film's score running for nearly 27 minutes, that expand the album's length to 56 minutes.[5]
Reception
editJoe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal called it as an "exquisite, unobtrusively modernist music".[6] Matt Goldberg of Collider wrote "Gary Yershon’s score is triumphant but in between the notes there’s a mournful, off-key tune."[7] Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian wrote "Gary Yershon's delicate score creates the groundwork for its pathos."[8] Daniel Kasman of Mubi wrote "The score, by Gary Yershon, was, unlike the film, always surprising and working in an unsettling, subtle dissonant key".[9] Scott Foundas of Variety wrote "Composer Gary Yershon’s original score alternates an atonal woodwind theme with sharp, staccato strings to create something like the musical equivalent of Turner’s restless, roiling spirit."[10] Dana Stevens of Slate wrote "The score by Gary Yershon is unexpectedly modern and spare, interrupting the sense of period verisimilitude and leaving the viewer a little off balance, as if to remind us that Turner, too, wasn’t quite of own time."[11]
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Mr. Turner" | 3:22 |
| 2. | "Colour Shop and Market" | 1:34 |
| 3. | "Preparations" | 0:59 |
| 4. | "To Petworth" | 0:39 |
| 5. | "Margate Sands" | 0:28 |
| 6. | "Long Time Ago" | 0:20 |
| 7. | "Ailing" | 1:10 |
| 8. | "Mourning" | 0:46 |
| 9. | "Quiet House" | 0:57 |
| 10. | "Walks" | 1:01 |
| 11. | "Varnishing Day" | 0:26 |
| 12. | "Action Painting" | 1:28 |
| 13. | "Lashed to the Mast" | 1:11 |
| 14. | "Margate Again" | 1:21 |
| 15. | "The Fighting Temeraire" | 1:22 |
| 16. | "Steam Railway" | 0:49 |
| 17. | "Critics" | 0:57 |
| 18. | "Low" | 1:35 |
| 19. | "On the Jetty" | 1:37 |
| 20. | "Old and New" | 2:10 |
| 21. | "End Credits" | 4:17 |
| Total length: | 28:29 | |
Accolades
edit| Award | Category | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Academy Awards | Best Original Score | Nominated | [12] [13] |
| ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards | Best Film Music | Nominated | [14] [15] |
| Ivor Novello Awards | Best Original Film Score | Nominated | [16] [17] [18] |
References
edit- ^ "Gary Yershon Scoring Mike Leigh's 'Mr. Turner'". Film Music Reporter. Archived from the original on 21 January 2015. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
- ^ Lee, Ann. "Critically acclaimed writer-director Mike Leigh on music in film". Spitfire Audio. Archived from the original on 8 September 2022. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
- ^ Desowitz, Bill (13 February 2015). "How They Did It: The Royal Academy Scene in 'Mr. Turner'". IndieWire. Archived from the original on 8 June 2024. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
- ^ Gallo, Phil (11 February 2015). "Oscars 2015: Best Original Score Nominees Reveal the Origins of Their Movies' Musical Themes". Billboard. Archived from the original on 9 December 2022. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
- ^ "Soundtrack Details Announced for Mike Leigh's 'Mr. Turner'". Film Music Reporter. 4 November 2014. Archived from the original on 5 November 2014. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
- ^ Morgenstern, Joe (18 December 2014). "'Mr. Turner' Review: Scope, Depth and Dazzling Details". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 31 December 2014. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
- ^ Goldberg, Matt (19 December 2014). "Mr. Turner Review". Collider. Archived from the original on 5 January 2015. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
- ^ Bradshaw, Peter (30 October 2014). "Mr Turner review – Timothy Spall and Mike Leigh command the screen". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 31 October 2014. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
- ^ Kasman, Daniel (16 May 2014). "Cannes 2014. Mike Leigh's "Mr. Turner"". Mubi. Archived from the original on 8 June 2024. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
- ^ Foundas, Scott (15 May 2014). "Cannes Film Review: 'Mr. Turner'". Variety. Archived from the original on 19 October 2014. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
- ^ Stevens, Dana (18 December 2014). "Mr. Turner". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Archived from the original on 21 February 2020. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
- ^ Ford, Rebecca (14 January 2015). "Oscar Nominations 2015: The Complete List". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 21 June 2021. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
- ^ Gallo, Phil (15 January 2015). "2015 Oscar Nominations: Nods for Common & John Legend, But Nothing for Lorde". Billboard. Archived from the original on 23 October 2023. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
- ^ Gallo, Phil (10 March 2015). "ASCAP Honors Top Film & TV Composers at 2015 Ceremony". Billboard. Archived from the original on 15 August 2022. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
- ^ Zumberge, Marianne (10 March 2015). "ASCAP Film and TV Music Awards Fete Elliot Goldenthal, Deborah Lurie". Variety. Archived from the original on 8 February 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
- ^ "Sam Smith, Clean Bandit and Hozier lead this years Ivor Novella nominations". The Independent. 21 April 2015. Archived from the original on 20 August 2015. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
- ^ McIntyre, Hugh (22 April 2015). "Sam Smith, Hozier, Clean Bandit Lead Ivor Novello Award Nominations". Forbes. Archived from the original on 25 April 2015. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
- ^ Renshaw, David (21 April 2015). "Alt-J, Clean Bandit and Royal Blood nominated for Ivor Novello Awards". NME. Archived from the original on 17 September 2023. Retrieved 8 June 2024.