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In Pursuit of Honor/Class of '61: (John Debney) The
second in the series of pressed promotional products pairing two of John
Debney's scores on one CD was the 1996 presentation of the war genre
scores for
In Pursuit of Honor and
Class of '61. The 1995
HBO film
In Pursuit of Honor provides the vast majority of music
on the album, and represents some of Debney's most resolute Western
music. The film is the brutal portrayal of the execution of the 1935
order of General Douglas MacArthur to officially disband the country's
cavalry units. He ordered that 500 former cavalry horses be led to
Mexico to be slaughtered, leaving the officers in command of the unit
carrying out these orders with a significant moral dilemma. Their choice
to attempt to save most of the horses after their termination begins
leads them on a frantic chase back north with as many of the horses as
they could save. The true story presents some of the most gruesome
animal execution scenes ever put to film, though the story does offer
some positives at the end. Debney tackled the film the same year he
would stun film music collectors with his ambitious
Cutthroat
Island, and throughout the score for
In Pursuit of Honor, you
can hear that he has firmly established the high standard of orchestral
writing that fans would come to expect from him in the decades to come.
Few of his subsequent scores would offer the same shamelessly heroic
militaristic atmosphere. The score is led by snare for the majority of
its length, sometimes mixed at different distances from the microphone
for a layered effect (such as the opening of "Signals"). With the snare
comes a persistent sense of movement, a logical choice given the pacing
of the story. The Western rhythms are more dramatic than most of the
cliched usages you typically hear, straying far closer towards Lee
Holdridge's straight, modern Western sound and avoiding the folk
influences defining Basil Poledouris' popular Westerns of the time.
Debney's title theme is as heroic as any he has ever written, layering
brass with great effect. His use of trumpets in a "call to arms" fashion
as counterpoint over the rest of the ensemble provides for outstanding
moments such as the driving force of "The Journey." That cue also
features a harmonica mixed as an equal with the ensemble; its only
memorable solo performance comes as expected in "Campfire."
The 45 minutes of harmonic Western movements for
In
Pursuit of Honor are mixed with the same vibrant soundscape as
Cutthroat Island, enhancing the score's emotional impact. Its
themes, while consistently employed, don't impact you as the sheer
magnitude of the score's powerful performance. While being grave in its
demeanor, the score's rousing optimism provides for a hidden Debney gem.
The other score on this promotional album is the pre-Civil War film
Class of '61 produced for television by Amblin Entertainment. The
story tells the tale of the last graduating classes from West Point
before the start of the war, a war that would place the friendly cadets
on different sides. It takes substantial liberty in altering history
enough to allow famous officers to know and befriend each other better
than they actually did in reality. Debney's score for
Class of
'61 is represented by only about 15 minutes of material, but it's
clear that the producers used James Horner's
Glory as the basis
(and perhaps temp track) for the score. At the forefront of the score is
a soulful title theme performed by boy's choir (though it sounds
completely synthesized in this case) over a typical, militaristic snare
rhythm for its battle sequences. This theme, with trumpet in
counterpoint atop the ensemble and strings buffering the choral
elements, graces "For Honor and Glory" with a sound faintly resembling
Glory and other Horner works. The viola and piano solos during
conversational cues in
Class of '61 will foreshadow what Horner
would produce for
Legend of the Fall. The final cue combines the
viola and piano with acoustic guitar for intimate closure in the
presentation of this theme. Outside of this highly lyrical theme, the
score offers little to inspire. The structure and rendering of the theme
will likely bother listeners weary of Horner's influence on his own
scores, not to mention this one. Overall,
Class of '61 isn't a
particular strong score, but it suffices in its genuine heart and serves
as a good appetizer for
In Pursuit of Honor on album. By
comparison to
In Pursuit of Honor, most listeners will find
Class of '61 to be a lightweight much along the same somewhat
underdeveloped lines that Debney would follow early in his career. But
In Pursuit of Honor is worth the search for the promotional album
by itself, and
Class of '61 is an additional bonus.
Amazon.com Price Hunt: CD or Download
In Pursuit of Honor: ****
Class of '61 ***
Overall: ****
| Bias Check: | For John Debney reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating
is 3.23 (in 49 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.01
(in 42,775 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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The insert includes no extra information about the score or film.
