"DAVID CIERI IS A GENIUS AT PUTTING SOUND TO IMAGE. HIS SCORE FOR DREYER'S THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC — FEATURING MUSIC BY TURNS EARTHLY AND ETHEREAL — MIRRORS THE INTENSITY AND MAGIC OF THIS ENDURING WORK OF CINEMA." (KEN BURNS)
David Cieri, a visionary and prolific composer of movie music for celebrated filmmakers Ken Burns, Tony Gerber, and Barak Goodman has made a new score for one of the essential films of the silent era, director Carl Th. Dreyer's La Passion de Jeanne d’Arc (The Passion of Joan of Arc). On January 24, 2020, Ropeadope Records is pleased to release An Homage to Carl Th. Dreyer's 1928 The Passion of Joan of Arc, Cieri's expansive and gripping new score for this cinematic classic. Cieri's release can be synchronized to the film for the full experience, but stands on it own as a dynamic and independent musical work.
Cieri has collaborated on projects with Ken Burns for more than a decade, starting with The National Parks: America’s Best Idea in 2008 and running through The Vietnam War in 2017 — Burns calls Cieri a “master composer”. Further, he has collaborated with Barak Goodman scoring the films Oklahoma City, Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies, and the forthcoming The Gene: An Intimate History. Cieri worked in tandem with Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, Yusef Komunyakaa, on a pair of releases for Ropeadope Records, and wrote music for a documentary theater project by two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage. Cieri has scored two seasons of The Paris Review podcast, serves on faculty at City College of New York, and recently completed a major new work for carillon bells, which was premiered at Yale University’s Harkness Tower.
Released in 1928, The Passion of Joan of Arc, details the trial and execution of Saint Joan of Arc. The film depicts the last few days in the life of Joan of Arc, who fought to save France from English conquest. After her capture by the Burgundians, she was sold to the English and tried for witchcraft; her courageous stand led to her torture and execution by immolation. Director Carl Th. Dreyer’s movie, based on the records of Joan’s actual trial, is regarded by film scholars as one of the great works of cinema. Dreyer’s inventive use of close-ups, which constitute much of the film, were considered a revolutionary cinematic breakthrough. The portrayal of Joan by Renée Maria Falconetti is frequently heralded as the all-time finest performance in the history of film, and Dreyer's unusual and virtuosic method, in seeming to render the very soul of his actress, vaulted the director into the ranks of the art form's supreme geniuses
From the moment he saw the film, Cieri heard music in his head, and after his years of experience working with acclaimed filmmakers he set himself to the reflective and detailed work required to capture the mood, the feeling, and the deep sense of humanity exposed in the film. The recorded album — An Homage to Carl Th. Dreyer’s 1928 The Passion of Joan of Arc — will be released worldwide on January 24, 2020 and stands on its own as an authoritative piece of music; often somber, sometimes threatening, and occasionally light and joyous. Cieri plans to tour the project performing the score live alongside screenings of the film.