The History Of Sound explores the traditional folk music of the United States, but what songs exactly feature in the film? Find out below.
READ MORE: ‘The History Of Sound’ review: Paul Mescal gets back to breaking hearts
It stars Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor as Lionel and David, who meet in 1917 while attending the New England Conservatory of Music and form a bond over their shared passion for folk music and song. After World War I, they travel together recording the folk songs of their countrymen in rural Maine.
The movie is directed by Oliver Hermanus, the South African filmmaker known for the 2022 Bill Nighy drama Living, and it was written by Ben Shattuck, based on two of his own short stories, The History Of Sound and Origin Stories.
It premiered at the Cannes Film Festival last year, where it was nominated for the Palme d’Or, and it was released in UK cinemas on Friday (January 23).
NME has given the film a glowing five-star review, writing: “Mescal and O’Connor deliver the acting goods and the tale is told briskly, while exquisite American roots music is threaded deftly throughout the soundtrack, adding a real depth to the lush, romantic environment. The History Of Sound also looks the part, with cinematographer Alexander Dynan’s close-ups of despairing faces and freezing countryside accentuating the longing and regret that hangs over the film. A deeply sad movie about thwarted love, The History of Sound is essential viewing.”
Every song on the soundtrack of The History Of Sound
The film includes an original score from the acclaimed British composer Oliver Coates, who has also worked on Aftersun, also starring Mescal, as well as Pillion and Under The Skin.
It also, of course, spotlights several traditional folk songs and choral pieces from the early 20th century and earlier.
Those songs are:
‘O Salutaris Hostia’ – Lorenzo Perosi
‘All Is Well’ – Benjamin Howard, Brian Jeffers, Bryan Murray, Christopher Seefeldt, Corey Shotwell, Jason Kahil, John Elliot Yates, Martin Schreiner, Nathan Hodgson, Tomas Cruz, Zachary Fletcher
‘Across The Rocky Mountain’ – arranged by Sam Amidon
‘Silver Dagger’ – arranged by Sam Amidon
‘Country Life’ – arranged by Martin Carthy, Michael Waterson, Norma Waterson, Elaine Waterson
‘The Unquiet Grave’ – arranged by Sam Amidon
‘The Snow It Melts The Soonest’ – arranged by Sam Amidon
‘Come All Ye Fair And Tender Ladies’ – Sheila Kay Adams
‘Fourteen Wildcat Scalps’ – Eamon O’Leary and Cleek Schrey
‘Sweet Is The Day Of Sacred Rest’ – arranged by Sam Amidon
‘Grieved Soul’ – arranged by Sam Amidon
‘Cuckoo!’ – Benjamin Britten
‘Here In The Vineyard’ – arranged by Sam Amidon
‘The Old Churchyard’ – arranged by Sam Amidon
‘Forked Deer’ – Jackson Lynch and Eli Smith
‘O Salutaris Hostia (second version)’ – Lorenzo Perosi
‘Ave Verum Corpus Op.65 No.1’ – Gabriel Fauré
‘Stabat Mater: 12. Quando Corpus – Amen’ – Giovanni Battista Pergolesi
‘All Is Well (choral arrangement)’ – arranged by Peter Amidon
‘Down In The Willow Garden’ – arranged by Sam Amidon
‘The Unquiet Grave (Nancy Kerr version)’ – Nancy Kerr
The film also ends with the anachronistic needle drop of Joy Division’s 1980 classic ‘Atmosphere’.
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