Buy it... only if you have specifically appreciated James Horner's mostly electronic and somber score in context and would be satisfied with only a few late performances of the composer's somewhat pretty (though still morbid), synth-string primary theme.

Avoid it... if you find a synthetic and very understated approach to a murder mystery in a 14th Century Italian monastery to be not only incredibly dull, but curiously misdirected as well.

Horner

The Name of the Rose: (James Horner) The 1986 European production of The Name of the Rose helmed by Jean-Jacques Annaud went largely unnoticed in the United States despite its lead star, likely testimony to the fact that the film's 14th-Century, religiously-embroiled plot had little appeal to American sensibilities. A bare-headed Sean Connery plays William of Baskerville, a Franciscan monk trying to solve a murder mystery in a 1327 Benedictine Abbey before more irrational minds in the Church call upon a Holy Inquisitor (F. Murray Abraham) to use less scientific means of accusing and punishing a supposed killer. The Northern Italian setting and its monastery are gloomy locations for the topic of the mystery, shot mostly with extremely dark shades and using the grim castle-like structure as its own character. The pursuit of the murder is seen through the frustrating lens of illogical pious behavior, though that didn't stop Annaud from exhibiting some nudity in a popular sex scene involving Christian Slater as William's young assistant. By no means a particularly memorable film, The Name of the Rose is still solid entertainment, relying upon the performances by the two older leads to carry the mystery to its thoughtful conclusion. Composer James Horner was already becoming a mainstream name by 1986, with several high profile projects already under his belt. In the 1980's (and again sporadically in the 2000's), the composer experimented with almost completely synthetic scores, sometimes by necessity and other times for impact. One of the composer's more curious synthetic scores indeed belongs to The Name of the Rose, a production that on the surface does not seem to suggest that such an approach would be viable. There is a fair amount of source material that better addresses popular expectations of what one should hear when viewing scenes within a 14th Century monastery, and Horner assisted in the recording of three specific traditional choral pieces (with a soloist and school ensemble, seemingly) that match the oppressive atmosphere of the story. This music translates into the most varied and easily accessible portion of the many European album releases of the soundtrack for The Name of the Rose, though even in these portions it's difficult to find much more than solemn beauty of a highly restrained character. As for Horner's original contribution, there is no doubt that the composer sought to accentuate the morbid ambience of a murder mystery first and cater to the period and locale second. The result is unfortunately a very pedestrian and cold effort.

Don't expect a plethora of stylistic references to medieval stereotypes in the music for The Name of the Rose. In fact, parts of the score are closely bound in rendering and scope to Vibes and Unlawful Entry. The former score is specifically reflected in the low keyboarding of faux-strings that Horner seemed fond of utilizing at the time. The tone of the score is very drab, establishing a heavy atmosphere of very slow tempos and only using synthetic treble elements to poke at the listener when necessary to pique interest at a small plot element. Horner does actually create and maintain several motifs in the score, including one whimsical cascading figure that appropriately closes the film (fading out both the cues "Epilogue" and "End Titles"). A jabbing descending motif of rapid fire from a synthetic harpsichord or chimes is heard best in "Flashbacks." A rambling bass-region motif, perhaps for the Holy Inquisitor, consists of a truly menacing alternating series of notes most powerful under a choral effect in "Betrayed." None of these themes is memorable, however, and without the sensitive primary theme that slowly reveals itself as the film progresses, The Name of the Rose would exist without any true identity. This theme first forms its final shape in the latter half of "The Confession" (on eerily pretty solo woodwind over string quartet) and finally receives the spotlight in "Epilogue" and "End Titles." It's an elegantly redemptive theme, but its sparse construct still firmly connects it to the extremely somber material heard in the rest of the score. In the picture, this theme's prominence in the final scene is almost a shock when compared to the remainder of the picture's utilization of music. Therein exists the biggest problem that some will have with The Name of the Rose. One man's intelligently understated score is another man's underachieving bore. Because there are times in the film during which Horner's score really does sound of out place (as in the climactic first minute of "Epilogue"), it's hard not to gravitate towards the latter group. The slight period references, as in the percussion of "The Discovery," are weak. The insertion of deep choral effects, as in "The Lesson," is too infrequent. The employment of single shrill violin notes above those vocals is a major detraction despite keeping the viewer on edge. The employment of solo accents elsewhere is undermixed. Overall, The Name of the Rose is simply too gloomy and too sparse to appreciate on album. That hasn't stopped the score from experiencing a myriad of album offerings in Europe, from French and German CDs in 1986 to a Spanish re-issue in 1991. All of these albums feature the same contents, though unless you've appreciated Horner's score in context, be weary of the depressing listening experience. **   Amazon.com Price Hunt: CD or Download

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For James Horner reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.13 (in 98 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.25 (in 184,725 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.