War Horse OST (2011) - John Williams

Review #10

ALBUM INFO

Artiste:  John Williams

Year:  2011

Genre:  Soundtrack / Orchestral

Duration:  65min

Label:  Sony Classical

Format:  CD

TRACK LISTING

1. ‘Dartmoor, 1912’ – 3:35
2. ‘The Auction’ – 3:34
3. ‘Bringing Joey Home, and Bonding’ – 4:42
4. ‘Learning the Call’ – 3:20
5. ‘Seeding, and Horse vs. Car’ – 3:33
6. ‘Plowing’ – 5:10
7. ‘Ruined Crop, and Going to War’ – 3:29
8. ‘The Charge and Capture’ – 3:21
9. ‘The Desertion’ – 2:33
10. ‘Joey’s New Friends’ – 3:30
11. ‘Pulling the Cannon’ – 4:11
12. ‘The Death of Topthorn’ – 2:45
13. ‘No Man’s Land’ – 4:35
14. ‘The Reunion’ – 3:55
15. ‘Remembering Emilie, and Finale’ – 5:07
16. ‘The Homecoming’ – 8:06

CAPSULE REVIEW

Call it genuinely or manipulatively sentimental, the score for Steven Spielberg’s War Horse is distinctly John Williams’.  When I first heard it on the big screen, I fell in love with it and the movie.  I think this is the priceless gift that is the Spielberg-Williams partnership.  They want you to like what you see and hear.  

The score is evocative of the time, set in the early 20^th century on the cusp of WWI.  Including some of the highlights below, Williams does great work with such tracks as ‘Plowing’, a piece that grinds on rhythmically like Joey the horse doing inspired field work on a gloomy rainy day.

The score takes on an ominous, militaristic tone in tracks such as ‘The Charge and Capture’ and ‘Pulling the Cannon’, depicting the horrors of WWI and the patriotism shown.  In ‘No Man’s Land’, a quiet, unsettling atmosphere gives way to an action-packed section, detailing Joey’s heroism and escape.  Overall, it is an excellent score, but nowhere near his late career masterpieces Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) and Lincoln (2012). 

Highlights:

‘Dartmoor, 1912’ – Williams sets the mood with a beautiful composition that so vividly depicts the pastoral and bucolic English countryside that you could almost smell the earth and feel the cool dew on your skin.  Starts with a lone flute, before the sweeping strings come into play.  The track later introduces two of the score’s four distinct themes. 

‘Remembering Emilie, and Finale’ – An emotional, almost elegiac track that has a middle solo piano interlude that is undoubtedly one of Williams’ most beautiful scoring moments.  I remember the wide shot of the sunset as Joey and his owner trek back (in silhouette) to their farmhouse.  The track ends with stirring strings as the family reconnects, and a trumpet solo that reminds of Joey’s heroism. 

‘The Homecoming’ – An 8-minute track played over the end credits that is a culmination of the score’s main themes, arranged with wondrous flow and rhythm.  I see this as a companion piece to the 11-minute end credits track ‘The Peterson House and Finale’ of Lincoln, both tracks capturing the essence of each film perfectly. 

Reviewed on Luxman Stereo Integrated Amplifier A-383, Marantz Compact Disc Player CD-63SE, and a pair of 1973 New Advent Loudspeakers.

Sound Quality:

Great recording

Rating:

Lincoln OST (2012) - John Williams

Review #2

ALBUM INFO

Artiste:  John Williams

Year:  2012

Genre:  Soundtrack / Orchestral

Duration:  58min

Label:  Sony Classical

Format:  CD

TRACK LISTING

1. 'The People's House' – 3:42
2. 'The Purpose of the Amendment' – 3:07
3. 'Getting Out the Vote' – 2:48
4. 'The American Process' – 3:56
5. 'The Blue and Grey' – 2:59
6. 'With Malice Toward None' – 1:50
7. 'Call to Muster and Battle Cry of Freedom' – 2:17
8. 'The Southern Delegation and the Dream' – 4:43
9. 'Father and Son' – 1:42
10. 'The Race to the House' – 2:41
11. 'Equality Under the Law' – 3:11
12. 'Freedom’s Call' – 6:07
13. 'Elegy' – 2:34
14. 'Remembering Willie' – 1:51
15. 'Appomattox – Apr 9, 1865' – 2:36
16. 'The Peterson House and Finale' – 11:00
17. 'With Malice Toward None (Piano Solo)' – 1:32

CAPSULE REVIEW

One of John Williams' most poignant scores, and a masterpiece of film music, the soundtrack to the Steven Spielberg film is beautiful but also mournful.  Williams has vividly evoked the spirit of Lincoln's times, the folksy joy of voting as apparent in two tracks – 'Getting Out the Vote' and 'The Race to the House', the tumultuous spectre of the Civil War in ominous tracks like 'The Blue and Grey' and 'The Southern Delegation and the Dream', and the patriotism and American pride as evident in four different melodies composed and ultimately coming together in breathtaking fashion in the penultimate track 'The Peterson House and Finale'. 

Williams uses a lot of strings and horns for this score, giving a stately, highly formal feel, as if the music was written during that era for that era which has since long passed.  On its own, without the benefit of visuals, the score stands proud and strong.  While his previous score for War Horse (2011) was filled with unabashed sentimentality (and I say this in a positive light), his work here is stripped of all that, but not of its heart, and replaces the tugging of heartstrings with a more stoic attempt at doing just that.  The effect is one of deep melancholy, but not forgetting that it should also portray a tone of reverence for history, and for the Man himself. 

Highlights:

'With Malice Toward None' - a short but astonishingly emotional cue that calls for equality for humanity and to strive for the ideals that Lincoln had so graciously preached.  It's a melody of our inner desire to continually reaffirm our belief in human goodness.

'Freedom’s Call' – my favourite track that starts off with a single violin playing the melody from 'The Purpose of the Amendment', building up intensely with wave-like accompaniment from the double basses, loosely inspired by the bass line in the track 'Defense Preparations' from his score for Saving Private Ryan (1998).

'The Peterson House and Finale' – if one track could represent the entire album, it would be this epic 11-minute suite that is an amalgamation of all the themes, structured in such a way that each theme is fleshed out to the fullest one after another.

Reviewed on Luxman Stereo Integrated Amplifier A-383, Marantz Compact Disc Player CD-63SE, and a pair of 1973 New Advent Loudspeakers.

Sound Quality:

Superb recording with dynamic range

Rating: