Music: The lullaby of Pan's Labyrinth.
written by Julie R. Neidlinger 2 comments link this post
Every time I listen to the soundtrack to Pan's Labyrinth, my new favorite disc of the moment, the thought of water comes to mind. It's as if water was given a new voice through the instruments. It trickles down from pizzicato of the violins, mellowing into the cello and clarinet, pounding across the keys of the piano, and finally, pooling somewhere far below in the bassoon.
It's a beautiful work.
I swear I can hear the instruments speaking. The entire soundtrack is unusual in this way, in that there are "voices" that seem to emerge from the music. Perhaps this, along with the CD art in which a somewhat frightening faun is hugging a small child, would creep some people out. Nevertheless, it's beautiful.
The piano skips and thunders, revealing more of it's percussive nature than anything else. The soft humming voice of the singers, not singing in any language, fits in as another instrument. Much like the way Lisa Gerrard "sings" on soundtracks without actually saying words, the music here crosses language barriers both in its instrumental and human contributors. Since Pan's Labyrinth is a Spanish language film, I found this a bit comforting.
The main musical theme, however, is a lullaby, a beautiful 3/4 metered waltz, the same meter found through most of the other tracks. The theme is sometimes taken up-tempo with a strong down beat and a rush of strings, while at other times it meanders about softly, with a choir in the background and a young soloist whose voice cracks in track 20. Like rushing water and trickling streams and drips and pools.
I love this soundtrack.
The story of the film itself is, as director Guillermo Del Toro says, a lullaby, though you might not think of it that way. As with the movie's ending, the music composed by Javier Navarrete tends to be both tragic and happy at the same moment, shifting from chord to chord.
I highly recommend this soundtrack. If you're a soundtrack hoarder like myself, with 80 percent of my CD collection consisting of soundtracks, this is one you'll want. The music is new, but seems ancient.
Copyright (c) Julie R. Neidlinger 6/28/2007 08:55:00 AM
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2 Comments:
Thank you for the post.
This was a beautifully written portrayal of the lullaby, and I will make a point of looking for the nuances you have so elegantly regaled us with.
I love that movie! Wrote a small review about it on my blog (here)
Was debating whether to buy the soundtrack, but you made it easy for me.
By 
David Cho, at
28/6/07 21:34
music=water=voices
the brain is a funny thing: we make a lot of stuff up that we think is real. Have you heard about people who keep their cell phones on vibrate and have 'phantom' vibrations? Brain gets used to the feel and does not process it in the same detailed way anymore but takes a shortcut at the first sign, so other things can trigger the 'feeling'. Or people who witness plane crashes almost universally claim to have seen an explosion, but when tapes surface later, there turns out to have been none - and this happens so commonly that law enforcement people are trained not to pay any attention to such claims. Lots of other interesting things the brain does. So that music could evoke visions or feelings or even 'phantom' sounds is an interesting thing, creepy to some and wonderful to take advantage of to others. And when I hear of such things, it takes me down a notch, because people we label mentally ill for hearing voices may not be so far from us 'normal' people in the end.
By 
, at
29/6/07 10:16
