April 29, 2021
Additional Resources: Alexis Maingaud Discusses Scoring THE SONATA in MMI Interview
Film music reviewer/journalist Jon Mansell has interviewed composer Alexis Maingaud about his beautifully eerie score for director Andrew Desmon’s THE SONATA (see our news story here) “Andrew wanted a very particular musical aesthetic, with old and tormented sounds. Herrmann and his VERTIGO score were obviously references,” Maingaud said in the interview. “Herrmann brought so much to film music. The orchestration but also the rhythmic and melodic motif which was particularly innovative for its time. For my part, I immediately thought of Shostakovich, who is for me one of the most tormented and dark composers of the twentieth century.”
Mansell asked the composer about his use of themes in the midst of what tends to be a tense, driving score. “In a pragmatic way, I think that it is above all the film; its esthetics and its degree of requirement which will decide the musical landscape that composer will create,” Maingaud replied. “Sometimes sound textures give incredible results. You just must look at the late Jóhann Jóhannsson. But indeed, I think that today we give more importance to the sound than to the note. For my part and as much as possible, I prefer to favor a thematic work because I think that the melody is the first responsible of audience’s dreams and wonders.”
Read the full interview here.
The digital soundtrack to THE SONATA will release on May 5th.