Editor

Each year, Film Fest Gent puts film music and composers in the spotlight with an album release. This time around, Film Fest Gent is proud to present the new album 'Mark Isham: Music for Film'.

Guest of honour at the 2022 World Soundtrack Awards, Mark Isham has been one of the most versatile film composers of the past four decades. Equally known for his electronic music, his jazz work and trumpet performances, he has created numerous memorable scores for a wide variety of films and television series, forging entrancing and movingly honest melodies that have enhanced the stories they accompany time and time again.

This is the first time that an entire album is devoted to Isham’s film and television scores. Spotlighting some of his very best work, it contains a unique selection from his massive oeuvre, including studio recordings of concert suites from 42, American Crime, The Black Dahlia, Eight Below, the Oscar-nominated score A River Runs through It and from his recent score The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. Further highlights include the jazz-infused selections from Judas and the Black Messiah and The Moderns and a symphonic version of “On the Threshold of Liberty”, one of his best-known original compositions, which was also used to great effect in Rules of Engagement. The pieces from Bobby, Judas and the Black Messiah, Life as a House, The Nevers and The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent are premiere performances for this album, re-recorded for the first time since the original score.

All music on this album is performed by the Brussels Philharmonic and conducted by maestro Dirk Brossé. Trumpet solos on selected pieces are played by composer Mark Isham and the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s principal trumpet Thomas Hooten.