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Filmtracks Editorial Review:
Nineteen Eighty-Four: The Music of Oceania (Dominic Muldowney) The film adaptation of George Orwell's classic vision of the future was met with mixed criticism internationally, and a harsh response by those in America. The score, which had promised to greatly enhance the film after its use in the theatrical trailers, ultimately became the largest controversy surrounding the film. The producers, against the wishes of the director, decided to scrap most of Muldowney's score in the film and replace it with pop songs by the popular 80s synth group Eurythmics. Needless to say, the inconsistency this caused in the music for the film was a substantial reason for the audiences' cold response to the film. An upcoming composer at the time, Dominic Muldowney has since scored mostly television films. Not only did Muldowney compose the regular underscore for the film, he also created all of the very important source music used throughout the film, including the non-pop songs and the anthems. It's no surprise that the music in Nineteen Eighty-Four became an experiment (by Virgin) in combining traditional orchestral music with pop sounds --the same approach had been concurrently attempted with Frank Herbert's Dune. But whereas the music worked in Dune, the music in Nineteen Eighty-Four is a complete mess. I'd be curious to know how Muldowney's music would work as a whole in the film. On the album, it is an inconsistent, although interesting listening experience. It contains such a vast variety of motifs that it is difficult not to be startled by them. The main theme is very well manipulated through the score, beginning as a straight militaristic anthem and eventually smoothing out to a flowing string melody. Several of the tracks include bombastic and ocassionally shrill brass performances of the opening to the anthem, and these are regrettable in that they make me jump in my seat every time they blast after an extended sequence of reflective cues. The Russian choral works are enjoyable, and very typical of that early-80s paranoia. The female vocals are also a highlight, with grand, operatic performances at least twice in full. The underscore in between is often eerie, with light strings and a Elmer Bernstein type of solo synthesizer used for an atmospheric effect. The highlight of the album is the main title suite that was the initial demo composed for the film by Muldowney; he includes an interesting 1940s touch at the end (Perhaps a tribute to the time when the story was written?). The drawbacks include the pompous British marches that appear ever so often throughout, although they were an important part of the film's concept. I could also do without the source music for the songs during tracks nine and nineteen. Otherwise, it's an interesting album. I suppose it would be much more difficult for a person to appreciate without having seen the film and recognizing the controversy surrounding the music. Muldowney's score for Nineteen Eighty-Four remains one of the most unique approaches on film music in the 1980s. ***
Press release segment: Director Michael Radford ("Il Postino") and his producer-partner Simon Perry brought to the screen the definitive adaptation of George Orwell's 1948 classic novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four. Shot in and around the precise locations and on the dates chronicled in Orwell's novel, the cast included John Hurt, Suzanna Hamilton, Cyril Cusack, Gregor Fisher and, in his final screen role, Richard Burton. The film opened to unanimously favorable reviews and was nominated for a BAFTA (British Academy) Award for Best Picture. Nineteen Eighty-Four recently became a permanent addition to the Sundance Institute Collection as a classic work of 20th century cinema. Composer Dominic Muldowney ("The Ploughman's Lunch," "Emma," "King Lear") created an original orchestral score for the film and a series of "source music" pieces for the dystopic world of Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. The album combines lush, romantic suites, large choral works and grand, moving anthems into an aural rendering of the film. Controversy arose at the time of the film's release, as its distributor, Virgin Films, replaced much of the score with pop songs by Eurythmics. All of Muldowney's original score has been digitally remastered and mixed by academy award-winning sound designer and composer Alan Howarth using the original 24-track recordings., and can now be heard here for the first time anywhere. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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