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Momentum RLP Records is pleased to announce the release of the original television soundtrack “Away & Back" scored by William Ross.
When William Ross sat down to watch and discuss the new Hallmark Hall of Fame movie 'Away & Back' with its filmmakers, there was a fleeting moment in one scene that passed with little comment or instruction on whether to even score it. The camera pans from the movie’s young tomboy protagonist (Frankie), whose father is reading to her in bed, to a framed portrait of Frankie’s family that includes her late mother. “After I got into writing the score,” says Ross, “I thought that was the most important scene in the movie. It was the chance to take a couple little notes and say: This is what this story is about.”
Ross was tapping into the unspoken, emotional core under the eggshell of the movie’s plot, which follows a widower (Jack, played by Jason Lee) and his three children. A trumpeter swan makes its home on the family’s farm, then dies in an accident—leaving behind a nest full of vulnerable cygnet eggs. Young Frankie is determined to protect and raise them. When a prickly ornithologist (Minka Kelly) comes along to look after the eggs, personalities clash, and buried emotions bubble to the surface.
“I felt the swans and the scenery were only a backdrop for what the heart of the story was,” says Ross. “It was really the depth of sadness that had struck this family with the death of the mother. What was going on with the swans reflected what was going on inside Frankie and her family, and the story is really Frankie’s attempt to make herself and her family whole again.”
Ross scored that brief, early scene with a piano motif that he then sprinkled “like a spice” throughout the score to solidify the movie’s rich, emotional subtext. This motif is patiently delivered by strings at the discovery of the “Orphan Eggs,” and traced by lone violins in “Meeting Ginny.” Variations are cast in a melancholy mood when “Ginny Has to Go,” and the motif receives its lengthiest performance in the sadness of “Please Don’t Call”—serving as a constant reminder of the woman whose death caused the cracks in this family’s heart.
Representing the swan’s catalyzing and healing presence, Ross wrote a kind of call for wood flute. Solo ethnic wind instruments warble all through the score, heralding the “Main Titles,” mourning over the mother’s motif in “Mother Swan Dies,” and soaring with the hatched cygnets in “Games, Take-off, Flight!”. Complementing the story’s rustic wilderness setting, the composer painted from a bucolic palette that emphasized plucked string instruments like guitar, dulcimer, zither, and autoharp. Strings provide warmth or accent sadness as need be, supporting the score’s featured instruments.
Frankie is given a stouthearted, leapfrogging motif for piano to represent her and the mission she’s on. “Her little theme is very Coplandesque,” explains Ross. “It’s simple and childlike.” Buoyant and optimistic in tracks like the “Main Titles” and “Finding a Vet,” Frankie’s theme is thrust into danger in the score’s latter dramatic tracks like “Frankie is Gone” and “Wrong Trail,” with minor-key accompaniment and worried strings.
Light comedic moments are supplied in the form of slide guitar and mischievous marimbas (“Unwelcomed Visitor,” “Thank You”). But for Ross, it all comes back to that moment we see Frankie’s mother in the photograph. “That represents the whole of what’s going on in this film,” he says. “There’s a pull to try and be whole, and the tension that comes from that pull, I thought, was a nice place where music could help.” With that on its mind, the score’s prevailing character is gentle and earthy—accompanying a wounded family and their fragile charge with sympathy and heart.
William Ross is a prolific award-winning composer and arranger whose work has spanned feature films, the recording industry and television. He has composed music for such films as The Tale of Despereaux, A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas, Touchback, Ladder 49, Tuck Everlasting, and My Dog Skip. He also adapted and conducted the score to Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
"Away & Back" was released on iTunes, Amazon and direct through the Momentum RLP Records website on February 10th, 2015.
Momentum RLP Records webpage: http://www.momentumrlprecords.com/away-and-back/
Away & Back — Original Television Soundtrack
Music Composed by WILLIAM ROSS
Release date: February 10th, 2015
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Hi. The web link says the score is available as a download and in a high definition disc (HD). Never heard of HD audio discs. Are they playable on a regular CD player?
Thanks in advance.
Gary
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Hi. The web link says the score is available as a download and in a high definition disc (HD). Never heard of HD audio discs. Are they playable on a regular CD player?
Thanks in advance.
Gary
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Hi. The web link says the score is available as a download and in a high definition disc (HD). Never heard of HD audio discs. Are they playable on a regular CD player?
Thanks in advance.
Gary
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Hi. The web link says the score is available as a download and in a high definition disc (HD). Never heard of HD audio discs. Are they playable on a regular CD player?
Thanks in advance.
Gary
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Hi. The web link says the score is available as a download and in a high definition disc (HD). Never heard of HD audio discs. Are they playable on a regular CD player?
Thanks in advance.
Gary
Hello Gary,
Thank you for your interest in "Away and Back." Sorry for the confusion. To clarify, we offer two digital albums, one is a compressed mp3 album, and the other is an uncompressed HD. Hope this clears everything up!
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