One of Suzanne Ciani‘s earliest movie scores will be released for the first time by Finders Keepers Records. Music For Denali comprises works commissioned in 1973 for a documentary about the mountain. It releases August 7th, 2020.
Ciani composed the music appearing on the album using only a Buchla synthesizer and piano. It followed her debut 1970 album, Voices of Packaged Souls, and preceded her first-ever Buchla concerts in 1974 and 1975. Finders Keepers have shared the title track of the album, which pairs the synthesizer’s undulating melodies with crisp piano keys.
“It was recorded at Rainbow Recording, which is the studio I found and shared with recording engineer Richard Beggs, who then sold it to Francis Ford Coppola after I fell in love and quickly moved to L.A.,” Ciani said in a quote obtained by Resident Advisor. “If I had stuck around I would have probably ended up doing sound for Coppola.”
Suzanne Ciani Revisited
Often called the “Diva of the Diode” or “America’s first female synth hero,” Suzanne Ciani’s career preceded electronic music’s breakthrough as a youth culture movement. Born in 1946, she found her first work composing music for advertisements in 1969.
By the ’80s, Ciani began to garner recognition beyond getting commissioned to write commercial jingles. Her musicianship landed her on PBS programs as well as The David Letterman Show. More recently, she was enlisted to soundtrack a short film to promote Moog‘s new synthesizer, the Subharmonicon.
Pre-order Music For Denali across platforms here.
