Mychael Danna - sounds:

Canadian composer Mychael Danna (sometimes credited as "Michael") is the older brother of Jeff Danna who is also an accomplished film composer. "The Ice Storm" is an impressive movie, where the two generations of neighbours and friends seeks new stimuli to provide relief from their own dysfunctional families before events climax during an ice storm. Mychael Danna provides a variety of soundscapes as a backdrop to this story, including a wooden flute type sound suggesting perhaps the location and a back to nature freedom. A Gamelan band augmented with other brittle sounds are used in a number of places which eventually accompany the ice storm but also seem to predict it earlier in the movie, in the same way that director Ang Lee introduces early references to weather and ice. This music brings out the beauty of the storm with windchime effects in the trees, but also hints at its dangerous aspects as though its beauty is an allure to draw you in - perhaps a metaphor for the film itself.

In general one would describe the music of Mychael Danna as subtle or unobtrusive, which is exactly what many directors are looking for from a composer - a creator of something generally non-thematic which sits in the background lending ambience to the proceedings, and briefly rising up when the action requires some support only to retire once more into the background. In "Ride with the Devil" the music initially starts off with a certain Southern vibe (guitar, banjo, solo violin and strings) placing the situation in time and place and lending a certain lawlessness to events. The music rises in power when large scale action unfolds becoming more of a traditional orchestral score, then quietly allowing some character development to take place ending with a gentler more romantic mood as things return to something approaching normality.

Mychael Danna also seems to have an interesting and unusual involvement scoring Indian films with "Kama Sutra, A Tale of Love", "Moonsoon Wedding" and now "Water". For these scores Danna has employed a number of traditional Indian instruments and methods, often aiming for a modern fusion sound. He is one of very few Western composers to work in this way.

Note that the soundtrack CD for "The Ice Storm" only contains a couple of tracks by Mychael Danna (the rest of the CD being a collection of songs), and is available at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com. The "Kama Sutra" soundtrack has much more of Danna's music and can be found at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com. "8MM" is also available at these links Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com.

Films by Mychael Danna:

• Blood Relations
• The Ice Storm - one of his best for director Ang Lee
• Ride with the Devil - well-crafted music for a well-crafted film by Ang Lee
• Felicia's Journey
• Kama Sutra, A Tale of Love - for Indian director/filmmaker Mira Nair
• 8MM (or Eight Millimeter)
• Monsoon Wedding - also for Mira Nair, this is about a Punjabi family torn between their traditions and the pressures of modern life
• The Hulk - in yet another Ang Lee film, the song "Mother" is one of the items accompanying the main score by Danny Elfman
• Vanity Fair
• Being Julia
• Capote - the film has very little music, so the album is completed with excerpts from the novel "In Cold Blood" recorded by the real Truman Capote
• Water - Indian made film by Deepa Mehta, with songs by A. R. Rahman who also scored and contributed songs to Mehta's "Fire" and "Earth" creating an elemental Trilogy, and coincidentally a third Indian film for Danna
• Where the Truth Lies
• Little Miss Sunshine - brings out the quirky misfit characters in this dynsunctional family, though later morphing towards a feel-good road movie

TV work by Mychael Danna:

• Road to Avonlea - Danna is one of a number of composers contributing to this series