re:mote voices

Title: Goodbye Lenin
Artist: Yann Tiersen
i picked up the soundtrack to the film goodbye lenin, which i commented at the time was by yann tiersen. yann was also responsible for the soundtrack to the film amelie, which was a big hit, and no doubt raised his profile considerably.
with yann's soundtrack to goodbye lenin there are undoubtedly comparisons to be made to the one for amelie, i swore at the time that some of these pieces in the film are the same pieces. listening to the CD itself, it seems that there are no pieces included on both soundtracks, which may mean there was no overlap. though as suggested there are similarities between the works, several of the pieces on goodbye lenin have very similar sound elements - familiar structures and chords being played with enough of a variation.
initially while listening to the goodbye lenin soundtrack i am conscious of how much i like it, but also of those similarities, and with that comes a fear that yann could become repetitive with this kind of work. the slow and striking melodies, primarily in this case with piano have a definite style, a definite mood, which suits these soundtracks well. at times the amelie soundtrack could perhaps be described, a certain infectious accordion toned up beat mood. goodbye lenin contrasts that with more of a brass/wind influence on some pieces, going for the familiar structures, but with different tones and textures.
both amelie and goodbye lenin soundtracks suffer from the soundtrack symptom, which is that the pieces have specifically been taiolred to suit a film. this leads to a definite repetition dealing with a narratives recurring themes/characters, but also a wealth of short pieces which fit a scene here or there and are then done. this makes some soundtracks unlistenable, regardless of how striking they seemed when you actually heard them as part of a film.
yann tiersen however is different, his music has such a stirring strength and makes such an impression that these soundtracks manage to flow into a whole, that is a pleasure to listen to.