De Kavijaks
Dirk Brossé
" A very unoriginal score, but somehow still manages to maintain a level of freshness. "Written by Joep de Bruijn - Review of the regular release
De Kavijaks is a Belgium mini-series directed by Stijn Coninx that surprisingly was first shown on a television channel in the Netherlands. The story is a traditional tale of a Flemish family during and just after World War II. You get to see how they try to survive the war as the situation becomes almost unbearable and how if affects them. Composer Dirk Brossé, who often worked with the director, including the Oscar nominated Daens, was the obvious choice for the score.
I never understood why he wasn't in on a film like Verder dan de Maan; the music by Dutch film composer Henny Vrienten was terrible. We can only assume the reason was they'd wanted to spend some money from another co-producing country for this area. Brossé's film score highlights include Daens, Licht and Knetter and is also well respected for his work as a conductor for various orchestras around the globe.
The composer often neglects the use of a large orchestra and preferably uses a small ensemble, like Prima La Music for De Kavijaks. Using them makes his music sound somewhat friendlier and more intimate, and is part of what makes it sound like his music. Play any other scores and you will undoubtedly recognize his style by the timbres and warm ensemble performances. But that's just fine. What amazed me was how much emphasis there was on the music in the mini-series; it ruined part of the enjoyment of watching the series. Fact is, the music is rather subdued compared to some other scores like Daens, but suffers from wrong mixing and bad spotting. There's however, no problem with this music on cd.
The score can best be described as a dramatic, romantic old-fashioned score with much emphasis on strings, woodwinds and piano. One of the most positive elements of the music is the constant use of melody and movement, with some very memorable themes. The main theme is a piece written for the lower and higher registers of the orchestra and re-used as a love theme being performed by the piano. A considerable amount of music is just very light, joyful melodic material, but most of the music is very dark, dramatic material. In interviews, Brossé had always denied being heavily influenced by the maestro, however the use of legato and staccato does seem to be a bit too much alike. I'd definitely recommend this music to Morricone fans. The bottom line is that De Kavijaks is a very unoriginal score, but somehow still manages to maintain a level of freshness.
Tracklisting
1. Generiek van de Kavijaks (1.14)
2. De Familie Vantorre (4.06)
3. Honger (1.00)
4. Op de Vlucht (1.17)
5. Jetje & Pifte (0.48)
6. Het Toneelspel (1.57)
7. Pifte's Gebed (1.00)
8. Pifte in de War (1.18)
9. Dood van de Moeder (2.01)
10. Verkoop van Graan & Bloem (1.51)
11. Het Diner (2.08)
12. De Verkrachting (1.49)
13. Pepe (1.17)
14. Kavijaks Love Theme (1.02)
15. Twee Vrije Mensen (1.34)
16. Eén voor allen, allen voor de Kavijaks (2.29)
17. Jetje's Vertrek (1.19)
18. De Vernieling (1.33)
19. De Capitulatie (1.30)
20. Jeanne & Cecile (2.30)
21. De Generaal (1.35)
22. Gouden Tijden (3.40)
23. Aftastende Blikken (1.37)
24. Gevecht Pifte & Marcella (1.46)
25. Belinda (1.58)
26. In de Haven (1.37)
27. Obussen (2.02)
28. Pifte & Bolle in Gevangenis (1.00)
29. Pifte's Thuiskomst (1.00)
30. Esther Goldberg is Dood (1.03)
31. An Stort Hart Uit (2.50)
32. Esther & Pifte Trouwen (1.53)
Total Length: 55.00
I never understood why he wasn't in on a film like Verder dan de Maan; the music by Dutch film composer Henny Vrienten was terrible. We can only assume the reason was they'd wanted to spend some money from another co-producing country for this area. Brossé's film score highlights include Daens, Licht and Knetter and is also well respected for his work as a conductor for various orchestras around the globe.
The composer often neglects the use of a large orchestra and preferably uses a small ensemble, like Prima La Music for De Kavijaks. Using them makes his music sound somewhat friendlier and more intimate, and is part of what makes it sound like his music. Play any other scores and you will undoubtedly recognize his style by the timbres and warm ensemble performances. But that's just fine. What amazed me was how much emphasis there was on the music in the mini-series; it ruined part of the enjoyment of watching the series. Fact is, the music is rather subdued compared to some other scores like Daens, but suffers from wrong mixing and bad spotting. There's however, no problem with this music on cd.
The score can best be described as a dramatic, romantic old-fashioned score with much emphasis on strings, woodwinds and piano. One of the most positive elements of the music is the constant use of melody and movement, with some very memorable themes. The main theme is a piece written for the lower and higher registers of the orchestra and re-used as a love theme being performed by the piano. A considerable amount of music is just very light, joyful melodic material, but most of the music is very dark, dramatic material. In interviews, Brossé had always denied being heavily influenced by the maestro, however the use of legato and staccato does seem to be a bit too much alike. I'd definitely recommend this music to Morricone fans. The bottom line is that De Kavijaks is a very unoriginal score, but somehow still manages to maintain a level of freshness.
Tracklisting
1. Generiek van de Kavijaks (1.14)
2. De Familie Vantorre (4.06)
3. Honger (1.00)
4. Op de Vlucht (1.17)
5. Jetje & Pifte (0.48)
6. Het Toneelspel (1.57)
7. Pifte's Gebed (1.00)
8. Pifte in de War (1.18)
9. Dood van de Moeder (2.01)
10. Verkoop van Graan & Bloem (1.51)
11. Het Diner (2.08)
12. De Verkrachting (1.49)
13. Pepe (1.17)
14. Kavijaks Love Theme (1.02)
15. Twee Vrije Mensen (1.34)
16. Eén voor allen, allen voor de Kavijaks (2.29)
17. Jetje's Vertrek (1.19)
18. De Vernieling (1.33)
19. De Capitulatie (1.30)
20. Jeanne & Cecile (2.30)
21. De Generaal (1.35)
22. Gouden Tijden (3.40)
23. Aftastende Blikken (1.37)
24. Gevecht Pifte & Marcella (1.46)
25. Belinda (1.58)
26. In de Haven (1.37)
27. Obussen (2.02)
28. Pifte & Bolle in Gevangenis (1.00)
29. Pifte's Thuiskomst (1.00)
30. Esther Goldberg is Dood (1.03)
31. An Stort Hart Uit (2.50)
32. Esther & Pifte Trouwen (1.53)
Total Length: 55.00