SONAFILM 2026 – Concert ‘The Age of Empires’ in Ondara [SPECIAL ARTICLE]

Last weekend SONAFILM – Marina Alta Alicante International Film Music Festival held one of the most eagerly anticipated concerts of its 8th edition at the Plaza de Toros in Ondara: the concert dedicated to ‘The Age of Empires’, featuring the participation of composer Trevor Jones.

 

Our friend and colleague Coque Cano attended the concert and has left us with a wonderful, detailed article exclusively for SoundTrackFest.

 

THE AGE OF EMPIRES IN ONDARA: MUSIC FOR HISTORY

There are festivals that, through sheer ambition, hard work and consistency, end up becoming indispensable fixtures in the calendar of any film music enthusiast. SONAFILM, the Marina Alta International Film Music Festival, already belongs to that category. In its eighth edition, held between 31 July and 22 August in various towns across the region (read more), it once again proved that a specialised, bold programme with a genuinely international outlook can be built from a region far removed from the usual major hubs.

 

I had long wanted to attend this festival, artistically directed by Javier Gil Pérez and produced by Pedro J. Mérida, and the programme chosen for Ondara’s big night could hardly have been more appealing: “The Age of Empires”, a musical journey through civilisations, conquests, legends, heroes and historical conflicts, told through some of the most representative scores of epic cinema.

 

Emotion and epic grandeur in equal measure, in an incomparable setting, with an orchestra that gains prestige and polish year after year, and a level of care from the organisers that can be felt in every corner of this beautiful Alicante region. A comarca clearly devoted to this summer event, which we cannot recommend highly enough to enthusiasts.

 

The concert took place on Saturday 22 August, at 23:00, at the Plaça de Bous d’Ondara, known as “La Joia Levantina” (“The Levantine Jewel”), an unbeatable venue for a proposal of this kind. Under a starry night, with a pleasant temperature and largely satisfactory acoustics, the Universal Symphony Orchestra turned the venue into a kind of musical amphitheatre. From the stands, the sound mix and the richness of the percussion could be appreciated particularly well — nuances that seemed to be somewhat muted down in the stalls.

But while the programme alone justified the trip, the presence of Trevor Jones as guest of honour added a very special dimension to the evening.

 

Trevor Jones, a friend of Spain

For those of us who became film music enthusiasts during the 1980s, Trevor Jones is one of those names that belong to the enthusiast’s sentimental education. The Dark Crystal, Excalibur, In the Name of the Father, Cliffhanger, The Last of the Mohicans, Merlin, Arachnophobia, The Mighty or Labyrinth are just a few examples of an extraordinary career, marked by melody, symphonic vigour, dramatic sensitivity and a versatility that perhaps has not always been given the recognition it deserves.

 

The composer was hardly a stranger to Spanish audiences. A regular at major specialist events, Trevor Jones has been a guest at gatherings such as SONCINEMAD, where on 1 July 2006 he conducted the RTVE Symphony Orchestra at the Teatro Monumental in Madrid; FIMUCITÉ, which honoured him in 2017 during an edition dedicated to sword-and-sorcery cinema (read more); and MOSMA in Málaga (read more), which he also attended that year as main guest, speaker and conductor of one of its concerts.

 

And we take this opportunity to recommend you take a look at the interview that Trevor Jones gave to SoundTrackFest during MOSMA 2017, which we’re sure you’ll enjoy:

https://soundtrackfest.com/en/articles/trevor-jones-interview/

 

Returning to Trevor Jones and his presence in Spain in recent years, it must be said that each new visit is received as something of an event, since he is not a composer who appears on stage particularly often, and because his scores continue to strike an immediate chord with several generations of audiences.

 

What’s more, the maestro was every bit as approachable as one might expect from someone who seems to feel a genuine fondness for Spain. Before the concert, during the interval and again at the end of the evening, he attended to fans with enormous patience and warmth, signing CDs and vinyl records, posing for photos and chatting with anyone who approached him. That kind of generosity, which can sometimes seem like a small detail, ends up becoming an inseparable part of the festival experience.

 

Taking to the stage, visibly moved, he said a few words that confirmed that special relationship. He explained that he considers Spain a kind of second home, recalling not only the festivals and concerts he has attended but also his previous visits to Madrid and Barcelona to give lectures and masterclasses, and he gratefully highlighted the love that exists in our country for film music. A brief, sincere and heartfelt speech, which was met with a warm ovation.

It would come as no surprise if this renewed recognition were to culminate next October, when Trevor Jones receives the World Soundtrack Awards Lifetime Achievement Award as part of the prestigious World Soundtrack Awards at Film Fest Gent. The award will be presented on 10 October 2026 at the Music Centre De Bijloke in Ghent, with the Brussels Philharmonic taking part in the tribute concert (read more).

 

The concert programme was as follows:

 

An Overture to Conquer Rome

The programme opened with the overture from Ben-Hur, Miklós Rózsa’s magnum opus for William Wyler’s classic. It would be hard to imagine a better opening for a concert titled “The Age of Empires”: Rome, Judea, religious grandeur, tragedy and spectacle, right from opening bars that still carry an unmatched ceremonial force.

 

The Universal Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of José Martínez Colomina, was precise and powerful from the very start. The nobility of the brass, the drive of the percussion and the almost liturgical character of Rózsa’s writing rang out with the solemnity demanded by an overture that opens not just a film but an entire historical world. A perfect start, and a statement of intent regarding the kind of concert we were about to experience.

It was followed by a suite from Troy, by James Horner, always a welcome inclusion since it isn’t one of the scores that appears most frequently in symphonic programmes. Any opportunity to hear Horner performed live should be celebrated, all the more so with a work as epic yet tragic in tone as this one. The tight selection included the fanfare for the triumphant entrance into Troy, an ascending and descending brass theme whose resemblance to a passage from War Requiem by Benjamin Britten has been widely discussed.

 

Of course, had music from Gabriel Yared’s monumental, ultimately rejected score been performed instead of Horner’s final version, satisfaction would have been just as great. Yared’s composition for Wolfgang Petersen’s film is one of the great lost works of recent cinema, but Horner ended up delivering a very effective score, perfectly suited to the tone of the production. The suite worked, and served as a reminder of one of the last great approaches by the composer of Braveheart to historical cinema.

 

The third block was devoted to The Last Samurai, one of Hans Zimmer’s major scores and one of his most accomplished forays into epic symphonism. The performance was very good, with the orchestra understanding well the balance between solemnity, Japanese spirituality, percussion and lyricism that defines the work.

 

Perhaps, to offer one small note of criticism regarding the programme design, the suite felt somewhat long and took up space that could have been given over to another important work in the genre. A title such as The Fall of the Roman Empire, by Dimitri Tiomkin, would have fitted ideally, to give an example that is difficult to hear performed in concert. This is not to question the quality of The Last Samurai, which is beyond dispute, but rather to point out that the selection could have broadened its historical and authorial scope a little further.

 

The first half closed with Gladiator, another safe bet at any contemporary film music concert. The suite was performed with energy, a good sense of pace and support from the solo voices and the mixed choir. Zimmer’s work continues to have an enormous capacity to connect with audiences, even after so many appearances on stages around the world. Together with The Last Samurai, it once again placed the German composer at the centre of much of the first half, taking up close to two-thirds of its running time.

Either way, it was an effective, warmly applauded close to the block, which gave way to a much-needed break. Not only because of the intensity of what had been heard, but also for the chance to reunite with fellow enthusiasts who had travelled from all over Spain — one of the great added pleasures of events like this.

 

Excalibur: The Legend of Trevor Jones

The second half opened with one of the highlights of the night: a suite from Excalibur, composed by the festival’s guest, Trevor Jones, for John Boorman’s film. “Arthur Departs”, “Wedding” and “Barn Dance” were performed, three moments that show just how well the South African composer managed to build a musical world of his own, even within a production that incorporated pages by Wagner, Orff and other classical composers.

 

The score for Excalibur is rich, elaborate, medieval in flavour, dark and deeply narrative. It remains baffling that a work of this calibre still lacks a truly definitive, generous physical release, given how significant it is within its filmography. Hearing it performed live was, therefore, a genuine privilege.

 

The suite also benefited from a very special instrumental presence. Joan Aracil Bolufer contributed mandolin; David Expósito González, serpent; Fernando Mosquera, baroque, medieval and ethnic flutes; Fernando Fernández Pérez, baroque guitar and Renaissance lute; and Darío González Ivars, theorbo and baroque guitar. All of this helped recreate a sound palette that transported audiences immediately into the Arthurian world of the film.

The performance of these musicians was splendid and earned a particularly warm ovation when José Martín Colomina had them stand up at the end of the suite. Their contribution was not merely decorative: it gave the music that ancient, earthy, ceremonial colour that goes so well with the legend of Arthur, Morgana, Guinevere and Lancelot.

 

It’s worth clarifying that a suite from Excalibur with medieval instruments had already been performed at FIMUCITÉ, in a concert in which Trevor Jones himself took part; six specialist musicians and costumes in keeping with the work’s aesthetic were used there. In Ondara, that very fitting idea of making the instrumentation part of the visual and sonic storytelling was revived, with a character all of its own.

 

From Columbus to the Falls

After the legendary England of Excalibur, came 1492: Conquest of Paradise, by Vangelis. There was some uncertainty as to how a piece so dependent on electronics and a large vocal apparatus would work, given the limited number of voices available — an eight-strong mixed choir — and the decision not to use synthesisers to reproduce the sounds of the original recording.

 

However, the result was far better than expected. The orchestra found a convincing reading that did justice to the spirituality, epic drive and nostalgia that characterise Vangelis’s music, while the choir, though limited in number, blended well into the overall texture. A highly commendable adaptation and one of the pleasant surprises of the second half.

This was followed by a performance of The Mission, Ennio Morricone’s masterpiece, which probably drew the most fervent applause of the evening. Few scores enjoy such deep popular affection, and hearing that combination of religious lyricism, melodic emotion and historical drama once again is always a gift.

 

This may have been the piece where it was most noticeable that eight voices could not fully capture the spiritual and choral dimension such sublime music demands, though the musicians’ effort gave us a heartfelt performance that was received with all the affection of a clearly devoted audience.

 

The Last of the Mohicans: A Recording for Posterity

The great moment of the night probably came with the suite from The Last of the Mohicans. Not only because of its status as one of Trevor Jones’s key works, but because the performance was being recorded for future inclusion as bonus content on an upcoming international Blu-ray and 4K release of the film, coinciding with its 35th anniversary.

 

I have not been able to confirm through a public source either the specific label or the final specifications of that release, so it will be worth keeping an eye out, but the information provided by the organisation is a sign of the impact this fantastic festival is having on the industry, and it will undoubtedly be an extraordinary addition to a physical release long awaited by collectors.

 

The suite included “Main Title”, “The Kiss”, “Fort Battle” and “Top of the World”, in a progression perfectly designed to sum up the epic quality, passion and tragedy of one of the most beloved scores of the nineties. The performance was simply immaculate: the orchestra sounded with a conviction, rhythmic clarity and emotional drive comparable to those of the original recording.

 

The main theme opened the doors to that frontier territory where European heritage, indigenous roots and an adventurous spirit intertwine, through one of the most famous melodies in film history. “The Kiss”, for its part, once again proved to be one of the score’s great themes: the orchestra’s leader shone especially in its iconic opening solo, before building the crescendo to a climax that raised goosebumps.

 

“Fort Battle” demanded precision, tension and force; the orchestra responded with formidable energy. Finally, “Top of the World” carried the suite to its epic resolution, with that sense of emotional conquest the score represents so well.

 

The event’s host specifically asked the audience not to applaud between movements, given that the suite was being recorded for the aforementioned release. Even so, after the third movement some attendees couldn’t hold back their applause. It’s understandable: the emotion the performance stirred was hard to suppress. In all likelihood, that sound will be able to be edited out before the film’s eventual physical release.

 

Either way, the suite alone would have justified any concert. The Last of the Mohicans is already an indisputable classic of film music, and hearing it with its composer present, performed to such a high standard and under the stars of Ondara, was one of those experiences that stay with you for a long time.

 

Two Encores to Close the Night

After such a culmination, two very different, and both unexpected, encores followed.

 

The first was a genuine world premiere: the symphonic version of “I Will Find You”, the Clannad song associated with The Last of the Mohicans. The orchestral arrangement translated into more of a concert-hall setting the ethereal, Celtic and romantic atmosphere of a song inseparable from the film’s imagery. A pleasant surprise, warmly received.

 

The second encore was The Prince of Egypt, with the wonderful solo singers Elisabet Amparo Álvarez-Ossorio Sardón and Silvia María Ladrón Andrade, accompanied by the mixed choir. The Oscar-winning song, with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, carries enormous intrinsic power and served as an unexpected, much-appreciated finale to the party.

Here too, perhaps, greater vocal depth was missed in order to reach the full grandeur a song of this kind can offer, but the choice was so good, and the audience so engaged, that the result was more than satisfactory for closing the evening, well into the small hours, with real enthusiasm.

 

A Night to Repeat

Finally, special mention must go to Espido Freire, the concert’s host. The Bilbao-born writer was radiant every time she took to the stage, with a script that was probably her own, of great literary quality, full of well-timed references, emotion and a sense of humour. Her voice, diction, stage presence and ability to connect with the audience would be welcome at any concert of this kind.

 

No less important was the work of José Martínez Colomina at the helm of the Universal Symphony Orchestra. He captured the tone of every score, from the Roman classicism of Rózsa to the contemporary epic of Zimmer, Horner and Jones; from the spirituality of Vangelis and Morricone to the medieval theatricality of Excalibur. It is no easy task to handle such a diverse repertoire, and the maestro did so with confidence, dynamism and craft. Congratulations that must be extended to an orchestra that is earning itself a place in the hearts of enthusiasts through talent and passion.

 

Concerts like this explain the very reason for being of a festival such as SONAFILM. A themed programme need not be limited to stringing together recognisable titles; it can propose a journey, establish connections between styles and eras, revive rarely heard scores and, above all, build a community among film music lovers.

 

And that, and much more, is what this festival offers — a festival that oozes love for film music and which also provides a place of summer pilgrimage where enthusiasts feel like more than mere attendees; they feel like protagonists, thanks to the closeness and the relaxed atmosphere the organisers have openly and boldly championed.

“The Age of Empires” had a few small areas for improvement, as any ambitious proposal does, but above all it was a more than satisfactory concert — highly recommendable and generous. The Plaça de Bous d’Ondara, the summer night, the Universal Symphony Orchestra, the specialist soloists, the devoted audience and the presence of Trevor Jones all came together to build an evening of the kind that turns people into lifelong fans.

 

And if historical empires are born, grow and eventually fall, the music that evokes them is destined to endure, just as SONAFILM will.

 

Article by Coque Cano

Photos by SONAFILM