Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... if you are easily entranced by the intelligent balancing of flowing romanticism from an orchestra with the exotic flavor of authentic specialty instruments from the various corners of the world. Avoid it... if you balk at the prospect of hearing John Barry's thematic structures resurrected or, more prevalently, a reprise of ideas from Brian Tyler's own Children of Dune. Filmtracks Editorial Review:
Partition: (Brian Tyler) For Indian director Vic Sarin, the story of Partition was one close to his heart. The film is a Romeo & Juliet tale set at the time of the cultural division of Muslims and Sikhs in the late 1940's, when Pakistan and India were officially divided and the Muslims migrated to Pakistan. Sarin was raised in the disputed Kashmir region, and the tragic plot of Partition is partly based on real people his family knew at the time. In the love story, a Sikh servant to a British family discovers a young Muslim woman hiding near his village one day. He takes her in and protects her, and as the years pass, they fall in love, marry, and gain acceptance in their Indian village. The woman later decides to visit her family in Pakistan, which can only result in tragedy when her brothers hold her captive as punishment for marrying a Sikh. Her husband makes the dangerous journey into Pakistan to find her, only to tempt a worse fate. Driving secular humanists nuts, the film opened to modest praise outside of the United States, seen closest in a limited run in Canada. Composer Brian Tyler has balanced arthouse and B-rate assignments since his splash into the mainstream five years prior to Partition, and this project is a refreshing arthouse endeavor that helps the composer transcend beyond the muck of Alien Vs. Predator and Rambo (although parts of those scores are guilty pleasures). The dynamic at work in Partition is particularly interesting; the location demanded music that fits the cultural clash central to the story' conflict, and yet the story is undeniably romantic in high tragic fashion. Ironically, it was Tyler who leaned in favor of emphasizing the ethnic flavor, being the instrumentally creative and ambitious artist that he is. The director, however, wanted more of the flowing melodrama of a Western orchestra. Thus, a balance was born, and Tyler employed a partial orchestral ensemble to meet the romantic needs of the film while ordering an array of specialty instruments from India which he could perform himself in order to streamline the recording process and save costs. It's hard to determine if Tyler is either a musical genius for taking on so many roles himself or, perhaps, simply a glutton for punishment in his expanded role orchestrating, conducting, performing, and mixing his own works. In the case of Partition, his efforts pay off. He has stated that the score touched him more deeply than many others, defining the project as a "personal kind of journey" for him as well as the director and his characters. That might explain the fact that Tyler's own contribution in performance for this score is equal in weight to that of the orchestral ensemble. The textures that he provides in everything ranging from acoustic guitar and standard percussion to a sitar, Indian percussion, and a range of other regional specialty instruments, is astounding. Not only in performance does Tyler succeed, but he manages to perform all of these lines separately and merge them with such attention to balance that you can't help but admire the talent. In his blend between the resonance of the orchestra, a keen sense of rhythmic movement, and the exotic sounds of his solo performances, Tyler produces a sound as varied and occasionally intoxicating as his commonly-considered career highlight to date, the television production of Children of Dune. A strong offering of themes in Partition will also remind listeners of that previous, popular work, as well as a few other sources. Tyler writes two primary themes and one minor one for Partition. He has claimed in interviews that of the two primary orchestral themes, the "Partition" theme is devoted to the love story as a whole. Meanwhile, the "Crossing" theme represents the historical division of the two cultures. The first theme is fluid in its melodramatic movement, and although appropriate in every aspect of its form, film music collectors may have a difficult time looking past the similarities between this theme and the ideas of other composers who have tackled scores for the region in the past. The expansive chord progressions early in the theme, as well as the repeating of the first stanza twice consecutively, is saturated with the style of John Barry. So thorough is the adaptation of Barry's style in the primary theme, right down to the heavy string layers in unison over accompanying horns and alternating lines for violins, that the opening ten seconds of the score will be almost an exact match for Alan Williams' score for the IMAX film Island of the Sharks, itself considered a significant tribute to the style of John Barry. In the second half of this love theme, Tyler pulls a few chord progressions that are clearly influenced by Maurice Jarre's essential Lawrence of Arabia, which lends a feel not only for the region, but also for the scope of the drama. In between the repetitive statements of the theme, Tyler inserts a line on the deep strings and/or horns that descends down a major-key chord to emphasize the start of the next statement in a fashion typical to James Horner's career. All of this said, however, the theme is harmonically gorgeous and, if you can lose the memories of High Road to China and Barry's closely-related romantic themes of the 1980's while listening to Partition, then you'll be rewarded by the experience. Its major performances can be enjoyed in "Partition," "Sirsa," "New Delhi, 1942," and "Partition End Title." An intimate acoustic guitar performance of this theme in "Tears of Joy," aided by lush strings and a beautiful contribution to the second stanza by a solo woodwind, is exquisitely beautiful. The second theme in the score doesn't reference other composers, but rather adapts the theme of nobility from Tyler's Children of Dune for the occasion. Not only does the melody follow very similar dramatic lines from the one in Children of Dune, but it also features the exact same descending counterpoint motif on horns from that earlier score. As opposed to the love theme, this theme representing the historical division of the countries often benefits from the ambience and accentuated tempo of light percussion. As such, this theme, though performed fewer times in the score (mainly in "The Crossing," "Transformation of Gian," and "Partition End Title"), is the stronger of the two. There exists a third theme that, while easily overlooked, plays an important role in emphasizing the more positive aspects of the story. Led by rambling acoustic guitar and medium-range drum rhythms, this theme is as joyous as Partition gets. Short performances of this upbeat idea (which seemingly reminds of Hans Zimmer's contemporary music for some reason) can be heard in "Naseem's Journey," "Tears of Joy" and "Partition End Titles." As you can likely tell by now, the five-minute "Partition End Titles" track contains a delightful summary of these themes in concert fashion. The album for Partition is arranged so that outside of this suite placement at the end, the strongest cues are presented in the first ten tracks of the release. The most interesting development of all three themes exists in these early tracks; the remaining cues, while occasionally offering highlights to match the early portions of the album, are closer to the minimalistic and dissonant end of the spectrum. The only notable action cue in the score is among the early highlights. By two minutes into "Attack at the Crossing," Tyler has whipped up such a frenzy with his ensemble and self-made percussion section (mostly in harmony) that you might momentarily think you're listening to Alien Vs. Predator: Requiem. One of the album's faults is that it indeed runs too long at 78 minutes. We can be thankful to Tyler for less expensive re-use fees due to his habit of playing so many roles himself, but much of the second half of the album (outside of the exotic source piece "Festival of Holi," which could find a home in Mychael Danna's Exotica or Eight Millimeter) could have been jettisoned. If you take the first ten cues and combine them with "Partition End Title," though, you do have 40 minutes of outstanding music. Overall, if you can relax, enjoy the blend of exotic and Western instruments in harmonic structures, and forget the obvious influences that inspired Tyler in writing his themes for this film, then you may find yourself revisiting Partition frequently. Despite its flaws in thematic structure and length of album, it is easily among the best scores of 2007. **** Track Listings:
Total Time: 78:07
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