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Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... if you enjoy the light, repetitive rhythms, consistent fluffiness, and major-key themes of Rachel Portman or Stephen Warbeck's fantasy scores. Avoid it... if you are among the considerable crowd who cannot long tolerate the ceaselessly positive attitude of the music described above. Filmtracks Editorial Review:
The wide ranges of emotions in the film, along with the inherent fantasy value of the Peter Pan legacy itself, required an orchestral approach from the outset, and Kaczmarek combined the ensemble with a children's choir and his trademark piano to offer the necessary depth to Barrie's imagination. For casual film music fans, the body of Kaczmarek's work is likely summed up by Lost Souls and Unfaithful... two scores that don't bring out warm and fuzzy feelings. But Kaczmarek's prior experience in stage writing has suited him well, and his score for Finding Neverland is convincing and effective. While traversing the varied journey of Barrie's creation process, Kaczmarek maintains a score that is consistently rooted in Barrie's imagined world of Neverland. Not a single moment of fright or worry is to be heard in the score, perhaps due to the fact that Barrie always had one foot in Neverland while the other remained in reality, but that constant child-like momentum and soft enthusiasm provides for a very even and upbeat listening experience when the score is separated from the film. A lightly dancing rhythm often propels Finding Neverland as fans of Portman and Warbeck will recognize immediately, with those rhythms often pronounced very delicately, but deliberately as the work progresses. The children's choir often bounces along with the rhythm at its most playful moments. Free-flowing, repetitive string and woodwind themes offer a steady stream of inspiration in the major key as Barrie writes and lives his story. There is a slight Eastern European accent to the underlying rhythms and their instrumentation, perhaps due to Kaczmarek's nationality, but these inclinations do not disrupt the score to any great degree. When Kaczmarek brought in fellow Polish pianist Leszek Mozdzer, the two extended the role of the piano beyond its originally supporting role and gave the instrument an enhanced role due to several inspired solo adaptations of Kaczmarek's themes. For listeners who enjoy these lightly prancing scores when they mature into fully orchestral statements of theme, Kaczmarek does indulge you at times, but not to the degree you'd imagine given the emotional range of the story. Full performances appear in the "Peter Pan Overture" and the two play-related cues near the end of the film, as well as Kaczmarek's own overture. The only truly Neverland-inspired adventure cue comes in the form of "The Pirates," a piece sadly underpowered technically, but the purpose of the cue is successfully conveyed despite its lack of power. The general lack of layers to this score is its only weakness, with the choral moments sounding much like a James Horner's children's adventure score (and Casper in particular) on a serious diet. Along with the added piano solos on the album (an extra treat resulting from impromptu recordings with Mozdzer after the score's actual recordings had been finished), however, Kaczmarek's score performs as well as any Portman or Warbeck fan could want, and while the score never fleshes itself out or explores truly magical orchestral bombast, the consistenly pleasant attitude of its sways and rhythms makes for a soothing and enjoyable background listen. ****
The insert includes a short note about the scoring process from the producer of the film. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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