Quite apart from being an occasional reviewer for
this website, Los Angeles-based Karim Elmahmoudi is a composer active
in the concert hall, film, small screen and video games. He studied
at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Apart from private studies
with Alexis Alrich he also attended the University of Southern California's
Thornton graduate school of music where his mentors included names familiar
from the big screen including James Newton Howard and Joel McNeely.
He also worked with film orchestrator Conrad Pope who in turn has worked
as a contractor on
Star Wars (Episodes I-III),
Jurassic Park
and
Troy. He received the BMI Outstanding Achievement Award in
2007 for his coursework at USC.
With his favourite composers including John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith,
Elliot Goldenthal, James Newton Howard and Bernard Herrmann it is no
surprise that his music, as evidenced by this rather enjoyable CD, bears
the grand DNA of the epic film score.
Orbit, with its
inspiration from the final NASA space flight, lacks nothing in braggadocio
and unstoppable confidence borne on high by the huge orchestral dynamism
of Williams and Shore. The melodic material is inevitably bound at times
to recall
Star Wars,
Superman and
ET but the later
pages take a tincture from Bernard Herrmann at his most subtle. Thus
the music fades into a rainbow shimmer of strings underpinned by a deeply
brooding bass. At the end Elmahmoudi cannot resist the that epic valedictory
fully stop with the orchestra at full stretch. This could easily be
seen as music to James Michener’s fine novel:
Space (1982).
Solemn Prologue is for string orchestra with a hauntingly
prominent, reflective part for solo violin. The melodic contours are
shared with Finzi’s
Introit and the more gloriously indulgent
film music of John Barry.
Mythos is more aggressively
incisive and heroic as befits music written for a CGI animated short
about the battle between two mythical gods. This concert overture has
had some new material added. It was premiered in 2008 and is heard now
in its 2011 revision. The atmosphere changes for
A Fragment
which juxtaposes electronica, Varèse-like effects, a close-up
piano line and full orchestra. The piece ends with a Pendereckian swoop.
It is a bit of a gear-change to move from this to the
Adagio
rescued from Elmahmoudi’s teenage First Symphony. As expected
it’s a broodingly ambitious piece, combining the restive and the
calm.
Ancient Dreams is heard here in a performance given by
the Los Angeles Doctors Symphony. With literary connections in mind
this imaginative and well calculated music reminded me of Norman Mailer’s
Ancient Evenings and of another piece of almost filmic eloquence:
Michael
Mauldin’s
The Last Musician of Ur. This community orchestra
makes a decent fist of the piece. As further scene-setting it’s
worth quoting the composer: “In composing
Ancient Dreams,
I selected three concepts from the ancient Egyptian papyrus called
The
Dream Book (1279-1213 BC) …. and symbolically set them to
music with a unifying theme that develops from mystery to a sense of
determined heroism. The three sections are:
Windows - a mysterious
build up reflecting how people in ancient times believed the messages
and symbols within dreams were often fearful images.
Moon - a
yearning yet hopeful lyrical section that builds to grand climax reflecting
the desire to be forgiven for past misdeeds if one sees the moon in
their dreams.
Sphinx - a bombastic and climactic section focusing
on a dream of uncovering the sphinx. The sphinx was a symbol of power,
strength, and a foreboding guardian to malevolent spirits in the afterlife.”
Ancient Dreams is heard here in a single track. The recording
is of a live performance greeted with enthusiastic applause. The other
tracks reflect well- polished studio sessions.
This incident-rich music represents a confident and highly-coloured
calling card for a composer of whom I am sure we will hear more.
Rob Barnett
