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Master and Commander on DVD
• "elegant string score" • DTS Digital Surround More DVD info... |
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Master and Commander on DVD
• "elegant string score" • DTS Digital Surround More DVD info... |
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Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... only if you enjoyed the textured score, classical pieces, and traditional folk music heard in the film. Avoid it... if you were expecting an adventurous, thematic, dynamic, and spirited orchestral score for the high seas. Filmtracks Editorial Review:
As a composer/songwriter, Iva Davies (the primary composer for the project) has written over one hundred published songs, and his only prior score composed was for Russell Mulcahy's thriller Razorback in the mid-1980's. Tognetti, as already mentioned, is a famed violinist in Australia, and has served as the Artistic Director and Leader of the Australian Chamber Orchestra since 1989. Most score fans will recognize Christopher Gordon as the most regular film composer of the three (with his television score for Moby Dick showing much promise for this genre), and although his output as a composer has been limited in the past few years, he continues his prolific career conducting and orchestrating other scores, including the Melbourne and Sydney orchestral recordings for songs in the hit 2001 musical Moulin Rouge. Their contributions to Master and Commander would be accompanied by Weir's choice of several classical and traditional folk pieces to appear in the film. When you put these four elements together, you end up with a score that couldn't be further from Korngold's swashbuckling adventures. In fact, many score collector's are likely to be disappointed for a second time this year, with neither Pirates of the Caribbean nor Master and Commander offering the traditional, swinging brass of historical high seas adventure. It is difficult to evaluate Master and Commander by these standards, because Weir very clearly had a dramatic score in mind rather than an adventure score. The soundtrack as a whole suffers because of inconsistencies in the styles of the three composers, as well as the classical pieces. Ironically, the classical and folk selections offer more of the spirited fun of "Lucky Jack" in the soundtrack, from the intimate solo performances to the rousing fiddle and drum folk that you'd hear on the decks of the ship. The classical pieces (some of which are superb favorites) also encompass the melancholy moments of the journey, underscoring the heavy drama of the equation with a sufficient root in the time period. You get the sense that these pieces were probably chosen first for inclusion in the film, and the score was a necessity if only to fill in the gaps and provide the power for battle sequences. That original score, therefore, seems confined to the moments of mystery, anticipation, and battle. Davies and Gordon's score is not thematically constructed, but instead relies primarily on texture and electronic soundscape for its power. If you're looking to be overwhelmed by thematic bravado, your money will be wasted here. Well-known percussionist Mike Fisher was employed for his pounding Taiko drums, sending the ships into journeys and battle with a rhythmic, charged set of strong performances. Outside of the drums, however, the actual orchestra performs only in textured layers, not often harmonious, and very rarely performing a motif. A four to five note bass string theme signals danger, and it would be an excellent secondary theme to the score if Davies and Gordon had been able to give the effort more of an identity with a title theme. This bass motif explodes in the "Into the Fog" cue with the drums in tow, both very reminiscent of James Newton Howard's Waterworld. There is no dynamic enthusiasm to the score, no memorable touch. Instead, brass are confined to a wishy-washy wavering between notes and octaves (Matrix-style) and woodwinds are seemingly nonexistent. The string work by Tognetti is often in sharp contrast to the rest of the score because of its solitary, classical nature, further clouding the overall effect. Drawn-out single notes on violin in "Smoke N' Oakum" and "The Phasmid" are irritating in their sharp intensity, typifying the score's reliance on the simplification of every motif, solo performance, and orchestral element. As a whole, the score for Master and Commander is repetitive, simplistic, and uninspiring, with even the meager attempts at counterpoint striking in their basic and obvious construction. Compared to the classical and folk tunes heard throughout the film and album, the score is a muddy mixture of textures and basic rhythms. There is no cue dynamism, pointed emphasis on scene changes, or even enough substance outside of the drums to retain the listener's interest. The album is evenly divided between score and traditional pieces (30 minutes per), and when intermingled on the album, the deficiencies of the score become all the more obvious. If you heard Brian Tyler's melodic Children of Dune score in Master and Commander's lengthier trailers, be strongly advised that nothing even remotely that coherent, thematic, or exciting is actually heard in the film. It's another missed swashbuckling opportunity in 2003. **
* Original score by Iva Davies, Christopher Gordon, Richard Tognetti ** Performed by the New Philharmonic Orchestra *** Performed by Yo-Yo Ma, Cello Total score time: 30:38
The Insert includes no extra information about the score or film.
 Davies, Weir, Gordon, Tognetti | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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