‘And these troops in the mud grinned or stared at us to a new music score by Laura Rossi, brilliantly effective, played with typical dexterity and polish by the Philharmonia Orchestra under the conductor Nic Raine. Whatever piercing image you might pick — the troops’ cheerful waves, the mascot dog dead with its master, the trench channel’s mud and corpses — Rossi’s score and the IWM’s new print will help them to reverberate even further into the future.’
Geoff Brown, The Times. ***** (click to read the whole article, [Times subscription required])
‘Watching them – hearing the cellos and violins, the piano solos – becomes a dream-like experience.’
Nicci Gerrard, The Observer. (click to read the whole article)
‘Extremely accomplished music.’
Annette Morreau, The Independent.
‘Laura Rossi has composed a hauntingly atmospheric accompaniment to the seven Silent Shakespeares featured on this tape. A graduate of the London College of Music, Rossi is an award-winning young musician making a startling debut. Under Rossi’s direction, the mood sweeps through a spectrum of spine-tingling emotions, encapsulating the drama and poetry of each tale.’
British Film Institute.
‘You cannot deny the power of this score; Laura Rossi very adeptly creates an emotional picture through impressive orchestral writing which is at once colourful, honourable, celebratory and moving. The performance by the Philharmonia Orchestra, under Nic Raine, is pristine and the CD package hugely interesting as it features extracts from the diary of a stretcher-bearer from the 29th Division – Fred Ainge, Laura Rossi’s Great Uncle. The Battle of the Somme is a fine memorial of music, for a point in history that should never be forgotten.’
Michael Beek – Music from the Movies
‘Rossi supplies a rich, subtle and binding score that connects 2008 to 1916.’
Luke McKernan, The Bioscope
‘Rossi’s masterful knowledge of orchestration is evident from the very start of the CD, never allowing for a dull moment in the music. Her orchestrations are on par with those of the great Hollywood composers. This is a truly breathtaking score that will positively influence other young composers. Incredibly well written and performed, Rossi’s score for The Battle of the Somme was among the best of 2008.’
Oscar Flores, Filmmusicsite.com
‘A work of emotional depth and beauty… Laura’s music, recorded by the Philharmonia Orchestra and conducted by Nic Raine, reflects the event’s heroism with superlative accuracy… A truly important piece’
Keith Ames, Musician Magazine
‘Haunting Score’
Geoffrey Macnab, Sight and Sound
‘a wonderful contemporary orchestral score soundtrack’
review from www.alt-flix.co.uk
‘a hugely impressive piece of work’
Gary Dalkin, MusicWeb International
‘an admirable accompaniment to this monumental film’
Jeff Hall, Screen Sounds
‘A thoughtful, elegiac work which wonderfully matched the images.’
Jerome Kuehl – History Today.
‘The BFI should be congratulated on this tape. It provides a rare opportunity to see these beautiful early films which are now much too fragile to project.’
Martin Scorsese.
‘Musical director Laura Rossi’s tremolo sound effects portentously drive home the horror of the experience, her nondiegetic mood music perpetuating the silent-film custom of emulating the elaborate orchestral arrangements in nineteenth-century theatrical playhouses…both films offer a sensuous attraction for eye and ear, with rich stencil coloring and the sonic punctuation of Rossi’s musical score.’
Kenneth S. Rothwell, Shakespeare Quarterly.
‘Sonorous soundtrack by Laura Rossi. A dream to be shared.’
Sergio Salvia Coelho, Folha de Sao Paulo. ****