Composed by Carter Burwell, Beethoven, and Mozart

Decca Records

Orchestrated and Conducted by Carter Burwell

Produced by Carter Burwell

Release Date: 2001

Purchase this CD at:

     Modern takes on the film noir style have always piqued my interest. I’ve also started to become a big fan of the work of Joel and Ethan Coen. Given both interests, The Man Who Wasn’t There is a film I really need to check out. I wasn’t even aware that such a movie existed until I received the soundtrack. I would have preferred to have some background with this film to use in reviewing the score, but since I have yet to find the time to see it, I will attempt to make do.

     The album is an interesting mixture of classical pieces, mostly Beethoven piano sonatas with one piece from Mozart, and original underscore composed by long-time Coen associate, Carter Burwell. Now, I played the piano when I was younger and it will always be one of the instruments that I consider to be the most versatile. At the same time, however, I get bored listening to solo piano pieces. This attitude hinders this score a lot since roughly half of it consists of those sonatas. The moments of Burwell’s score that do appear are never long enough to really construct any type of cohesiveness as a score, and seem to mostly support the atmospheric nature called for by the film noir genre.

     Thus, while I’m sure the score works well in the film, on the album it lacks any charm and instead just seems to drag on forever, even though its running time is a short forty-five minutes. About the only enjoyable cue on the album is Nirdlinger’s Swing. Even then, while it is a fun little piece, it contrasts quite heavily against the rest of the album.

     There’s just not much to recommend this soundtrack on unless you’re a rabid Carter Burwell fan, or looking to snatch up every piece of music connected with a Coen Brother’s film. As I stated earlier, this just seems to be a case of a score that does its job well in the film, but isolated on compact disc, is just not a pleasurable experience. **1/2

 

1 - Beethoven: Piano Sonata No - 8 In C Minor Op - 13 / Birdy's "Pathetique" (1:17)

2 - Mozart: The Marriage Of Figaro: Che soave zeffiretto (3:33)

3 - Beethoven: Piano Sonata No - 25 in G Major Op - 79 / Bringing Doris Home (1:18)

4 - I Met Doris Blind (1:15)

5 - Ed Visits Dave (1:03)

6 - Beethoven: Piano Sonata No - 23 in F Minor Op - 57 / Ed Returns Home (1:57)

7 - I Love You Birdy Abundas! (0:42)

8 - Nirdlinger's Swing (5:12)

9 - Beethoven: Piano Sonata No - 14 in C Sharp Minor Op - 27 (2:29)

10 - The Fight (3:01)

11 - The Bank (1:03)

12 - Beethoven: Piano Sonata No - 8 in C Minor Op - 13: Adagio Cantabile (5:33)

13 - The Trial Of Ed Crane (3:52)

14 - Beethoven: Piano Trio No - 7 in B Flat Op - 97: Andante Cantabile (13:28)