This week’s music includes a happy accident, sonically speaking. While scoring a suspense film called Healers, I found an old mandolin sample whose file had become corrupted, resulting in a ghostly, distorted sound. I decided that it was perfect for this cue, and included it as a rhythm element. You can hear it around the one minute mark.

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This cue’s title refers to blindfolds, which put blind and sight-limited fencers on the same playing field. The uncanny ability of these fencers to compete using auditory and tactile cues is a central topic of the documentary Touché: A Blind Fencer’s Story.

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Some of the fencers in Touché: A Blind Fencer’s Story had their own themes, reflecting their personalities as captured in the documentary. Robbie’s leitmotif was a bluesy riff on acoustic guitars, performed here by Tom Strahle.

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This spirited cello solo is cut from the same cloth as last week’s Fencing Prelude No. 2. To quote last week’s description, which applies equally well: “The piece is meant to convey a sense of fencing’s regal history, as well as the nimble back-and-forth of the sport’s footwork. Cello performances by John Acosta.”

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Continuing the music series from Touché: A Blind Fencer’s Story, this is one of several cello solos and duets underscoring the fencing instruction scenes. The piece is meant to convey a sense of fencing’s regal history, as well as the nimble back-and-forth of the sport’s footwork. Cello performances by John Acosta.

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George Adams’ documentary Touché: A Blind Fencer’s Story tells the extraordinary story of Catherine Bolton, a woman who after losing most of her vision in adulthood became a champion blindfolded fencer.

As touched upon here previously, music for a documentary has to walk a line between romanticism and respect for its subject matter. That said, I felt that it made sense to compose a leitmotif for Catherine, who recurs throughout the film. Instead taking the traditional approach of varying the theme over time, I changed its instrumentation to reflect the mood of the moment. This solo piano version takes on a reflective but optimistic tone.

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Just when you thought the tournament couldn’t get any more final, here’s the second half to the musical accompaniment for the climax of Touché: A Blind Fencer’s Story.

As with the first part, my challenge was conveying a sense of motion and excitement in the context of an intimate personal documentary. Once again a small group of strings and hand percussion did the trick, bringing energy to the fencing competition without overwhelming the scope of the subject.

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Continuing the music series from Touché: A Blind Fencer’s Story, this week’s cue is the first of two that accompany the film’s climactic fencing tournament sequence.

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Scoring this scene took a delicate touch. The music needed to add energy and a sense of stakes without turning a real-life competition into a scene from an action movie. In other words, to heighten the moment without over-romanticizing nonfictional people and events. And given the prevalence of dialogue and narration, big overarching themes would have felt intrusive.

I chose a minimalist (capital M) approach: rhythmically driven, with gradual changes of texture and harmony. I used a chamber music palette to keep the score intimate and personal: four celli, acoustic bass, and hand percussion.