Intrada Soundtrack Forum

October 05, 1999

In Too Deep
Composed by Christopher Young
Conducted by Pete Anthony
Varese Sarabande 302 066 072 2
14 Tracks Total Time = 37:44

I’m a big fan of Christopher Young. Any of his styles - and he’s got lots.

Peers know this (fans might not) but Chris Young takes his work very seriously. All parts of it. Creating the first germ. Writing it out. Getting orchestrations. Rehearsing. Trying some cue as a string/French horn piece, then as a string/sax idea. Struggling. Recording - getting it onto tape. Finally getting to a mix. Putting the snare way on the left, perhaps in the middle - maybe towards the 1:00 o’clock spot on the right? So on and so forth. Until its just right.

The point? What you hear comes from a composer. A real one - making music that goes places, does things. There’s a plan at work on every score.

I really admire that one thing in particular - that inner plan. It’s a handle - something musical Young fashions, weaves an entire score around, hangs his thoughts on. Take one of his score’s apart and you’ll find a thought, a structure, a motif that goes somewhere - at the very least a texture or sound that holds the whole thing together. Something that requires a real composer.

In Too Deep is no exception. It’s got a handle.

The thing Young launches into first is texture. It’s an urban picture - so’s the score. Take the title track. It’s got the pulse, the wail, the jabs of muted trumpet here and the licks of piano there. Find synth and electronic percussion. But Young goes much deeper (no pun intended).

The second track ("Cool J") is full of dark low clusters, splashes of dissonance. Young-isms. But listen and catch the start of a harmonic center to the whole score. Descending thirds (minor and major) in strings. Just a touch, but it’s a start. If you pay attention you’ll hear these harmonies creep into "Slam Guru". By the fourth track - "Hair Wind Child" - Young plays with them any way he wants - they’ve dug in and are leading the score down a dark, winding road. Towards the end of this fourth track Young adds occasional major sevenths - a way of keeping the same chords but making them a bit more crowded, more involved.

Throughout Young manages to keep his finger on the pulse of everything - the synths continue to crowd with clusters of darkness. But no matter what the rhythm - that harmonic center is there for good. And it’s the fabric that makes this score.

Track five ("Thank Not") digs further. The chords are there but Young jumbles them a bit, almost making melody from pure harmony. With the next two, "Wild Life" and "Suite 201", it’s clear Young hasn’t strayed from his one lone key. Normally stifling, here it’s an asset. It just won’t yield.

At this point Young has focused his musical environment, wound it to it’s tightest. Rather than disappear into some dark hole he explodes outward. With "Bust". Using his strings, percussion and keyboards to maximum effect, Young propels the score momentarily into action. It’s a welcome respite, a burst of energy, but it’s still closely tied to that dark material prior to and following.

"God’s Alive (Inside A Movie)" brings the forward motion together with that original, still unyielding harmonic fabric. In a mini-highlight the next track ("Ant Heel Blues") plays with that fabric - ever so slightly - by touching on random new major chords within the basic established pattern.

Having moved into new harmonic territory, Young takes the following track ("Tank Trips") upwards some more, bringing a rich sonority along with his growing (yet always related) library of chords. "Jay Ball Sweat" rings with percussive ideas, the growing arsenal of chords taking over. No longer relegated to low strings, here upper voices emerge. Young leads the music into "Frisco In The Trash", revisits the basic harmonic pattern, opens it considerably, resolves it - somewhat suspended.

Then, dramatically, Young brings to his concluding piece ("Missing Vocal") a cadence, a final goal in his darkly spiraling work. The harmonic base has taken over completely, suggesting a theme. It’s heard in the original guise, soon expanding, finally becoming a bed of shifting major sonorities. And in a move of pure class - Young ends on what is known as the "open fifth", a chord refusing either major or minor. You choose. It doesn’t matter. It just is.

Anyone who reads this column knows I have a thing for endings. Yes, starts are important. Middles matter. But how a composer finishes whatever he’s started - that’s my chocolate.

Thank God Christopher Young is a real composer.

October 12, 1999

Another Break

Due to time constraints I have been unable to write my column this week. I hope to have one up soon! Thanks for being patient and come back next week.

October 19, 1999

The Comancheros
Composed And Conducted By Elmer Bernstein
FSM Vol. 2 No. 6
23 Tracks Total Time = 47:43

This one's sort of a no-brainer. If you kept up with movie music in the early sixties you'll know.

The picture was ordinary, with director Michael Curtiz finishing a career without flourish. Not a bad movie to be sure. Just standard. Routine. But it had John Wayne.

Elmer Bernstein had experience scoring westerns - The Tin Star, Drango and Saddle The Wind in the late fifties and The Magnificent Seven in 1960. The following year Bernstein composed The Comancheros. Though success with The Magnificent Seven was staggering, Bernstein looked ahead rather than back for this one. It would be a totally new kind of score.

Take The Magnificent Seven. Strip away that rousing rhythmic material. The melody itself is a lean, melodic idea - a very symmetrical tune if you will, not hurried but drawn out, flowing.

Now look at The Comancheros. The primary melody is literally part of the rhythm. Strip away all but the tune and you still have the rhythm as well. A neat feature.

A brief "Prologue" (for a pistol duel) gets the picture going. The "Main Title" emerges, names like John Wayne and Stuart Whitman flash across the screen. Here Bernstein uses the main theme, fully and completely. There are actually two rousing tunes, a main theme and a secondary theme that works both as an extension to the first and as a fragmented line by itself. In this latter guise it often has greater prominence than the main theme. Both are associated with John Wayne and the Texas Rangers.

The fragmented secondary theme is introduced in the score proper during the next track ("Riverboat Capture") by muted trumpet and trombone. John Wayne arrests his man.

"Regrets" uses the main theme on solo trumpet, and the secondary tune featuring strings. While both themes have big moments during "The Wide Open", this track also introduces an important new sixteenth-note figure, an idea linked with the title characters. On screen John Wayne and Stuart Whitman race towards a burned out ranch, hoping for survivors. The new figure becomes a key device throughout later action sequences between the Texas Rangers and the Comancheros (renegade traders with the Comanches now looting beyond authority.)

The initial action set-piece is an attack on a homestead used by Wayne and his Rangers during transit. In the assault the Comancheros are introduced as fierce and well-armed opponents. Bernstein uses his sixteenth-note figure as a cornerstone to the music, launching it immediately on low strings in octaves, then brass. Soon motifs for the Indians come into play, usually as rapid figures for high woodwinds. Low brass and percussion pound away. No matter how cluttered, the sixteenth-note figure stays close by throughout. Finally rousing variants on both main themes help usher in temporary victory for the Rangers.

The warmest material, based on the main theme, comes in strings during "Words". While muted trumpet calls remind one of the overall nature of the score, its the warm sonority of the strings that Bernstein clings to. As things crescendo, a new theme swells from the orchestra. John Wayne, a woman he might have loved, and her beautiful ranch. Rarely used in the score, this is a brief and passioned moment. A cue to savor.

The Rangers set out to find the Comancheros. In the lengthiest cue, "Comancheros", they do just that. In a wagon, posing as gunrunners, they manage to attract their adversaries and find escort to the hideout. Bernstein uses his main themes initially. As the tension increases the orchestra becomes one large rhythmic machine, the various Indian ideas, the sixteenth-note figure, and agressive bursts of orchestral energy mixing together. Unleashed at last, the main theme takes over in a straight-forward manner. The destination is reached.

But there's trouble. The remainder of the movie is set in the camp of the Comancheros. Following hangings and escapes the inevitable showdown takes place.

While John Wayne and company are imprisoned, one lone rider (young Patrick Wayne) races to bring about a rescue. It's futile. For this short sequence ("Tobe's Death") Bernstein fashioned the most striking piece in the score. It was my favorite cue in the movie when I first saw it (at the age of nine) and it remains just that. Part rousing, part violent. All power.

Portions of "Leaving" suggest warmth (Comanchero/heroine Ina Balin has agreed to assist the Rangers) but dotted about are distant reminders of the sixteenth-note figure. The big battle is yet to come. Before the cue ends the war begins. The main theme is used, tossed about. Aggressive low brass figures and percussion keep things lively but the main theme stays ever-present this time around. The outcome of the battle never really seems questioned.

"Texas Rangers" arrive in time to save the day. To rousing versions of the tune they enter the fray, change the tide of battle, win the day. Bernstein even catches the brief moment when Nehemiah Persoff loses everything. Leader of the renegades, his last moment is heard as a melancholy guitar line. But the Rangers are in command and the score readies for wrap-up.

As Stuart Whitman and Ina Balin wave - John Wayne rides off as big as he always did. Musically there was only one place for Bernstein to go. Soaring with the big guy and his big tune. Right to a resounding finish.

For fans of Kings Of The Sun - my own favorite un-recorded score of all time - note the origins of it are actually in this present score. The Comanchero motifs and the energetic rhythms for the action scenes all are developed further in the battle music for Kings Of The Sun.

Sonically, the stereo sound is fantastic. The recording is complete, sequenced as in the picture. Typically authoritative notes, presentation and everything else, make this Nick Redman production a total winner.

It's amazing to recall that no album happened at the time for Magnificent Seven. Then Elmer Bernstein did Comancheros the following year - and there was no album for it either!! Folks like me ended up making tapes right from the television way back when.

Thank you FSM. Every fan started somewhere. For me it was the early sixties. With Comancheros you're tapping into my roots.

Tap away!

October 26, 1999

East West
Composed By Patrick Doyle
Conducted By James Shearman
Sony Classical SK 64429
25 Tracks Total Time = 53:37

Patrick Doyle started off high. Everyone pretty much discovered him with Henry V. Soon there were the likes of Shipwrecked, Dead Again, Needful Things. And there was that magnificent Frankenstein. These usually all rate as favorites whenever his name gets mentioned.

My own personal favorites run contrary however. Carlito’s Way is my numero uno. Then I go for Donnie Brasco. That’s what makes horse races - right?

Then Doyle had this whole period, not so interesting, with Sense And Sensibility, Mrs. Winterbourne, A Little Princess, Exit To Eden, so forth.

Dotted about were his scores for pictures by Regis Wargnier. The exciting Indochine and the warmer Une Femme Francais. And currently: East-West.

It’s an ambitious movie, defining the instinct for life and freedom. The struggles of East vs. West. That kind of thing. Doyle approached it with a monumental score, Russian-sounding. Featured is some rich piano artistry amidst the orchestra, played by Emanuel Ax. One of the most unique things about Doyle is his harmonic voice. He loves to create melodies, bringing in rich and thickly-scored major chords at key moments. In this score it certainly shows.

Many of the cues focus on a solemn but melodic sound, rich with those Doyle chords. There are several key motifs, usually heard in minor keys. And sprinkled about are those signature major chords. Overall it becomes an unusually melodic work, strong on both melody and harmony. There is more of course.

In the cue "Jeopardy" the music increases in urgency. And in "The Church" Doyle uses his major chords in spades - written entirely for brass choir.

With "The River" some of Doyle’s rhythmic energy comes into play. The music focuses on his rich thematic material but there is considrable motion. It leads directly into one of the highlights, "The Race", with an abundance of both melodic activity and rhythm, especially in the piano.

As the score progresses the sense of urgency increases. The rhythms become increasingly foreground, the melodies ever-present. It swells. And climaxes, musically, in track 18 ("The Black Sea"), which literally becomes a mini-fantasia for piano and orchestra. Opening with statements for trombone and trumpet, the orchestra and piano actually combine forces to create a brief but overwhelming portrait. While emphasizing minor keys the finish is in a resplendent major. It’s really quite powerful.

Subsequent score material delves into the darker side for awhile, grows lively during "The Escape" (which skillfully works agitated rhythmic ideas amidst suggestions of the main theme) before returning to the thematic material with "Freedom". With the final track ("The Land") a choral emphasis moves front and center. It’s a full treatment of the main theme, moving from singers a cappella to string orchestra with solo voice, finally to both combined.

When all is finished the score ends, not in major, but in minor.

A few brief source pieces are also used, but they actually compliment the score proper, written for band and chorus in a Slavic mold.

The recording is crisp, clear and dynamic. Whether the film shows up in the U.S., or whether the album becomes readily available on a U.S. label, remains to be seen.