Music worthy of the film
Soundtrack to The Piano
Composed by Michael Nyman
Virgin Records through Larrikin
Reviewed by Zanny Begg
In both An Angel at my Table and The Piano, Jane Campion examines women who are repressed by society but who find solace and the determination to continue through their own creativity. An Angel at my Table looks at the life of Janet Frame, who was rescued from the horror of a mental institution through her ability to write. The Piano tells the story of Ada, who is mute but is able to communicate her feelings, passion and frustration through playing the piano.
The Piano is a powerful and moving love story which shows the strength of one woman's determination to follow her own desires in the face of restricting 19th century morality. The soundtrack is crucial to the development of the film.
Ada's ability to play the piano becomes her ability to communicate with the world. The piano conveys her anger, desire, confusion and pain. Her evocative playing is described by one of the characters as "like a mood that passes through you ... a sound that creeps into you".
In writing the soundtrack, Michael Nyman has created music which is not merely a substitute voice for Ada but which conveys her whole being — her moods, desires and expressions.
Nyman's music binds the film together. The overlay of the music and the wild landscapes of New Zealand convey the sense of isolation felt by Ada, sent away from her home in Scotland for an arranged marriage in New Zealand. The music expresses both Ada's loneliness and her courage.
Nyman based the music on Scottish folk and popular songs, reflecting Ada's heritage. "It had to be 'possible' mid-19th century music", he explains, "but not pastiche and obviously written in 1992".
Nyman plays the piano on the soundtrack, supported by members of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra. The combination makes a soundtrack as compelling and moving as the film.