“The Epic of Everest” is a classic documentary (from 1924!) about George Mallory and Sandy Irvine’s attempt that year to climb the Mount Everest. The fateful expedition was filmed by Captain John Noel in the harshest conditions:
“The pair were last seen when they were about 800 vertical feet (245m) from the summit. Mallory’s ultimate fate was unknown for 75 years, until his body was discovered on 1 May 1999 by an expedition that had set out to search for the climbers’ remains. Whether Mallory and Irvine reached the summit before they died remains a subject of speculation and continuing research.”
The film is also among the earliest filmed records of life in Tibet.
For the BFI restoration of this move, a completely new score was composed by Simon Fisher Turner.
And this score turns out to be an impressive sonic document by itself!
Simon Fisher Turner (UK, 1954) has been creating music (and not only soundtracks) since 1974. His movie soundtracks includes Derek Jarman´s “Blue” (1993) and “Caravaggio” (1986).
Shortly before “The Epic of Everest”, he also composed the score for “The Great White Silence” (also 1924; about the Terra Nova expedition by Robert Scott).
The soundtrack score of “The Epic Of Everest“ is a perfect match of location recordings, atmospheric ambient soundscapes, and subtle brass arrangements, with a remarkable cameo appearance of Cosey Fanni Tutti playing cornet (“Like a real Tibetan”) on “Makalu”.
Of course this should preferrably be experienced together with the movie it was intended for, but as a standalone soundtrack it works very well too: the album feels like the missing link between Geir ‘Biosphere’ Jenssen’s “Cho Oyu 8201m“ and KLF’s classical“Chillout” album!
Simon Fisher Turner – Makalu