artist: Burkhard Von Dallwitz country of origin: Australia style(s): Soundtrack, ambient, orchestral essential releases: World's Apart (Archon, 1994)

The Australian-based Dallwitz gained some international recognition in the late 1990's for his contributions to the soundtrack of Peter Weir's film The Truman Show, for which he won a Golden Globe Award (pictured above with co-winner Philip Glass). A more complete and cohesive statement, however, is his classically-inspired album World's Apart, still his only solo album relreased to date.

Although it's not a soundtrack there is a cinematic scope that's immediately discernable, and what's more his style is refreshingly free of overkill. This is electronic orchestral music as measured and detailed as you could want, Vangelis-like in its respect for melody and nearly always emotional. The album’s subtle rhythms are many and varied, often fired not by percussion but by robust string arrangements and melodic sequencer pulses. The opening title-track is typical, sweeping you up with grand, awe-inspiring synth chords before giving way to some stately piano lines that dance over a bubbling motif below. It's immediately inviting, yet with a melodic complexity that becomes more apparent on repeated listens. “Hope” is pastoral, dignified and lovely, with a bright orchestral passage that shows just how convincingly electronics can be at home in a classical context, while “Exile” boasts some live strings in the form of a fantatsic Balkan violin solo. If you're a Vangelis fan who has despaired at the unrelenting bombast of his work since the 80's, here's the perfect album to restore your faith in neo classical ambience.

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