Last week I composed the music score for Mary's Dowry Productions 81st DVD film "Saint Dominic Savio". We filmed for this lovely production back in January 2017 and it has been a bit of a nightmare to get it done. All of a sudden I found myself in the position to write the music and knew we were just a few days away from having a new production which is always exciting. To begin, I decided to keep to my usual instruments, not try anything too fancy and to keep the mood refreshing and uplifting. I gave myself plenty of time and not too much repetition; I kept creating new themes and moods as the film developed.
Saint Dominic Savio is an inspiring film about a young boy who made a decision to become a saint when he was very small and stuck to it, choosing his friends wisely and being faithful to prayer and the Sacraments of the Church. In this film we look at his early life and his meeting of St. John Bosco who tells him he looks like good material to be made into a saint.
The music score I wrote blends harps, guitars, baroque guitars, piano, strings and voices (my usual base of sounds), with a few modern subtle beats detailing the early story of Dominic's life. Dominic was saintly, for example he called St. John Bosco in the night to the home of a dying man in need of a priest. This reminded me of the mystery of St. John Bosco's dreams when we produced 'Don Bosco' DVD last year and I used some soundscapes called Enki and Forest Gathering to build a dreamlike mood as St. Dominic leads the way. I also used a Medieval Tenor Victimae Paschali whenever the film visits the Oratory of St. John Bosco, creating an atmosphere of holiness and prayer. This really aided in creating the right setting as the sounds of chanting in Latin created the sound of a religious environment.
Later in the film St. Dominic Savio has a vision of England. We see the Pope holding a flaming torch and we visit England and the English Martyrs. I loved writing to this section, I used an old instrument which I used a lot in our English Martyrs films, Koblikzek, which sounds like a recorder but very ancient. Further on in this section on the Faith in England, I bought in very subtle distant bagpipes. The sound was both English, Celtic and rich in the Faith and I felt the usual zeal for bringing England back to the One True Faith and I was surprised that this was so relevant and apt to this film. This music score has given me an opportunity to use a lot of instruments that I have used in the past but have not used for a little while. It has meditative sections which are very moving and inspiring as St. Dominic's wisdom is presented. The entire film and score filled me with inspiration for the Faith, zeal for England and a rich desire to try better to strive to be a saint.
Saint Dominic Savio is available worldwide on Region Free DVD Format from our website www.marysdowryproductions.org To hear some of the music you can view a trailer for the film here: SAVIO TRAILER
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