MovieScore Media goes Medieval with Stephen McKeon’s Pilgrimage, a score that has won the Irish Film and Television Awards for Best Music. The film tells the story of a group of monks who must escort a sacred relic across an Irish landscape fraught with peril. Set in 13th century Ireland, Pilgrimage spans a score as uncompromising and brutal as the Medieval landscape, including powerful choral and solo voice passages that highlight both the dark side of religious fervour as well as the more uplifting side of faith...

Stephen McKeon’s score for Pilgrimage is, for the most part, an atmospheric medieval affair. The movie is set in the 13th century and explores the evil men do in the name of religion. McKeon uses percussion, low male voices and low brass to represent various elements in the story. The only female element in the entire film is contained in the score; a solo soprano designed to reflect hope.

The album contains 25 tracks (1 hr, 12 min, 27 sec) and several occasions I was reminded of John Williams's 'The Temple of Doom' from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom [1984], as well as Nathan McCree's score to the first Tomb Raider game [1996].

It's another album that's technically spot on; it does what it does for the medium it's composed for. But it's hard going when listened to in isolation and out of context.

5

Darren Rea