Featuring Original Music By Paul Cantelon
Lakeshore Records will release the EFFIE GRAY – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack digitally on March 31 and on April 28, 2015. The album features the film’s original score by Paul Cantelon (EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED, DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY). EFFIE GRAY was produced by Donald Rosenfeld (former President of Merchant Ivory Productions) and Andreas Roald.
“Working on EFFIE GRAY was a privilege,” Cantelon said. “I was allowed to write the music freely, which in turn allowed the music to express the depth of the emotion that the film creates. I was raised in a very similar religious background to that of John Ruskin, and was exceedingly moved by the film’s exploration of those important influences. This personal connection propelled the music to become a fully realized character.”
Paul Cantelon, born in Los Angeles, California, started his musical career as a violinist, making his debut at the age of thirteen at Royce Hall. At fifteen, he started his studies with legendary pianist Vlado Perelemuter, at the Paris Conservatory and began his concert career as a pianist. After studying under Jakob Latiener at the Juilliard School and Dame Mary Berry at Trinity College, Cambridge, Paul began extensive touring in the Far East in support of his second solo album: ‘Paul Cantelon Solo Piano.’
In the early 90’s, Cantelon formed the eclectic band, Wild Colonials (with singer Angela McCluskey), releasing two albums and touring with a number of artists ranging from Ry Cooder to The Red Hot Chili Peppers. In 1995, after composing a special centenary score for the Eisenstein classic silent film, BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN, he finished a new collection of works for solo piano and piano trio, and opened the Montreux Jazz Festival.
Cantelon began his venture into film in 2005 with EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED. He went on to score such films as the award-winning DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY, THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL, W., NEW YORK, I LOVE YOU, CONVICTION, DIANA VREELAND: THE EYE HAD TO TRAVEL, and WOODY ALLEN: A DOCUMENTARY. He has recently contributed original music to Jonathan Demme’s interpretation of Henrik Ibsen’s THE MASTER BUILDER called FEAR OF FALLING.
In EFFIE GRAY, Emma Thompson peers boldly inside the forbidden realms of Victorian society through the true story of the marriage of Effie Gray and renowned art critic John Ruskin, courageously exposing a secret world of unrequited passion hidden behind the veil of an opulent public life. Set in an era when neither divorce, nor gay marriage were an option, EFFIE GRAY is the story of a beautiful young woman coming of age, and finding her own voice in a world where women were expected to be seen but not heard. Within the lush environs of a world brimming with art, painting and high society and feverishly bucolic scenes of the Scottish countryside, EFFIE GRAY explores the intricate relationship between sexual intolerance, repression and desire which continue to permeate society today. In this impeccably crafted period drama, Thompson delicately and incisively probes the marital politics of the Victorian Era, and beyond.
“The whole film is brimming over with emotions on all scales,” said Cantelon. “Though very small, the solitary scene of Ruskin winding his watch at the end of the film, is to me, utterly devastating. Hopefully, my music worked to convey the feelings of such a moving film.”
Adopt Films presents EFFIE GRAY in limited theaters April 3rd 2015. The EFFIE GRAY – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack will be available digitally on March 31 and on April 28, 2015.