Unlimited Streaming
Listen to this album in high quality now on our apps
Start my trial period and start listening to this albumEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
SubscribeEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
Digital Download
Purchase and download this album in a wide variety of formats depending on your needs.
The Epic of Everest is a 1924 film by Captain John Noel that documents the ill-fated attempt by explorers George Mallory and Andrew Irvine to climb to the summit of Mt. Everest. Mallory's body was recovered in 1999, Irvine's never was -- and no one knows if they ever made it to the top. The British Film Institute restored the original film and commissioned a score from composer Simon Fisher Turner. Along with an esteemed body of work for films by Derek Jarman and Mike Hodges, he had scored a previous Institute project, The Great White Silence, about Captain John Smith's disastrous expedition to the South Pole. While there have been many (rightful) critiques of Noel's film as essentially an homage to British colonialism, Turner's score balances the perspective with a thoughtful interpretation that doesn't attempt to belie the criticism, but highlight the humanity -- all of it, from the British to the Sherpa and Nepalese and Tibetans -- in the images themselves. Thoroughly modern yet timeless, he melds the synthetic to the natural. Cosey Fanni Tutti's trumpet, Asaf Sirkis' percussion, Peter Gregson's cello, voices and instruments from Nepalese father and daughter Madan and Ruby Thapa, and assistance from other musicians highlight, accent, and frame Turner's vision. There are rumbling, pulsing sine waves, declamatory and/or inquisitive horns, ghostly synths, bells and chimes, the howling wind, chanting, droning Tibetan monks, sparse ambient textures, sonically altered acoustic piano, harp, lutes, bells, and much more, all delivered with taste and discipline. The possibilities for this soundtrack being either a mush of culturally generic new age atmospherics or overblown dramatic bombast were ample. But Turner nevers succumbs. Over 70 minutes and 16 cues he painstakingly places sounds in direct, interdependent relation to one another. The approach feels both deliberate and, astonishingly, organic. As an accompaniment to Noel's images, these compositions and sonic textures reveal humanity's temptation, conceit, and ultimate futility in attempting to conquer the forbidding, isolated, and regionally revered (much as it is today) mountain -- at least at that historical juncture -- which serves as an allegory in the present day. Taken as a body of music, The Epic of Everest is an eerie, sensually arresting listening experience. It is often fraught with understated yet taut dynamic tension but simultaneously shrouded in spectral, almost impenetrable mystery, much like the shadow of Everest itself.
© Thom Jurek /TiVo
You are currently listening to samples.
Listen to over 100 million songs with an unlimited streaming plan.
Listen to this playlist and more than 100 million songs with our unlimited streaming plans.
From $10.83/month
Simon Fisher Turner, Vocals, MainArtist
© 2013 Mute Artists Limited ℗ 2013 Mute Artists Limited
Simon Fisher Turner, Vocals, MainArtist
© 2013 Mute Artists Limited ℗ 2013 Mute Artists Limited
Simon Fisher Turner, Vocals, MainArtist
© 2013 Mute Artists Limited ℗ 2013 Mute Artists Limited
Simon Fisher Turner, Vocals, MainArtist
© 2013 Mute Artists Limited ℗ 2013 Mute Artists Limited
Simon Fisher Turner, Vocals, MainArtist
© 2013 Mute Artists Limited ℗ 2013 Mute Artists Limited
Simon Fisher Turner, Vocals, MainArtist
© 2013 Mute Artists Limited ℗ 2013 Mute Artists Limited
Reinhard Mey, Composer, Lyricist - Simon Fisher Turner, Vocals, MainArtist
© 2013 Mute Artists Limited ℗ 2013 Mute Artists Limited
Simon Fisher Turner, Vocals, MainArtist
© 2013 Mute Artists Limited ℗ 2013 Mute Artists Limited
Simon Fisher Turner, Vocals, MainArtist
© 2013 Mute Artists Limited ℗ 2013 Mute Artists Limited
Simon Fisher Turner, Vocals, MainArtist
© 2013 Mute Artists Limited ℗ 2013 Mute Artists Limited
Simon Fisher Turner, Vocals, MainArtist
© 2013 Mute Artists Limited ℗ 2013 Mute Artists Limited
Simon Fisher Turner, Vocals, MainArtist
© 2013 Mute Artists Limited ℗ 2013 Mute Artists Limited
Simon Fisher Turner, Vocals, MainArtist
© 2013 Mute Artists Limited ℗ 2013 Mute Artists Limited
Simon Fisher Turner, Vocals, MainArtist
© 2013 Mute Artists Limited ℗ 2013 Mute Artists Limited
Simon Fisher Turner, Vocals, MainArtist
© 2013 Mute Artists Limited ℗ 2013 Mute Artists Limited
Simon Fisher Turner, Vocals, MainArtist
© 2013 Mute Artists Limited ℗ 2013 Mute Artists Limited
Album review
The Epic of Everest is a 1924 film by Captain John Noel that documents the ill-fated attempt by explorers George Mallory and Andrew Irvine to climb to the summit of Mt. Everest. Mallory's body was recovered in 1999, Irvine's never was -- and no one knows if they ever made it to the top. The British Film Institute restored the original film and commissioned a score from composer Simon Fisher Turner. Along with an esteemed body of work for films by Derek Jarman and Mike Hodges, he had scored a previous Institute project, The Great White Silence, about Captain John Smith's disastrous expedition to the South Pole. While there have been many (rightful) critiques of Noel's film as essentially an homage to British colonialism, Turner's score balances the perspective with a thoughtful interpretation that doesn't attempt to belie the criticism, but highlight the humanity -- all of it, from the British to the Sherpa and Nepalese and Tibetans -- in the images themselves. Thoroughly modern yet timeless, he melds the synthetic to the natural. Cosey Fanni Tutti's trumpet, Asaf Sirkis' percussion, Peter Gregson's cello, voices and instruments from Nepalese father and daughter Madan and Ruby Thapa, and assistance from other musicians highlight, accent, and frame Turner's vision. There are rumbling, pulsing sine waves, declamatory and/or inquisitive horns, ghostly synths, bells and chimes, the howling wind, chanting, droning Tibetan monks, sparse ambient textures, sonically altered acoustic piano, harp, lutes, bells, and much more, all delivered with taste and discipline. The possibilities for this soundtrack being either a mush of culturally generic new age atmospherics or overblown dramatic bombast were ample. But Turner nevers succumbs. Over 70 minutes and 16 cues he painstakingly places sounds in direct, interdependent relation to one another. The approach feels both deliberate and, astonishingly, organic. As an accompaniment to Noel's images, these compositions and sonic textures reveal humanity's temptation, conceit, and ultimate futility in attempting to conquer the forbidding, isolated, and regionally revered (much as it is today) mountain -- at least at that historical juncture -- which serves as an allegory in the present day. Taken as a body of music, The Epic of Everest is an eerie, sensually arresting listening experience. It is often fraught with understated yet taut dynamic tension but simultaneously shrouded in spectral, almost impenetrable mystery, much like the shadow of Everest itself.
© Thom Jurek /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 16 track(s)
- Total length: 01:12:41
- Main artists: Simon Fisher Turner
- Composer: Reinhard Mey
- Label: Mute
- Genre: Soundtracks Film Soundtracks
© 2013 Mute Artists Limited ℗ 2013 Mute Artists Limited
Improve album informationWhy buy on Qobuz?
-
Stream or download your music
Buy an album or an individual track. Or listen to our entire catalog with our high-quality unlimited streaming subscriptions.
-
Zero DRM
The downloaded files belong to you, without any usage limit. You can download them as many times as you like.
-
Choose the format best suited for you
Download your purchases in a wide variety of formats (FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF...) depending on your needs.
-
Listen to your purchases on our apps
Download the Qobuz apps for smartphones, tablets, and computers, and listen to your purchases wherever you go.