John Wyre: Drawing on Sound

Mr. Holland's Opus

December 1995 •English

In 1965, passionate musician Glenn Holland takes a day job as a high school music teacher, convinced it's just a small obstacle on the road to his true calling: writing a historic opus. As the decades roll by with the composition unwritten but generations of students inspired through his teaching, Holland must redefine his life's purpose.

Amadeus

September 1984 •English

Disciplined Italian composer Antonio Salieri becomes consumed by jealousy and resentment towards the hedonistic and remarkably talented young Salzburger composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

No Songs of Love

October 2005 •German

As Tobias, a young director, supposes that his girl-friend Ellen had an affair with his brother Markus, front man of "Hansen", one year ago, he decides to shoot a documentary about the band's next tour. When Ellen joins the project, everybody's emotions boil over, although they are observed all the time.

Rock N' Roll

November 2007 •Malayalam

Chandramouli, an international drummer, goes to Chennai to help his friend in his new project. However, his life turns upside down when he falls in love with a playback singer.

Till The Clouds Roll By: Real to Reel

April 2006 •English

A short documentary on Jerome Kern and the making of Till the Clouds Roll By.

The Great Waltz

November 1955 •English

Johann Strauss, Jr., a would-be composer of waltzes in mid-19th Century Vienna, attempts to thwart his father's efforts to prevent his success when the older man becomes jealous of his melodic skill.

August Rush

November 2007 •English

Lyla and Louis, a singer and a musician, fall in love, but are soon compelled to separate. Lyla is forced to give up her newborn but unknown to her, he grows up to become a musical genius.

Cole Porter in Hollywood: Begin the Beguine

January 2003 •English

An overview of Cole Porter’s musical contributions to the film Broadway Melody of 1940.

No Turning Back: Scoring Silent Running

November 2020 •English

Film Music Historian Jeff Bond discusses how the music for 'Silent Running' was created.

Facing the Music

July 2001 •English

Anne Boyd, one of Australia's leading contemporary composers, teaches music at the publicly funded University of Sydney. This documentary chronicles a year in the life of an academic department that's under the financial gun.

Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda

November 2017 •Japanese

Oscar winning composer Ryuichi Sakamoto weaves man-made and natural sounds together in his works. His anti-nuclear activism grew after the 2011 Fukushima disaster, and his career only paused after a 2014 cancer diagnosis.

Kesäillan valssi

October 1951 •Finnish

A story built around the music of Oskar Merikanto, tells the love story of the poor musician Lauri Alanko and the daughter of the rich Grahn family Annina. Annina’s family doesn’t approve of the relationship, and the couple’s happiness is also threatened by Lauri’s worsening eye disease.

The Yellow Shark

September 1992 •English

This live recording was culled from seven September 1992 concerts given in Vienna, Berlin, and Frankfurt by the Ensemble Modern, a Frankfurt-based chamber orchestra that performs only contemporary music. Composed and conducted by Frank Zappa.

Breaking Rachmaninoff

April 2023 •English

A humorous documentary about the search for a great composer who managed to overcome his depression by spelling his own name wrong.

Frank Zappa: Music In Review

February 2008 •English

Idiosyncratic composer, unique musician and ground-breaking film director…..Frank Zappa packed more into his short lifetime than most men would manage in two. His restless, challenging, creative spirit meant that he never stood still during a career that bought huge critical and commercial success – Zappa sold more than 60 million albums both as a solo artist and with the Mothers of Invention. The life and work of Frank Zappa are examined in this superb new critical review, which features new in-depth interviews with industry insiders, rock journalists and respected critics plus highlights from the songs that re-drew the face of rock music.

Leoš Janáček

January 1955 •Czech

Frank Zappa: The Torture Never Stops

May 2008 •English

Halloween, New York City, 1981 Live at The Palladium with Ray White, Steve Vai, Bobby Martin, Tommy Mars, Ed Mann, Scott Thunes, Chad Wackerman

John Cage: I Have Nothing to Say and I Am Saying It

September 1990 •English

This 56-minute documentary on America's most controversial and unique composer manages to cover a great many aspects of Cage's work and thought. His love for mushrooms, his Zen beliefs and use of the I Ching, and basic bio details are all explained intelligently and dynamically. Black Mountain, Buckminster Fuller, Rauschenberg, Duchamp are mentioned. Yoko Ono, John Rockwell, Laurie Anderson, Richard Kostelanetz make appearances. Fascinating performance sequences include Margaret Leng-Tan performing on prepared piano, Merce Cunningham and company, and performances of Credo In Us, Water Music, and Third Construction. Demystifies the man who made music from silence, from all sounds, from life.

Paris Blues

September 1961 •English

During the 1960s, two American jazz musicians living in Paris meet and fall in love with two American tourist girls and must decide between music and love.

Leonard Bernstein: A Genius Divided

January 2018 •German

One of the first US born conductors to receive worldwide fame, Leonard Bernstein is an exceptional composer and certainly not only due to The West Side Story. Instead of concentrating exclusively on his most famous work, Thomas von Steinaecker sets out to paint a complete picture of Bernstein. Thus, the documentary focusses on the American’s less known later works and on three compositions in particular: his Mass, the musical 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and the great final opera A Quiet Place. The film paints a vivid picture of the multitalented Bernstein, struggling with his role as composer and conductor, tackling the tension between successes and flops, between the politics of his time and his own liberal humanitarian claim. It looks back on Bernstein’s major achievements, such as his acclaimed conducting of Mahler and his involvement in the Young People’s Concerts, and it shows Bernstein’s work with young aspiring musicians as well as his political commitment.