SEPTEMBER 2005
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27 September 2005
Film Works update
- Craig Armstrong Online recently posted a complete listing of the tracks that will be featured on Armstrong's upcoming release, Film Works. I was very happy to see that 6 out of 18 songs are related to Baz Luhrmann projects. The featured songs are as follows:
1. O Verona ft Pete Postlethwaite
(Romeo And Juliet)
4. One Day I'll Fly Away ft Nicole Kidman (Moulin Rouge)
6. The Balcony Scene (Romeo And Juliet)
16. Nature Boy ft Ewan Mcgregor & David Bowie (Moulin Rouge)
17. The Final Scenes (Romeo + Juliet & Moulin Rouge)
18. Clair De Lune (Chanel No 5)
Film Works will be released in the UK on 17th October 2005. It will be released in the US on 6th December 2005. Hopefully it will also be available in other countries by the end of the year. I would obviously highly recommend this CD to fans of Luhrmann's works, as well as fans of Armstrong and all the movies featured on this fantastic compilation.
Nic still set for Baz project
- There have been widespread reports recently that Nicole Kidman will soon be taking time off from her hectic film schedule for an extended holiday. This has lead to speculation that she may not be available for Luhrmann's next project. However, an Australian article has now obtained a direct quote from Kidman which indicates she is still considering the possibility of starring in Luhrmann's next film. I would like to say this will be his Australian epic, but as she was also set to star in Luhrmann's version of Alexander the Great, and because we still have no absolute confirmation of either, the speculation remains about which project Kidman may be involved with.
The article entitled 'I'm too busy for love' was featured in several publications, including ninemsn.com, and at the very end reads as follows:
"Kidman also scotched rumours she is planning to work on a string of movies in the next three years or making a return to theatre.
"This is it. I have the possibility of a film with Baz Luhrmann next year and that is it. I am taking a holiday after this," she said."
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22 September 2005
Baz and CM at Cinderella Man premiere
- Last night, Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin attended the Australian premiere of Russell Crowe's new movie, Cinderella Man. Several articles were reported in the Australian media regarding the event, including one from ninemsn.com which mentions, "Crowe's long-time friends actor Jack Thompson and film director Baz Luhrmann and Oscar winner wife Catherine Martin also walked the red carpet."
The couple looked stunning on the red carpet as they showed their support for Crowe in his latest film venture. Their attendance has also lead me to speculate that perhaps there is still a possibility that Crowe may star in Luhrmann's Australian epic? As always, only time will tell ;-)
ATYP article
- I have come across a further article regarding Luhrmann's attendance at the Australian Theatre for Young People dinner held on 10th September at Sydney's Fox Studios. Click here to view the scanned article from the Daily Telegraph, which features the above image of Luhrmann, Martin and Nicole Kidman's parents, Antony and Janelle. Special thanks to foxy and NKU for allowing me to use this scan.
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18 September 2005
Craig Armstrong update
- I have now updated my Craig Armstrong section on this site and have included details of his upcoming CD release, the much anticipated Film Works. Film Works is released here in the UK on 17th October and I will definitely be racing out to buy a copy! :-)
A fellow Craig Armstrong fan has contacted me to tell me about a new website he has created dedicated to the wonderful composer. I have been somewhat disappointed by the lack of Craig Armstrong related sites on the web. I am therefore happy that a fellow fan has created a site dedicated to Mr Armstrong. Craig Armstrong Online looks set to be a comprehensive website and I would highly recommend it!
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17 September 2005
Happy Birthday Baz!
Happy 43rd birthday to Baz! I hope he and his family have a brilliant day today! :-)
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14 September 2005
Baz's decision expected 'in 2 months'
- It seems like we've been waiting all year for Baz Luhrmann to make his decision about what film he will embark on next. I am now happy to report that it looks as though the wait may soon be over. The Australian has published an article entitled 'Baz in new role for youth theatre' that announces Luhrmann has been named ambassador for the Australian Theatre for Young People. Luhrmann once attended the ATYP and the article features direct quotes from Luhrmann, who describes the institution as the most exciting thing in his life at that time. The full scanned article can be found here, with special thanks to foxy and Nicole Kidman United.
The article then goes on to discuss Luhrmann's upcoming projects, and reads as follows:
"Luhrmann, whose most recent film was Oscar winning, Moulin Rouge!, said he was very close to deciding which of the three very different stories would become his next movie.
One possibility is his stalled Alexander the Great project, which he has written with British playwright, David Hare.
Another is a European film about which he continues to say very little. Then there is the proposed Australian Epic which might star Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman.
'I would love to work with them,' said Luhrmann when asked about the possible involvement.
Luhrmann expects to make an official announcement about his intentions in the next two months."
Of course it is the very last sentence of the article that has renewed my excitement! Let us hope Luhrmann does indeed make an announcement in the next 2 months. I will be watching the news with growing anticipation! :-)
ATYP dinner with Baz
- As I reported last month, on 10th September, a dinner organised by the Australian Theatre for Young People took place with Baz Luhrmann as a special guest. I have only been able to find a small media snippet regarding the event. The following is from an article entitled 'Nic's quick change' that was reported by Sydney Confidential:
"Former ATYP student Baz Luhrmann spoke to the 180 guests about the world of film-making and his career, including production on Moulin Rouge, which took place in the very room where guests were seated."
It sounds like it was a fantastic night but, unfortunately, I have not been able to find any other articles covering the event. If anyone has any further information (or was lucky enough to be there!) please feel free to contact me.
Craig Armstrong update
- The fabulous Craig Armstrong has some exciting new works soon to be released. His latest composition, One Minute, will be launched in Perth, Scotland, this Friday night. And on 17th October, he will be releasing a new CD called Filmworks, devoted to his music for films. This is the CD that fans of Armstrong's movie scores have been waiting for! It will no doubt feature his songs for Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge, and I'm sure it will become a best seller.
The following comprehensive article was published in today's issue of The Herald:
One-minute wonder
Michael Tumelty, September 14 2005
"AROUND 25 years ago, Craig Armstrong, a young musician studying at the Royal Academy of Music in London, was struck by a bolt of inspiration. He wanted to write an orchestral piece. It was to be no conventional classical composition for orchestra. Armstrong's vision was of a series of 20 orchestral pieces, all with one factor in common: each would last precisely one minute.
It was a huge dream. It was an impossible dream. The talented musician from the east end of Glasgow didn't have the knowledge, technique, experience or resources to create and assemble such an unprecedented project. What could be done in single minute? What could be done in 20 single minutes? How would the 20 compositions relate? How could they be linked? If you have 20 different aphorisms in music, in what context might they begin to gel? And so on.
Instead of dwelling on his fantasy, Armstrong the composer and keyboard player pursued numerous diverse musical paths which touched on jazz and rock, took him into the theatre, into the arena of classical music commissions, and on to big-screen Hollywood, where his skill at producing atmospheric and moody soundtracks for films has made him the first-choice composer for directors and actors as diverse as Baz Luhrmann, Luc Besson, Michael Caine and Nicole Kidman.
Though now 46, at the top of his game and the top of the screen composers' tree, Armstrong has never let go of that original inspiration. Sometimes, indeed, it has seemed that the vision has haunted the modest big man from Shettleston. In myriad conversations we've had over the past 15 years, whether formal interviews or informal encounters, Armstrong has returned to the idea of his 20 one-minute pieces for orchestra. It has become almost a leitmotif in his compositional life.
This week it will finally happen when his newest composition, One Minute, is unveiled on Friday night at the inaugural gala concert of the new Perth Concert Hall.
In one sense, One Minute, to be premiered by the RSNO with its principal guest conductor Garry Walker, is less than Armstrong's long-standing concept for the piece. It contains 15 one-minute pieces, not 20. That, says Armstrong, is simply for practical reasons. "With the little gaps and breaks between each piece, it risked over-running and being too long." In another sense, however, One Minute is infinitely more than originally envisioned. It is no longer a purely orchestral piece. It is for symphony orchestra, video and electronics.
Perth Concert Hall, which commissioned the new piece for its opening gala, asked for a collaborative work to be produced by Armstrong and the cutting-edge, commercially-successful artists Dalziel + Scullion. (The three artists have also been commissioned to produce a new work for Kelvingrove Art Gallery, when it re-opens, and have already worked together seven years ago, on a project called Childhood, for the Expo in Lisbon.) One Minute, though built on what Armstrong describes as "basically a simple idea", is complex and multi-layered.
He sent Dalziel + Scullion out to make a series of 15 one-minute films of Scottish locations. They ranged across Scotland's most breathtaking scenery, from the Sound of Jura, Cape Wrath and Raasay, to urban and industrial sites, including Govan, Edinburgh and, for the 15th and final piece, Perth itself.
There is no filmic trickery with the 15 pieces. Everything has been recorded as it was. Only the one-minute rule was to be rigidly observed by everyone involved. There was to be no sound on the film. While at each location, however, Dalziel + Scullion also recorded 15 one-minute tracks of ambient audio, including wave sounds, a bus brake, bird sounds and the sound of wind whistling through telephone wires.
Armstrong sampled these sounds, and wove the results into the fabric of the orchestral score. They are stored in a computer and will be triggered by a keyboard player in the orchestra. "There's no tape in this piece," says the composer. "I'm interested in live performance, not in the audience having to sit and look at loudspeakers."
The finished product is unmistakable Armstrong, especially in its evocation of moods and atmospheres. A key influence here has been the form of the Japanese Haiku: "Just a few lines with a sense of infinity behind them," says the composer.
In terms of its overall shape, One Minute begins dreamily, with Knoydart, and builds steadily to its central point, Crimond, in which Armstrong cuts loose with some of his most dislocated, dramatic and ferociously rhythmic music. From this point the music gradually returns to its opening state.
"Twenty-five years ago I couldn't have done this. In fact it's only recently that, compositionally, I've had the technique to manage it."
The difficulty has been in linking and relating the 15 one-minute pieces. Ultimately, Armstrong has adopted a different approach from his normal methods of composition: he has worked to a strict harmonic plan, which unifies the different pieces.
Additionally, he has constructed the music so that its growth is organic: the opening material is derived from a simple pentatonic scale. In each successive movement, another note is added to that scale, through to the central climactic section.
It's not a narrative piece. Nor is it merely descriptive. The Dalziel + Scullion films should look breath-taking on the huge screen in Perth's new hall; and the music, some of which I've heard in a pre-orchestral mock-up form, is a near-exact parallel to the visual splendour of the films: broad, spacious and deeply sonorous. (For those who know Armstrong's music, One Minute comes out of and follows what he calls "the Visconti period", a reference to the beautiful homage to the Adagietto of Mahler's Fifth Symphony, which Armstrong wrote for the London Sinfonietta.)
It might seem that the creation, finally, of One Minute represents the end of a 25-year compositional journey for Craig Armstrong. In fact, it could be just a beginning. With the commercial success of his Hollywood career, Armstrong can afford to do pretty much what he wants, without worrying about conventional boundaries of music. He's already considering the possibility of developing an independent musical life for One Minute, including the intriguing notion of handing out different movements to a range of composers, each to create their own remix, as it were, of the music.
Immediately, however, he's returning to a piece he's writing for violinist Clio Gould, with string orchestra and choir, as well as gearing up for the launch, on October 17, of Filmworks, the first CD to be devoted to his own music for the big screen.
One Minute: RSNO premiere, Perth Concert Hall, Friday, 7.30pm, sold out."
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