Don Davis - Beyond the Sky (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) '2019

Tracks list

A native of Anaheim, California, Emmy winning composer Don Davis began playing
trumpet and piano at the age of nine, and started writing music at twelve. As
his affinity for music grew, so did his aspirations, and soon he was composing
and arranging orchestral charts for local jazz ensembles that he also performed
with. After graduation from high school, Davis furthered his study of music at
UCLA, majoring in music theory and composition, playing trumpet in college jazz
ensembles and orchestras. Although Davis primary interest had been jazz and
rock, he found himself enamored with the avant-garde side of modern music. UCLA
introduced Davis to a new world of musical possibilities, and before long hed
begun to plan his future as a composer with an eye toward film music.

After graduation from UCLA, Davis continued to study composition with Henri
Lazarof and orchestration under Albert Harris. Harris introduced the young Davis
to film and television composer Joe Harnell, best known for his work on TV shows
such as V and The Incredible Hulk. He was immediately impressed by Davis
attention to orchestral detail, especially as evidenced by a chamber symphony
Davis was writing at the time. Harnell became a mentor to Davis and introduced
him to the professional world of film and television scoring. Davis immersed
himself in this new medium, and at the age of twenty-two, accepted a job as one
of Harnells orchestrators on The Incredible Hulk.

With his foot in the door of the music industry, Davis began to land an
increasing number of high profile jobs. He regularly orchestrated composer Mark
Snows music for Hart to Hart, eventually scoring four complete episodes on his
own. This early compositional work caught the attention of composer Lee
Holdridge, who had penned the theme music for the television series Beauty and
the Beast, and he helped Davis land the job composing weekly scores for the
supernaturally romantic show. Davis rich, orchestral style meshed perfectly with
the tone of the show and he went on to compose forty-six Beauty and the Beast
scores (winning and Emmy for A Time To Heal as well as a nomination for To Reign
In Hell) and achieve great acclaim as one of televisions most gifted young
composers.

After Beauty and the Beast, Davis found his career as a composer soaring and he
was commissioned to compose scores for dozens of top television movies and
series. He provided rousing, brassy music for Steven Spielbergs seaQuest DSV; he
contributed a subtle blend of elements for Life of the Party: The Pamela
Harriman Story (with Ann Margret); and his tense, terse harmonies added a creepy
ambience to the critically lauded NBC miniseries House of Frankenstein (dir.
Peter Werner). Over the years, his television work would present opportunities
to compose everything from the austere orchestral stabs in Peter Benchleys The
Beast, to the comic woodwind schizophrenia of Tiny Toon Adventures, to the new
age, iconic string textures of the Star Trek: The New Generation series. To
date, Don Davis television work had garnered eight Emmy nominations and two
wins.

In 1997, Davis composed the score for Larry and Andy Wachowskis off-beat
thriller Bound, and the directing brothers immediately formed a close working
relationship with Davis. Together they workshopped the Bound score: Davis would
prepare a series of musical ideas and he and the directors would sift through
his detailed work and decide upon the best approach. The result was one of the
years most sophisticated, moody, and aptly applied film scores. It mixed moments
of gritty jazz with lushly orchestrated (and foreboding) soundscapes to lend a
sense of supercharged anxiety to the story of double- and triple-crosses.

The Wachowskis and Davis again collaborated on The Matrix trilogy - the
high-tech, virtual-reality action thriller starring Keanu Reeves and Laurence
Fishburne, which turned out to be not only one of the biggest blockbusters, but
one of the best received films of the year. Davis work for the three scores
incorporates elements of popular music, electronic synthesizer effects, and even
a touch of the avant-garde: the orchestral score features three grand pianos,
one prepared (a process where all manner of objects are wedged in between the
wires of a piano) and two standard. Much of The Matrix music keys off the films
remarkable visual sense. Davis often employs an echoic, antiphonal orchestral
effect-where different sections of the orchestra imitate each other at varying
speeds - in order to support the films heavy use of reflective imagery. The
music also incorporates perpetual motion motifs to portray the storys tumultuous
layers of reality. This compositional technique allows Davis to stay within set
harmonic territory while exploring intriguing orchestral textures and colors.

His full length three act opera Río de Sangre premiered in October, 2010 at
the Florentine Opera Company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The full production
included 10 principals with a 40 voice choir and an 11-piece stage ensemble,
accompanied by the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra conducted by Joseph Rescigno.

Don Davis currently resides in Southern California and British Columbia, Canada,
with his wife Megan and his two children

Biography by Doug Adams

Tracklist:
01. Don Davis - Inspired by True Events
02. Don Davis - It Came From Beneath the Bed
03. Don Davis - Dad Sentimental
04. Don Davis - Dad Believes
05. Don Davis - Chief Squatting Goat
06. Don Davis - The Adam Abduction
07. Don Davis - Abdominous
08. Don Davis - Necklace of Distraction
09. Don Davis - Of Pigs and Aliens
10. Don Davis - Brent Barbaric
11. Don Davis - Chris Cranial Catharsis
12. Don Davis - The Memory Device
13. Don Davis - Emily Exasperated
14. Don Davis - Chris Ponders Emily
15. Don Davis - Chris and Brents Excellent Adventure
16. Don Davis - Husband Surprise
17. Don Davis - Zap City
18. Don Davis - Driving in Delusion
19. Don Davis - Porn From Outer Space
20. Don Davis - The Kiss That Never Was
21. Don Davis - Prelude to a Ritual
22. Don Davis - As The Vulture Flies
23. Don Davis - Chief Stroking Rattle
24. Don Davis - Chris Unconcho
25. Don Davis - The Chris Connection
26. Don Davis - The Great Bear Letdown
27. Don Davis - Meet Your Creator
28. Don Davis - Big Bad Bill
29. Don Davis - The Great Bear Escape
30. Don Davis - Bill Down, Emily Up
31. Don Davis - Meet the Martians
32. Don Davis - The Reality of Dreams
33. Don Davis - Birthday Smash

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