Mychael Danna – The Sweet Hereafter (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

 

Soundtrack album to the 1997 Canadian film The Sweet Hereafter, written and directed by Atom Egoyan, starring Ian Holm, Sarah Polley, and Bruce Greenwood, and adapted from the 1991 novel by Russell Banks. The film tells the story of a school bus accident in a small town that kills 14 children. A class-action lawsuit ensues, proving divisive in the community and becoming tied with personal and family issues.

The film, inspired by the 1989 Alton, Texas, bus crash, was filmed in British Columbia and Ontario, incorporating a film score with medieval music influences and references to the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, which influenced composer Mychael Danna's music. He used a Persian ney flute along with old instruments such as recorders, crumhorns and lutes, creating "a pseudo-medieval score. The ney performer is Persian music teacher Hossein Omoumi. The score thus combined Danna's interests in old and exotic music. Egoyan stated medieval-style music was used to make the film feel timeless, evoking Brothers Grimm fairy tales and avoiding the feel of a TV movie.

Polley's character, Nicole, is an aspiring singer before the accident, and is seen on stage performing the Tragically Hip's "Courage (for Hugh MacLennan)" and Jane Siberry's "One More Colour". Danna and Polley cooperated to create Nicole's music, with Polley writing lyrics to Danna's original songs and with Danna arranging the adaptations of "Courage" and "One More Colour". The songs were chosen because of their domestic popularity, reinforcing the local nature of Nicole's music. The Tragically Hip's original version of "Courage" also appears in the film.

The Sweet Hereafter