Shutter Island

Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio deliver a powerhouse of tension in their new movie about the mentally insane, Shutter Island. The psychological drama unfolds compellingly in the music, which veritably jabs your soul in utter anguish throughout the entire ordeal. I recognized early in the film what brilliance I was hearing, but thought right until the very end that I was witnessing the newest work of the next brilliant soundtrack composer. By the end of the film, exhausted but exhilarated, I sat through endless credits waiting to meet this young fresh face and was even sketching a blog post in my mind, raving about how Mr. or Ms. X is a true sensation and that we're lucky to be able to witness such creativity in our time.

What awaited me at the end of the credits, when the music is finally acknowledged, was not a new name, itching to cross my lips for the first time, but a posse of 20th century composers, some of whom, to be frank, would not draw me to a concert hall and would not sell me a CD. Granted, this is only due to my personal shortcomings as a listener, but much of the music that had mesmerized and thrilled me in the movie would otherwise have been relegated to the "bleep blop" bin on my music shelf.

The good news is that being stuck on the bleep blop shelf of my music collection isn't enough to stop others from recognizing true brilliance, and thus as millions of people pile into the theaters to see a blockbuster movie with Hollywood's finest, they'll also be getting exposure to a swath of music that even trained classical musicians might write off as too harsh, obscure, modern, or otherwise inaccessible for mass consumption. Many people - normal moviegoers - will even buy the soundtrack. And in doing so they'll be confirming two principles that I've at times tried to deny or refute. One, that sometimes music needs a great narrative or story to make it more compelling than it could be by itself, and two, that sometimes radical musical ideas may need time to gain acceptance and win their place in the mainstream.

Disc 1

1. "Fog Tropes" (Ingram Marshall) – Orchestra of St. Lukes, conducted by John Adams
2. "Symphony No. 3: Passacaglia - Allegro Moderato" (Krzysztof Penderecki) – National Polish Radio Symphony, conducted by Antoni Wit
3. "Music For Marcel Duchamp" (John Cage) – Philipp Vandré
4. "Hommage á John Cage" – Nam June Paik
5. "Lontano" (György Ligeti) – Wiener Philharmoniker, conducted by Claudio Abbado
6. "Rothko Chapel 2" (Morton Feldman) – UC Berkeley Chamber Chorus
7. "Cry" – Johnnie Ray
8. "On The Nature Of Daylight" – Max Richter
9. "Uaxuctum: The Legend Of The Mayan City Which They Themselves Destroyed For Religious Reasons – 3rd Movement" (Giacinto Scelsi) – Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra
10. "Quartet for Strings and Piano in A minor" (Gustav Mahler) – Prazak Quartet

Disc 2

1. "Christian Zeal And Activity" (John Adams) – The San Francisco Symphony, conducted by Edo de Waart
2. "Suite For Symphonic Strings: Nocturne" (Lou Harrison) – The New Professionals Orchestra, conducted by Rebecca Miller
3. "Lizard Point" – Brian Eno
4. "Four Hymns: II For Cello And Double Bass" (Alfred Schnittke) – Torleif Thedéen & Entcho Radoukanov
5. "Root Of An Unfocus" (John Cage) – Boris Berman
6. "Prelude - The Bay" – Ingram Marshall
7. "Wheel Of Fortune" – Kay Starr
8. "Tomorrow Night" – Lonnie Johnson
9. "This Bitter Earth"/"On The Nature Of Daylight" – Dinah Washington/Max Richter

(Source: Wikipedia)