Initially aired in 1979, the soundtrack to the David Attenburough nature programme Life On Earth has taken this long to be brought out of the dusty BBC archives. The seasoned composer Edward Williams (1921) paints, through music, the alien beauty and magic of our natural world. Let me tell you, they don’t make art music like this anymore, even under the Classical title. Contemporary TV composers aim towards film bombasity ignoring the smaller, delicate ensemble. William’s eccentricity and instrumental range is impressive and it’s emergence into general distribution is artistic justice in action.
There are many familiarities in the record and like most soundtracks, it attempts to evoke mood – in this case, our curiosity and wonderment with nature. It’s the type of earth worship and eerie atmosphere Igor Stravinsky presented in Rite of Spring at the first half of the 20th Century. William’s meandering melody lines also reference the modulation techniques of Prokofiev. A hazy embellishing of harp and flute adds a dreamy Debussy Impressionism while particular atonal textures suggest influences from Varese, Ligheti or Stockhausen. These incidental passages predict William’s later trials in electronic music. In swings and glides, hops and gallops his music pays a thoughtful homage to our planets weird and colourful eco system.
Calling William’s music “jolly good” (all the words you need), Attenburough also helped towards the release of the record. In addition, for those of you overwhelmed by the vast history of Classical music and uncertain as to where to begin, this release is an accessible doorway past the elitist guardians who so often ruin the simple, universal enjoyment of the genre. What’s that? You don’t like Classical music? Listen, I had to resurrect the rotting corpse of my Classical training for this review! Stop being a pussy and download some Beethoven or something.
(© Copyright 2009 Brendan Morgan)
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