Woman
Armand Amar
" Given the subject of the documentary, the composer does provide female perspective musically, in voices and musicians, but no more than usual. "Written by Joep de Bruijn - Review of the regular release
The documentary Woman (2019) is a continuation of the collaboration between director-photographer Yves Jeann Bertand (co-directed by Anastasia Mikova) and composer Armand Amar. The list of impressive music that culminated from their pairing goes from (La Terre) Vue du Ciel, Home to Human, incorporating a mesmerizing variety of cultural influences. Woman follows in the shadows of Human, focusing more on the human element rather than the ecological and human combination elsewhere, a document giving voice to women around the world.
The composer relies much on his trademark minimalist music, a wonderful classical array of instruments, several returning soloists, among them several female ones, such as Julien Carton on the piano. Given the subject of the documentary, the composer does provide female perspective musically, in voices and musicians, but no more than usual. There are some Portuguese women singing in Amazons, the strikingly beautiful singing of Iranian Sahar Mohamedi in Mosul and the equally attractive vocals by Swedish Isabel Sörling in Opening 2 and I Am No Longer Going to Wear This Coat of Shame.
Anne Sophie Versnaeyen, a regular orchestrator and writer of additional music on works by Amar, composed two tracks for Woman. No More Fight Left in Me is a song performed by French-Comorese singer Imany and a female chorus, whose lyrics are sung in English. Versnayen´ music blends seamlessly with the sound of Amar, but there´s something mawkishly saccharine in the lyrics and the activist manner of singing by Imany, which is rather emotionless, and produces mixed feelings. Don't Be Scared Sweet Child is a completely different piece, for which Versnayen uses Isabel Sörling singing in English. While it is easy to condemn it solely on similarly plain lyrics, its performances, including some humming eventually, is very evocative.
Woman does feature some great soloist musicians to give the score a cultural flavour, but quite humble, and it lacks the great diversity as heard in other scores. Armand Amar depends on his usual universal strings, piano and woodwinds and (unobtrusive) compositional ideas that share resemblances to earlier works. Woman is nonetheless a very engaging score.
Tracklist
1. Opening 1 Armand Amar, julien carton 0:58
2. I Am No Longer Going to Wear This Coat of Shame Armand Amar, Isabel Sörling 4:06
3. No More Fight Left in Me - Imany, Anne Sophie Versnaeyen 5:23
4. Opening 2 - Armand Amar, Isabel Sörling 3:44
5. Proud to Be a Woman - Armand Amar 3:05
6. Because You're a Girl - Armand Amar 1:53
7. Woman 1 - Armand Amar 3:12
8. Modern Times - Armand Amar 2:02
9. Not Alone Anymore - Armand Amar 2:37
10. Don't Be Scared Sweet Child - Anne Sophie Versnaeyen, Isabel Sörling 3:24
11. Opening 3 - Armand Amar 1:19
12. Mosul - Armand Amar, Sahar Mohamedi 5:27
13. The Couples - Armand Amar 1:50
14. Amazons - Armand Amar 2:03
15. Forced Marriage - Armand Amar 2:24
16. Beauty - Armand Amar 2:10
17. Woman 2 - Armand Amar 2:05
18. Nudity - Armand Amar 2:33
19. A Strong Woman - Armand Amar 3:42
20. Woman 3 - Armand Amar 1:41
Total duration 55:38
(written 14-03-2020)
The composer relies much on his trademark minimalist music, a wonderful classical array of instruments, several returning soloists, among them several female ones, such as Julien Carton on the piano. Given the subject of the documentary, the composer does provide female perspective musically, in voices and musicians, but no more than usual. There are some Portuguese women singing in Amazons, the strikingly beautiful singing of Iranian Sahar Mohamedi in Mosul and the equally attractive vocals by Swedish Isabel Sörling in Opening 2 and I Am No Longer Going to Wear This Coat of Shame.
Anne Sophie Versnaeyen, a regular orchestrator and writer of additional music on works by Amar, composed two tracks for Woman. No More Fight Left in Me is a song performed by French-Comorese singer Imany and a female chorus, whose lyrics are sung in English. Versnayen´ music blends seamlessly with the sound of Amar, but there´s something mawkishly saccharine in the lyrics and the activist manner of singing by Imany, which is rather emotionless, and produces mixed feelings. Don't Be Scared Sweet Child is a completely different piece, for which Versnayen uses Isabel Sörling singing in English. While it is easy to condemn it solely on similarly plain lyrics, its performances, including some humming eventually, is very evocative.
Woman does feature some great soloist musicians to give the score a cultural flavour, but quite humble, and it lacks the great diversity as heard in other scores. Armand Amar depends on his usual universal strings, piano and woodwinds and (unobtrusive) compositional ideas that share resemblances to earlier works. Woman is nonetheless a very engaging score.
Tracklist
1. Opening 1 Armand Amar, julien carton 0:58
2. I Am No Longer Going to Wear This Coat of Shame Armand Amar, Isabel Sörling 4:06
3. No More Fight Left in Me - Imany, Anne Sophie Versnaeyen 5:23
4. Opening 2 - Armand Amar, Isabel Sörling 3:44
5. Proud to Be a Woman - Armand Amar 3:05
6. Because You're a Girl - Armand Amar 1:53
7. Woman 1 - Armand Amar 3:12
8. Modern Times - Armand Amar 2:02
9. Not Alone Anymore - Armand Amar 2:37
10. Don't Be Scared Sweet Child - Anne Sophie Versnaeyen, Isabel Sörling 3:24
11. Opening 3 - Armand Amar 1:19
12. Mosul - Armand Amar, Sahar Mohamedi 5:27
13. The Couples - Armand Amar 1:50
14. Amazons - Armand Amar 2:03
15. Forced Marriage - Armand Amar 2:24
16. Beauty - Armand Amar 2:10
17. Woman 2 - Armand Amar 2:05
18. Nudity - Armand Amar 2:33
19. A Strong Woman - Armand Amar 3:42
20. Woman 3 - Armand Amar 1:41
Total duration 55:38
(written 14-03-2020)