War Horse
Music Composed, Conducted And
Produced By John Williams
Performed By The Hollywood Symphony Orchestra
Sony Classical SCLL797528
16 Tracks - Running Time: 65:26
To Be Released on November 21, 2011
"The dramatic countryside of Dartmoor has inspired John Williams to compose a score of such beauty and quiet majesty that one might think the earth was speaking through him, much as the heavens have done for nearly five decades. When I first heard John s sketches of the four central themes for War Horse, I didn t need my memories of the film to underscore the feelings I was having. The music was a stand-alone experience and it affected me deeply, as have so many of John s scores during our nearly 40-year collaboration. I feel that John has made a special gift to me of this music, which was inspired not only by my film but also by many of the picturesque settings of the poet William Wordsworth, whose vivid descriptions of the British landscape inspired much of what you are going to hear." - Steven Spielberg
It definitely looks like it'll be a Steven Spielberg holiday season this year with both War Horse and The Adventures of TinTin coming out within weeks of each other. TinTin has already been released overseas. War Horse is based on the novel by Michael Morpurgo follows the story of a young man named Albert and his beloved horse Joey, and how their bond is broken when Joey is sold to the cavalry and sent to the trenches of World War One. Despite being too young to enlist, Albert heads to France to save his friend. The film stars Emily Watson, David Thewlis, Jeremy Irvine, Tom Hiddleston (Thor, The Avengers) and Peter Mullan. Featuring a screenplay by Lee Hall and Richard Curtis (Love Actually, Notting Hill and Pirate Radio) the film has gotten some solid pre-release reviews and looks to be a solid box office contender this holiday season.
Of course when you have a Spielberg film, you also have the music of the lengendary Academy Award winner John Williams, who has now entered his sixth decade of the longest composer/director relationship in Hollywood history as well as friendship. Williams who has scored the most memorable films in cinema history from Spielberg's Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Indiana Jones Quadrilogy, 1941, E.T., Schindler's List, Jurassic Park, Saving Private Ryan, Hook, Minority Report, Munich to name a few. Not to mention Star Wars, Home Alone, The Fury, Born On The Fourth of July, Jaws 2, The Patriot, The River, The Family Plot, Memoirs of A Geisha, Witches of Eastwick and Sleepers amongst the great discography of the great composer.
War Horse features Williams at his nicest form featuring a score that is melodic, exciting without trying to be too bombastic and features a tender child like quality of innocence. The score's instrumentation is based on a simple flute melody that introduces one of the score's main themes, followed by a militaric tone that is reminiscent of his score to Saving Private Ryan and a third theme that evokes the child like innocence as well as longing and friendship. What Williams is a master of is not overusing his material to death, but giving it a varying degree of variation that keeps the music not only fresh, but also keeps the interest and excitement of the listener.
"Dartmoor, 1912" starts the album and score with a repeating flute motif and really lush strings that sparks a flurry of joyful upbeat music that really touches the heartstrings and gets the story going and introduces the character of Albert. The album follows up with a suite that introduces us to Albert's new friend, Joey "The Auction", "Bringing Joey Home And Bonding" which features a bit of a playful waltz motif and a the bonding theme , "Learning the Call" continues the playful waltz with a little more emphasis takes more joyful chances in its instrumentation and Speeing Horse Vs. Car" featuring an energtic and exciting stately version of the theme established in "Dartmoor, 1912" with a triumphant coda. "The Charge And Capture" features a trumpet solo that introduces an aggressive series of agitated brass and military percussion in a burst of action and then to a rather somber almost tragic ending which starts off what you would call the more militaristic half of the score but not entirely dark or brooding like "Pulling The Cannon" which features some aggressive strings and brass with a solid payoff in the end, but the playful joy of "Joey's New Friends" still keeps the balance of the child like thematic essence of the score still in tact. "Death of Tophorn" is a somber and reflective track with some very nice emphasis on clarinets and strings and a nice burst of brass to signify a sense of hope and optimism. "Of course with Williams scores you get the best and fun material towards the end and this is no exception with the best material in the score which include the terrific action driven "No Man's Land", the tender "The Reunion" "Remembering Emily And Finale", which is another wonderful rendition of the score's main themes all coming together and "The Homecoming" is a lengthy and lush reprise of all the score's major themes orchestrated into a nice suite of hightlights that bring the album to a solid close.
One thing you never have with a Williams score or album, is boredom. Williams' music is always appealing and very listener friendly. The music isn't overbearing or repetitious as some lengthy albums do tend to get and there's plenty to enjoy here. This score as well as The Adventures of TinTin will be the first scores Williams has written in three years since the last Indiana Jones and still proves that he is still one of the greatest and in demand composers around. The score really works on its own merits, but some may not like it because it might be a little repetitious at times, but you know what with Williams' music, it would be just too good to care!!
War Horse is one of the holiday seasons most anticipated films and scores and it is always great to have John Williams back in the fold after such a disappointing few years of film music. To have him around scoring just proves how much film music and film miss the real joy of hearing a great film score. With War Horse, Williams has succeeded quite nicely and this score will no doubt please his fans.
War Horse is a nice and charming score that is a solid album and also a great welcome back for John Williams.
War Horse will be released on Nov.21 and available at Barnes & Noble, J&R Music And Computer World as well as Amazon and Itunes
1. Dartmoor, 1912
2. The Auction
3. Bringing Joey Home, and Bonding
4. Learning the Call
5. Seeding, and Horse vs. Car
6. Plowing
7. Ruined Crop, and Going to War
8. The Charge and Capture
9. The Desertion
10. Joey s New Friends
11. Pulling the Cannon
12. The Death of Topthorn
13. No Man s Land
14. The Reunion
15. Remembering Emilie, and Finale
16. The Homecoming
- Danny Gonzalez
Film Music Examiner NEW YORK - NYC
