When moving to a new city, I feel it's important (and fun) to seek out the local writers and artists. A recent piece in the newspaper caught my eye about a new album by Liverpool musician Bill Ryder-Jones, formerly a member of the band The Coral. But it wasn't his new work that initially intrigued me, but a reference to his debut album If, billed as an imaginary soundtrack to Italo Calvino's brilliant novel If On A Winter's Night A Traveller. . .
The article mentioned that he'd been influenced by film composers such as Abel Korzeniowski who wrote the music for A Single Man, a soundtrack that I absolutely love (cue any excuse to post a photo of Colin Firth).
That was enough for me - I immediately went out and got a copy of If. I've listened to it several times now and it's terrific. I'm a bit rubbish at writing about music, but the Korzeniowski influence is immediately obvious in the first track without it being a direct copycat, and then as the album progresses, different styles, moods and even voices come into play. It's very evocative and beautiful music. I love that Ryder-Jones has used musicians from the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra for many of the pieces, and he recorded them in several different places around the city, including the lovely Scandinavian Seaman's Church. He includes the disclaimer that "This nasty piece of work is not endorsed or associated with the Calvino Estate", but I think it's a fine tribute and an interesting and challenging project. It's been years since I read the novel (and I really want to revisit it now) so the music didn't evoke any particular scene, but it did remind me of where I read it - on a train going from Toronto to Montreal - and I think I'll always associate the album with that trip from now on. Every journey - physical or literary - should have its own soundtrack don't you think?
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