The Man of the Hour

“The Man of the Hour” was my second film collaboration with director Asher Kaye, a partnership which began on “Like Royalty” (2025). The two films share a kind of ironic gravitas—the first in the form of zealous allegiance to a mediocre pizzeria and the second manifesting in a comically powerful student leadership board.

And after four years of collaborating with Aaron Nichols in a myriad of ways—me as pianist and him as cellist, me as conductor and him as composer, even me as librettist and him as composer—this was our first co-composition venture.

The film centers on Michael, a vice president for student life facing the impossible task of solving the disappearance of two McLean University students. In his naive desire to serve well, he fails to detect the ulterior motives of those in his inner circle. I composed a yearning whole tone theme for Michael to capture this innocent will. At the same time, Aaron was independently writing a whole-tone-filled textural opening to the film. As we met to compare notes, we realized we could layer each other’s themes throughout the score. 

There are some moments that are distinctly Matthew and others that are distinctly Aaron, yet Aaron wrote some of those distinctly Matthew moments and vice versa. This project proved the perfect way to cap off four years of crazy musical ventures together in Oberlin, Ohio.

-Matthew Thomas Brown