Lisa Gerrard - Whale Rider (Score)

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Music reviews of Whale Rider (Score)

Music Review: A Symphony Of Ambient
Rating: 5 Stars

Lets just make couple of things clear at first. Whalerider is not another Gladiator in any way. Gerrard's vocals are not as present here as they were in Gladiator. Her voice can be heard only a couple of times, and even then her vocals are not the main instrument. They are used only on the background. This score doesn't include any wagnerian type of recognizable themes like Gladiator did, and most of the scores nowadays. This score doesn't include any "hit tracks" either, like for example "Now We Are Free" in Gladiator.

Whale Rider is pure mood. It is a symphony of ambient. It is like the ocean, it moves and changes without any predictions. People have said that Whalerider score needs the movie to work proberly, with the story, actors and landscapes creating the emotions. Of course the score music always works best with the movie. These two elements needs each other and the music is made to elevate the film. However I think the score for Whale Rider works also on its own. I can say this because I haven't seen the movie yet. I know so little about it. But the funny thing is that after listening to Lisa Gerrard's score for a while, I suddenly started to see the story. I started to feel the atmosphere and sense the mood of the story.

What makes Whale Rider strong is the whole album and the way it is built. It starts with the sound of the ocean, which instantly sets up the mood. Then we hear voice by a girl, with a New Zealand accent, talking about the background of the story with Gerrard's music. All the tracks from this point on are building up the story piece by piece, taking listener little by little deeper in to the other world. When the album ends, we hear the sound of the ocean again and then we are taken under water and soon we will hear the whale. The story has come to the conclusion. The structure is just so beautifully crafted. There is so much depth in it.

Gerrard has composed music like a painter. She has taken a certain mood and emotion and used it to create a landscape. The music is mostly ambience, it is mostly background, but it is very rich. It has so many layers. There are so many layers of emotions and feelings happening at the same time that you find yourself weeping just because of the scale of the palette. Strings lead the way and all sorts of sound effects and human voices, including maori chanting and Gerrards own, creates textures. In some occations we can also hear the traditional instruments used by Maoris, which creates a sense of place and history. The traditional culture of the Maori people is very important in Gerrard's music in Whale Rider. It is like a tin whistle for Irland. It tells its own story and gives us some kind of perspective of the history. "Waka In The Sky" and "Go Forward" are simply beautiful examples of this.

What she does is that she keeps it very simple. And the simplicity is the key element, which keeps it so fresh and makes the score work so well. It makes it powerful and emotional. It doesn't even have a clear theme in it, but the Whale Rider is the kind of score that doesn't need one! It is a score about peace and beauty. It is a great addition to Gerrard's previous filmwork. She has created her own style, where the main thing is to create an atmosphere and set up the tone, e.g. The Insider, which had a perfect score in it. This one is different, but only in a postive way. Whale Rider takes you on a journey, and when you close your eyes and open your heart, what a journey it is.

Description of Whale Rider (Score)

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