American film director Wes Anderson’s latest artistic offering Isle of Dogs is showing in cinemas around the country and it’s packed full of incredible sounds.
The stop-motion melancholic adventure about a pack of dogs, a little pilot and evil cat people is, meticulously put together. The result is both visually and aurally rich and textural – something Wes Anderson fans come to expect.
Photo: Fox Searchlight Pictures
The music adds to the clever storytelling with a combination Japanese taiko drums, American rock bands and Mancini-inspired jazz threads interwoven into a score by Academy Award winner Alexandre Desplat – who also worked on Anderson’s Fantastic Mr Fox, Moonrise Kingdom and The Grand Budapest Hotel.
Anderson also likes to slip in a few classical tunes to add to the mix.
Here are some interesting classical tunes that have appeared in Wes Anderson’s films (that are totally worth a rewatch).
1. Prokofiev’s ‘Midnight Sleighride’ from ‘Lieutenant Kijé’
From Isle of Dogs (2018)
Written in 1934, the music to ‘Lieutenant Kijé’ was Prokofiev’s first film commission, which he then arranged into a five movement suite. ‘Midnight Sleighride’ will have you snapping your fingers and tapping your toes. Want to know more? Check out this very informative video about the tune from the Philharmonia Orchestra in London.
2. Benjamin Britten’s ‘Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra’
From Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
In 2017 the NZSO National Youth Orchestra performed this 1954 composition by English composer, conductor and pianist Benjamin Britten. Like Prokofiev’s ‘Lieutenant Kije’, it too was commissioned for a film… in Britten’s case it was for an educational documentary called Instruments of the Orchestra, which was released in 1946. Britten’s Songs from Friday Afternoons Op 7 also appeared in Moonrise Kingdom.
3. Ravel’s ‘String Quartet in F’
From The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
Ravel was 28 when he composed this piece that premiered in Paris in 1904. Its structure draws inspiration from Debussy’s String Quartet; Debussy in turn admired Ravel’s work. The playful second movement appears in the opening credits of The Royal Tenenbaums. It was recently performed by the Behn Quartet, which has been touring the country with Chamber Music New Zealand. You can listen to the review here.
4. Beethoven’s Symphony No 7
From The Darjeeling Limited (2007)
Anderson paired the spirited second movement with his well-known and much loved comic aesthetic for The Darjeeling Limited in the scene where brothers are trying to start their father’s car. Originally Wes Anderson wanted to use film scores from the Indian film maker Satyajit Ray for Darjeeling, but in the end they used Beethoven’s 7th because it was Ray’s favourite classical piece. The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Edo de Waart performed this piece in 2017.
5. Vivaldi’s Concerto for Lute and Plucked Strings, first movement
From (Grand Budapest Hotel) 2014
Vivaldi wrote this piece in the 1730s and was one of three pieces he composed during that time which featured the lute. This piece was included in the Grand Budapest Hotel for its “courtliness” according to Randall Poster, the man who soundtracks Anderson’s movies. It can be heard in the film’s trailer.
