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

The German-born, Australian-based Burkhard Von 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 suberb classically-inspired album World's Apart. Although he continues to compose soundtracks today, this release remains his only solo album outside film and TV.

There is a cinematic scope to World's Apart that's immediately apparent, although his style is mercifully free of dramatic overkill. This is electronic orchestral music as measured and detailed as you could hope for, Vangelis-like in its lushness 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 sweeps you up with grand, awe-inspiring synth chords before giving way to some stately piano lines that dance over a bubbling motif below. “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 fantastic Balkan violin solo.

If you're a Vangelis fan who loves a cinematic style but 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. It's immediately inviting, yet with a melodic complexity that becomes more apparent on repeated listens.

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