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Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... if you've ever wondered what a Thomas Newman score would sound like if you combined his experimental rhythms and instrumentation with his orchestral and choral grandeur on a large scale. Avoid it... only if nothing about any of Newman's styles has interested you thus far. Filmtracks Editorial Review:
The better question, however, arose when some fans began asking what Newman's perfect score would be... a score with all the grandeur and thematic resonance of his great orchestral works while also utilizing the vast arrays of unorthodox instruments and rhythms of the American Beauty phase at the same time. The answer is Angels in America, arguably Newman's best work to date. In the lengthy music for Angels in America, you hear every era of Newman's career rolled into one frightfully effective and enticing package. After a truly stunning opening titles, Newman occupies the first half of the score with the likes of his skin drums, ice metals, bodhran, processed chimes, dayre, kantele, esraj, high-string guitar, baritone electric, lute, EWI, prepared guitar, and manipulated violin, producing music fresh from his very personal scores of 2000 - 2002, but at a larger, sustained level of activity and volume. The latter half of the score explodes with high caliber orchestral harmony and mayhem, although maintaining the title theme so elegantly established in the second cue of the album. Nearly every moment of the score is saturated in the Tom Newman style of creating harmony with 90% of the orchestra while throwing one or two instruments of each chord off-kilter to some degree. The pastoral sounds of his career are heard strongly at the end of the album, with eight to ten minutes of truly harmonious beauty on an Americana level of religious satisfaction. The opening titles offer woodwind solos that are a trademark of Newman's thematic writing, with light guitars, fluttering flutes, noble trumpets as counterpoint, and a collection of raindrop-style tapping of metallic percussion. The expected thematic notions of religious harmony are very well accompanied by the wondrous aspects of the less typical instruments. Thus, there is a magic throughout Angels in America that Newman fans had heard in many sporadic places during his previous scores. The consistency of the listening experience on album is strong even though the tone and instrumentation switches in nearly every cue. The only detriments to the album are the source song cues sprinkled in three places. There are a few cues in Angels in America that stand out as having heavy influences from other composers, and the interpretations of these other styles only serve to elevate Newman's work to another realm. First is the blatant use of Bernard Herrmann's "Scene D'Amour" cue from Vertigo in "Plasma Orgasmata" and "Garden of the Soul." The other style borrowed is the clearly malevolent and vicious orchestral representation of Elliot Goldenthal's dark works in "Submit!" and "Black Angel." While the "Scene D'Amour" cues have, perhaps, a 'temp track' written into their origins, the two violent cues of evil late in Angels in America are the highlight of the score while ironically being largely unlistenable. If an orchestra was ever to sound so mean-spirited as to hasten the arrival of an evil, fallen angel, then these cues would be it, and their Goldenthal-like intensity of brass are fascinating to hear. For listeners not so keen on raising evil spirits with these cues, Newman provides several lengthy angelic cues as well, with choral chanting or wordless vocals in most of the latter half of the score. These serene moments, when studied in contrast to the horrific cues of evil and the several cues of deep contemplation (with the experimental instruments), make Angels in America a score that touches upon every strength and weakness of Tom Newman's career and rolls them all into one positively magnificent package. No two cues are exactly alike in this effort, partly because we finally have the opportunity to hear Newman place his experimental instruments alongside the traditional orchestra and choir as a full ensemble. The year 2003, interestingly, proved to be a strong one for religious-related scores, and Newman adds his own highly spiritual and uplifting entry to the mix. Whether you are a fan of Tom Newman's orchestral themes or his rhythms created with unusual instruments, Angels in America will satisfy your curiosity and successfully demand several repeat listens. Even if you don't entirely enjoy the score, it is one to appreciate and study for its extremely wide range of strong musical ideas. *****
The insert includes extensive credits, but no extra information about the score or film. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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