Remy van Kesteren: An alternative soundtrack to the motion picture The Red Turtle

Dutch harpist Remy van Kesteren has made a new soundtrack for The Red Turtle, the animated fantasy film directed and written by Michael Dudok de Wit. He follows the story of man who is shipwrecked on island - the same notes appear over and over on the album as a reminder of his confinement. The progtagonist builds rafts in order to esacpe, but those are subsequently destroyed by a giant red turtle. He kills the animal by turning it over and smashing its shield. As it ia a fairytale the deceased animal transforms into a very much alive woman and they have a son, who leaves island when he is a young grownup. The couple ages and the man dies on the beach in his sleep. The woman is turned into a giant turtle once more and swims away.

Van Kesteren followed the story closely and picked stand-out scenes for his accompanying music. With his harp he conjures up barely contained anger, despair, and joy. He has found a way to support the images in a respectful, but fulfilling and compelling way. His soundtrack can be enjoyed as a standalone piece, a neo-classical suite of pieces that flow together seamlessly. There are not that many harpists around who write their own material, but Van Kesteren knows his instrument inside out and has the composing skills to make it sing and weep like very few people can.

Due to corona crisis two scheduled screenings of the movie during which he would be playing live had to be postponed. Hopefully the owners of Kino in Rotterdam (October 31) and Trianon in Leiden (November 1) will be able to reschedule these special shows in the near future.

To celebrate the release he will do a webcast from an as yet undisclosed location on October 30th @ 20.30 (GMT+1), playing tracks from the album.

An alternative soundtrack to the motion picture The Red Turtle is released via via Snowstar Records on October 3oth and is available for pre-order (red vinyl, CD, digital). The cover art is a still from the movie, with liner notes from Dudok de Wit.

Tracks:

1. amber
2. waves
3. ///commonground
4. home is for rich people
5. nowhere left to run
6. she, she moves
7. april
8. 4=1 (everything)
9. walking across the atlantic
10. white horses
11. lake
12. (a minor) lament

» remyvankesteren.com