CD REVIEW - THE LIGHTKEEPERS


The Lightkeepers
Music by Pinar Toprak
MovieScore Media MMS10012
19 Tracks 48:08 mins

Although composer Pinar Toprak was actually born in Istanbul, after studying at the Istanbul State Conservatory, in 1997 she moved to Chicago to study piano and jazz theory, before attending the famous Berklee College of Music, receiving a Master of Music degree in composition at the age of 22.
After and maybe despite a spell at Hans Zimmer's Media Ventures, she has gone on to compose for various projects including Daniel Adams' recent drama The Lightkeepers, for which she has provided a most un-Media Ventures-like score, which is more in the grand Americana style that I so adore. The film stars Richard Dreyfuss as a grumpy old lighthouse keeper and is set on Cape Cod in 1912.
The 6-minute "Lost Love" opens the album, with flutes, piano and a country fiddle emerging from a largely strings-based melody to provide an overall sense of nostalgia, tinged with loneliness, though things do pick up briefly towards the end. "The Lightkeeper's Assistant" follows and, though predominantly quite elegant, the country fiddle re-enters at one point to give it a sense of momentum. "You Mustn't Go" offers sweetness and romance, with the fiddle in more expressive mode when it makes its appearances. There's whimsy to be found in "How to Catch a Lobster;" whilst "Daily Swim" is delicate and tentative, with the predominantly uptempo "The Lobster & The Horse," also finding time for some humour.
The score continues very much in the same vein as that which has gone before, with strings and woodwinds dominating, but with telling contributions from the fiddle and piano. Overall, it's beautifully melodic, warm and romantic, but with lively and humorous moments here and there. It's really quite delightful, and a refreshing change from much of today's overbearing Hollywood fare.
Go to www.moviescoremedia.com/lightkeepers.html for samples, a trailer for the film, and details as to how to obtain your copy of this lovely score on CD or as a digital download.