''The Sweet Hereafter'' is the

soundtrack album A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' ...

to the 1997 Canadian film '' The Sweet Hereafter''.

Track listing

The album contains composer Mychael Danna's score and five songs performed by actress Sarah Polley.

Background

The film makes references to '' The Pied Piper of Hamelin'' by

Robert Browning Robert Browning (7 May 1812 – 12 December 1889) was an English poet and playwright whose dramatic monologues put him high among the Victorian poets. He was noted for irony, characterization, dark humour, social commentary, historical settings ...

, which influenced composer Mychael Danna's music. He used a Persian ney flute along with old instruments such as recorders, crumhorns and

lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lute" can ref ...

s, creating "a pseudo-

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

score. The ney performer is Persian music teacher

Hossein Omoumi Hossein Omoumi (born 1944) is an Iranian-born master musician of the ney (reed flute), composer, scholar, and teacher of Persian traditional music. He is the Maseeh Professor in Persian Performing Arts in the department of music within the Claire ...

. The score thus combined Danna's interests in old and exotic music. Egoyan stated medieval-style music was used to make the film feel timeless, evoking

Brothers Grimm The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859), were a brother duo of German academics, philologists, cultural researchers, lexicographers, and authors who together collected and published folklore. They are among the ...

fairy tales and avoiding the feel of a TV movie. Polley's character, Nicole, is an aspiring singer before the accident, and is seen on stage performing the

Tragically Hip The Tragically Hip, often referred to simply as the Hip, were a Canadian rock band formed in Kingston, Ontario in 1984, consisting of vocalist Gord Downie, guitarist Paul Langlois, guitarist Rob Baker (known as Bobby Baker until 1994), bassis ...

's " Courage (for Hugh MacLennan)" and

Jane Siberry Jane Siberry ( ; ; born 12 October 1955) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, known for such hits as " Mimi on the Beach", "I Muse Aloud", "One More Colour" and "Calling All Angels". She performed the theme song to the television series ''Maniac Ma ...

's "

One More Colour "One More Colour" is a song by the Canadian singer/songwriter Jane Siberry. It is the first single released in support of her third album ''The Speckless Sky'', issued in 1985. Composer Mychael Danna later rearranged the song for the 1997 film '' ...

". Danna and Polley cooperated to create Nicole's music, with Polley writing lyrics to Danna's original songs and with Danna arranging the adaptations of "Courage" and "One More Colour". The songs were chosen because of their domestic popularity, reinforcing the local nature of Nicole's music. The Tragically Hip's original version of "Courage" also appears in the film.

Release

The album was released in Canada by Virgin Music Canada, selling 7,000 copies by May 1998. The album was also released by

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...

in the United States, United Kingdom and Europe. By October, the album had sold 25,000 copies worldwide, bringing in a profit for Virgin Records given the inexpensive production.

Reception

Gramophone A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...

'' magazine gave the soundtrack a positive review, writing "A dreamy piece for keyboards, as well as other delicate atmospheres, makes the viewer/listener aware of the transforming power of grief". ''Gramophone'' also stated "Polley’s plaintive, beautiful soprano voice is a real find".

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

wrote "the soundtrack, which also includes Polley's cover of Toronto singer-songwriter Jane Siberry's 'One More Colour,' plus an original score by Canadian composer Mychael Danna, provides positive counterbalances to the bleak images on the film".

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sweet Hereafter, The (soundtrack) 1997 soundtrack albums Virgin Records soundtracks Drama film soundtracks