Enrico Orlandi has written scores for films and video games, including Giulia Tata’s short film, ‘Then & Now’, and ‘Sacachún’, directed by Gabriel Paez. He has also composed the soundtrack for another of Tata’s short films, ‘Mariagrazia’, which we review here.
Born in Rome, Enrico Orlandi grew up listening to pop and rock music, and only discovered his love for classical music when he was in college. He pursued his musical dreams, which took him on tour around Europe, and saw him recored and release several albums, but it wasn’t enough, and so he moved to Boston in 2014, where he studied at the Berklee College Of Music. It was there he chased his dream of becoming a composer, and he founded his own independent studio and record label, ‘Lepredizioni Musicali’ (‘lepre’ is the Italian word for hare, and the company cleverly incorporates a hare in their logo), in 2016. Graduating as summa cum laude in Film Scoring, with a minor in Video Game Scoring, Enrico started working as a composer on a variety of short films, documentaries, and video games. At the same time he continued recording and producing music for himself and other clients.
“I love to find new ideas through interactions with other people. I firmly believe that empathy is the most fertile source of inspiration. My two biggest passions in life are storytelling and thematic composition”.
Enrico now divides his time between Rome and Los Angeles, and his latest project comprises four short pieces which work together as the soundtrack for Giulia Tata’s short film, ‘Mariagrazia’. Only the first and last pieces go beyond a minute, with the final track just passing the two minute mark. Light string-based tracks, they illustrate perfectly the story of a child, Mariagrazia, who is forced to leave home because her mentally ill mother is hospitalised. Mariagrazia goes to live with her grandfather, all the while dreaming of the day when she can once again meet her mother. Eventually this day comes, when Mariagrazia is 18, and she meets her mother again for the first time in 12 years.
The title of each track gives the listener deep clues as to what it is about. First track, ‘Mariagrazia’, we are introduced to the protagonist, and the light piano feels like the footsteps of a small child, tiptoeing softly around her sick mother, represented by a harp. There’s a hint of sadness with the sounds of the cello, and this is continued in the second track, ‘Goodbye Mom’. It’s a much more somber piece, and we feel as though Mariagrazia is aware this is essentially the end of her childhood as she knows it. Dreams are all she holds dear to her; and her fondest dream is to one day meet her mother. Orlandi captures this feeling perfectly in his third piece, ‘Mariagrazia’s Dream’. Continuing with the tiptoeing footsteps motif, he expertly links the two parts of the story together.
Finally, ‘Reunited And Finale’ sees the reunion between mother and daughter. Starting out with a feeling of trepidation alongside the anticipation, Mariagrazia’s footsteps are now those of an adult, tiptoeing gingerly in to see her mother once again. At the halfway mark of the track, a harp begins to play, and we know her mother has seen her. It’s a sound of love and tenderness, and we can feel the pair hugging each other as if never daring to let go again.
Enrico Orlandi’s compositions are delicate and delicious, and convey pictures through music. His soundtrack for ‘Mariagrazia’ is just one example of his work; you can explore further – and we recommend you do so – by listening to the music on his SoundCloud channel.
You can find out more about Enrico Orlandi online on his official website, and about Lepredizioni Musicali here.
Listen to ‘Mariagrazia’:
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