Buy it... if you are interested in hearing Native American chants and solo ethnic instruments performed with skill alongside a large orchestral ensemble.

Avoid it... if you prefer your orchestral bombast to carry its rhythms without the highly distinct, Native American chants and contemporary Country rhythms.

Warbeck

Dreamkeeper: (Stephen Warbeck) Debuting on ABC in late December, 2003, "Dreamkeeper" is a Hallmark Entertainment film with all the usual ingredients of the predictably redemptive, family-friendly story. It is a tale of generational conflict and understanding, involving a trek made by a Native American elder and his grandson from South Dakota to New Mexico for the important All Nations ceremony. The rebellious grandson, only making the journey at first because he is evading his local gang (to which he owes money), listens to the elder's fantastic stories of adventure, humor, and romance from the history of their tribe as they travel. The format of the story is similar in ways to Secondhand Lions (released earlier in the same year), which also shifted between locations and times to tell of the days of high adventure from one generation to another. The film was brought to life on screen by director Robert Halmi Sr., whose "Merlin" series on NBC was a spectacular success five years prior, and "Dreamkeeper" was conceived with the same quality of production values in mind. Composer Stephen Warbeck, best known for his Academy Award recognized work for Shakespeare in Love (also five years prior), was no stranger to the feel-good genre of storytelling. While his mainstream output had been minimal for most collectors, with several underachieving international arthouse ventures of the early 2000's gone astray due to the films' failure to meet expectations, Warbeck maintained a high orchestral standard of composition that many film music collectors appreciated. That appreciation was likely extended with "Dreamkeeper," a lofty, diverse, and well-constructed score that blends the best of his sensitive orchestral writing with the instrumental and vocal sounds of Native American culture. Often associated with British productions, the choice of Warbeck to evoke the history of Native American heritage through authentic music was a surprising one. But the composer managed to pull off a very impressive score for "Dreamkeeper" that was immediately mentioned as an integral factor in the film's projected success. It had difficulty competing with James Horner's concurrent music for Ron Howard's The Missing, an exceptional score of similar construct for a feature film, but Warbeck admirably serves his purpose for the more obscure production.

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With the story divided between the contemporary settings and those contained within the tales, Warbeck balances the score between the two eras well by keeping the modern cues very light in instrumentation. In "The Journey" and "Riding to the Rainbow," as well as during the final scenes of the family before and during the grandfather's passing, Warbeck presents an acoustic guitar over familiar Country-style rhythms. The sound of the small band ensemble is effective in offering a taste of the youngest generation's sensibilities without interfering with the more authentic historical music for the stories of adventure. The youngest boy's journey culminates with a more sophisticated performance of this Country theme (with a slight touch of big Western strings) at the very end of the mini-series. Contemporary rhythms aside, though, the multitude of Warbeck's unhindered orchestral action music is an outstanding achievement for the television genre. Early on the album for the series, the composer presents authentic percussion and chanting recorded in America and featuring all of the historical accuracy that the project could ever dream of (a technique mastered similarly by Horner). At the same time, listeners attached to their favored orchestral styles will be appeased by Warbeck's ability to tastefully integrate the full orchestra into every level of the chanting and solo woodwind performances of ethnicity. The dancing chants occasionally build into an enormous orchestral crescendo, as in the opening cue, or are sustained in unison during lengthy cues thereafter. Warbeck uses the dramatic effect of string ostinatos in moments of chase and activity ("High Horse Captures the Ponies") that listeners will recognize from Shakespeare in Love, but other than these few stylistic resemblances, "Dreamkeeper" is a powerful effort that stands on its own. Highlights of the score include momentous, timpani-pounding action in "Killing the Buffalo" and "The Serpent," with the latter containing a creative bird cry at the outset. Two cues involving the "Dun Pony" in the middle of the work are melodic powerhouses, the latter containing a heroic performance for the trumpet that shines with dignity. The focused choral chants in "The Elk," as well as the women's choir in "Quillwork Girl's Journey," are vocal highlights. Overall, only occasionally suspect sound muffling in larger orchestral sections can pull this score down from a five-star rating, and collectors weary of television scores should not balk at this most impressive splash of ethnic diversity. ****   Amazon.com Price Hunt: CD or Download

Bias Check:

For Stephen Warbeck reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.29 (in 7 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.3 (in 8,899 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.