Documentary filmmaker Jerome Hill engaged Hollywood songwriter
Hugh Martin to score his 22-minute film about the painter Grandma Moses.
Martin, best-known for his songs with
Ralph Blane for the warmhearted Meet Me in St. Louis, was perhaps a little out of his depth when it came to scoring, but he certainly knew how to write effective tunes that could evoke the New England world of Moses' paintings. This is not the soundtrack to the film, but rather a suite put together by
Alec Wilder, played by
André Kostelanetz's orchestra, and conducted by Daniel Saidenberg, based on
Martin's score.
Wilder brings out the stark, hymn-like quality of
Martin's opening theme, "Cambridge Valley," as well as the playful tone of "Whistle Stop" and the stateliness of "Anna Mary." And so it goes. Grandma Moses, a farm wife who turned to painting in her seventies, was always like something from a Hollywood movie, and
Martin captures the fairytale quality of her story in this innocent, attractive music.