By Douglas Strassler Nov 15, 2005, 20:59 GMT
Geisha tells the moving story of Sayuri, a Japanese girl taken from her home and made to work as a maid in a geisha house. She proves to be a marvel of a student, charming all the men while secretly coveting the most successful one of all, all the while forced to deal with her jealous, treacherous competitors. Williams has corralled two of his favorite musicians to appear on this soundtrack as well, cellist Yo-Yo Ma and violinist Itzhak Perlman. All work to fashion a gorgeous background to this sweeping international epic.
Ma’s cello backs “Sayuri’s Theme,” a beautiful string performance with flute echoes. He also plays on the complementary “Going to School” and “A Dream Discarded.” String work dominates much of this soundtrack, with Perlman’s work included on “Finding Satu,” “The Chaiman’s Waltz,” “The Rooftops of the Hanamachi,” and “A New Name…A New Life.” The strings serve a fundamental effect here. As the emotionally evocative of instruments (they can poetically mimic the sounds yelling and crying), they provide support for Sayuri’s moving story of pain and sacrifice.
Williams also makes much use of flutes in tracks like “The Journey to the Hanamachi,” “Brush on Silk,” and “Confluence.” The music that plays over the (seemingly long) end credits includes many different instruments: harps, flutes, French horns, which build and then abate to Perlman’s version of Ma’s initial violin theme for Sayuri. Ultimately, an oboe joins in.
This is a gorgeous, if perhaps unmemorable soundtrack. Williams and his friends have teamed up for another flawless round. One can only hope Marshall’s film is as good as this soundtrack.
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