Harmonic Odyssey

Martin Izsak

The Musician - Martin Izsak

Composer Martin Izsak was born and raised in the small town of Bracebridge, Ontario, Canada, and continues to live on its rural border with the neighbouring town of Gravenhurst in the Muskoka district. His musical output is focused solidly on instrumental work, combining electronic instruments with more traditional orchestral sounds, often to a rock&roll or similarly fast-paced beat, at other times delving into the deeper emotions of a New Age or classical style.

Martin is currently producing for commercial release a series of CD's derived from the library of instrumental music he has built over several years. The first album of the series, "Harmonic Odyssey", focuses on Martin's own compositions. Future albums in the series will feature more "cover" songs of pieces from film, television, and popular music.

Martin began playing the keyboard by ear in early childhood, and received extra music lessons to help further his talent. He eventually studied electronic music at York University in Toronto, Ontario, alongside his other interests in writing, film and video, and computer programming. Perhaps due to his independent spirit, even now he feels more at home playing by ear than from traditionally written music, and continues to learn and analyze all music that strikes his interest today.

Film & TV scores remain his favourite genre. "The stories attached to the music get told with visuals & dialogue, etc., instead of lyrics which I am generally not fond of at all. The music itself only needs to take care of the emotional moods and provide some memorable thematic symbology to give itself and the film an artistic unity.

"Many of my musical traits take after musicians whose work I admire. Much of the liveliness and song structuring style found on the CD "Harmonic Odyssey" was influenced by the compositions of Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus of ABBA. I also found encouragement for many of the quieter pieces in the works of Enya, inspired by the simplicity of her compositions coupled with the elegance of her performance. Much of the work of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop and its members such as Peter Howell, Malcolm Clarke, and the late, sadly under-credited Delia Derbyshire, has given me a great appreciation of sound design in composition and electronic/synthesizer qualities in general. Jerry Goldsmith is also a huge inspiration in his ability to combine the classical and the experimental so beautifully and memorably in his film scores."

Martin's end-product has been favourably compared to the instrumental musical style of Yanni, whom Martin is only just discovering now, to his delight.

While the tracks on Harmonic Odyssey can each stand alone as songs in their own right, their intertwining themes and emotional variety has also caused the album as a whole to be compared to a film score without a film. "I guess that reveals something about how I think about music," chuckles Martin.

Martin founded Lyratek Arts in 1996 to handle the business end of his various multi-media projects.

Contact Martin at:

Martin Izsak
P.O. Box 1049
Gravenhurst, Ontario
Canada   P1P 1V3