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Edward Scissorhands on DVD
• Danny Elfman commentary • THX/Dolby Digital 4.0 More DVD info... |
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Edward Scissorhands on DVD
• Danny Elfman commentary • THX/Dolby Digital 4.0 More DVD info... |
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Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... if you don't mind scores that jerk the tears right out of you, for Edward Scissorhands is the most impressively tragic fairy tale score of the digital era. Avoid it... if subtlety is your preferred method of introspection. Filmtracks Editorial Review:
The most remarkable aspect of the Edward Scissorhands score is its ability to tell Burton's story without the visuals. The album takes you on the journey of this fable with masterful precision, embodying the heart-wrenching emotions of Edward's discovery and downfall with thematic and choral elements never restrained. In terms of the orchestral ensemble, not much is different from Elfman's previous scores, though a significant role is given to the celesta and other high-ranging struck percussion. The celesta specifically offers dual representation of both the innocence of the main character and the wintry setting, lending a music-box style to the score that accentuates the bedtime storytelling ambience. The piano, while an integral role of other Elfman scores at the time, is largely displaced by the celesta, though a few notable piano solos are registered. The harp returns from Batman, leaving behind its grand flourishes for deliberate plucking that, along with the strings, helps the celesta set the score's delicate rhythms. Rowdy rhythms for brass and bass woodwinds explode in "The Cookie Factory," serving as the score's only true direct reminder of the sharp wackiness of Pee Wee and Beetlejuice. Few brass solos have an impact on the score, though the longing trumpet performance at the end of the title theme performance in "The End" (among other instrumental techniques heard in that cue) would largely foreshadow the upcoming spirit of The Nightmare Before Christmas. The true heart of Edward Scissorhands, though, is provided by the boy's chorus that brilliantly carries the imaginative elements of story and is rarely absent for longer than a minute or two in the score. It was not unusual for Elfman to employ a boy's chorus in his scores of the time, but the performances by the Paulist Choristers of California for Edward Scissorhands are incorporated with skill not heard elsewhere in any score of the 1990's (by Elfman or otherwise). Elfman layers the group, allowing portions to serve as counterpoint to itself in an effort to maximize the harmonic resonance of the combined voices. An adult choir is also worked into the score at times, though the boys' performances clearly define the work. Elfman uses the combination of the chorus, celesta, and strings to explore two primary themes in Edward Scissorhands. The first is the obvious title theme provided in the credits. An overarching idea for Edward's journey, this light waltz swings with elegance over celesta and plucked strings as the chorus provides the primary wordless statements of fantasy (bracketing a woodwind interlude that would serve as a sub-theme later in the score). This cue would be fully reprised with the same instrumentation in "Etiquette Lesson" and "The End," with continuing, fragmented references in between. Despite the appeal of this theme, however, it takes a back seat to the score's unofficial love theme, which creates the undeniable tragedy in the score. It is this theme that graces the score's two famous tracks, "Ice Dance" and "The Grand Finale," and presents the chorus in its most beautiful, yearning performances. Elfman teases you with this theme in "Storytime" and "Home Sweet Home," and he never allows the theme to come to a natural conclusion outside of the slowly fading departure in "The Grand Finale." In the aforementioned early cues, as well as "Ice Dance" and "The End," Elfman always ends the theme (and cue) on a longing note, never returning to its grounding key and thus drawing out the score's tragic intent even further. The climactic choral majesty of "The Grand Finale" is a dazzling, magical experience, and stands among the most powerful single cues of the digital era of film music. The score's darker side, dominating its second half, strikes the culture clash at the heart of the film's dark edge. Elfman utilizes medium drums and lighter "la-la" vocals to underline the pleasantly sickening nature of the somewhat timeless 1950's suburbia setting. The world of the "Castle on the Hill," in opposition to the silliness of suburbia, is the menacing and ultimately tragically frustrating core of Edward's upbringing and seclusion. Several of the more horrifying moments of the tale, heard in "Death!" and "The Tide Turns," recall troublesome ideas established by Elfman in the just previous Nightbreed. These cues are hardly weak, but in contrast to the surrounding beauty, they merit far less attention. Like many of Elfman's earlier works, Edward Scissorhands has a few stand-out tracks of sheer wizardry or bizarre deviation that deserve specific mention. You can always tell when Elfman gets in a mood for ambitious fun when he pulls out the tubas for a wild rhythm; that rhythm, along with the harshly muted brass of "The Cookie Factory," would yield to a few playful performances by woodwinds in that cue that would also foreshadow The Nightmare Before Christmas. The piano-led rhythm in "Ballet de Suburbia" allows the sax to lead a motif that, once the percussion lets rip later in the cue, would mirror much of the spirit of Elfman's famous theme for The Simpsons. A solo accordion in "Esmeralda" is a bizarre but short deviation. The most colorful cue is "Edwardo the Barber," and for those who grow tired of the score's overbearing choral performances of the two primary themes, this cue is a constant pleasure. A mock-tango rhythm with castenets underscores Edward's hairstyling talents, mutating the suburbia motif for perhaps the score's most relaxed moment. In the middle of this cue, however, is a hoedown style explosion for about a minute that actively underscores Edward's most frenetic styling sequence. During this minute, plucked strings and accordion establish an increasingly frantic pacing over which a solo violin works wonders with its precise western-style slurring. If the comically melodramatic conclusion to this sudden burst of energy can't invigorate you, then you're not a true Elfman fan. The Tom Jones song is an unfortunately downside to the album; his voice and the style of the song may have been an attempt to mimic the 50's atmosphere of the film, but its tinny recording sound is quite irritating. Burton and Elfman would have been better served by having a sensitive vocalist provide a song version of Elfman's love theme. The balance of the mix between chorus and orchestra in Edward Scissorhands emphasizes the chorus far more than Batman did, without losing any of the orchestral elements in the process. This masterful mixing would be lost by the time Batman Returns would yield a flat result. Overall, many collectors believe that Danny Elfman, despite a productive career hereafter, has never really captured Edward Scissorhands's essence of magic ever again. Whether he does or not, this score will forever be noted as a grand highlight of both his career and film music of the 1990's. *****
The insert includes extensive credits, but no extra information about the score itself. Portions of Edward Scissorhands, including "The Grand Finale," appear on Music for a Darkened Theatre, Volume II. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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