Buy it... if you are among those who have been sitting on the LP release of this fine score for years and are curious about revisiting one of Laurence Rosenthal's best scores on a well mastered CD release.

Avoid it... if the price tag of the limited album is too high to experiment with the appealing, but not overtly memorable music of a composer you are completely unfamiliar with.

Rosenthal

The Return of a Man Called Horse: (Laurence Rosenthal) After the success of A Man Called Horse in 1970, star Richard Harris collaborated with director Irvin Kershner to bring the title character back to the big screen in 1976. Despite a positive audience response to the original 1970 film, it did several cinematic injustices to the representation of Native American lifestyles, and the new production team wished to correct those errors. The sequel, The Return of a Man Called Horse, was, through the involvement of Kershner and his associates, a significantly more sensitive and realistic portrayal of Native American culture on the big screen. The film contained several slowly developed visual elements that that gave it the sensibility of a documentary, including many expansive vista scenes without much more than Laurence Rosenthal's music to compliment their beauty. From the 1960's through the 1980's, Laurence Rosenthal was known as a composer of great consistency, a gentleman with classical inclinations, but also a talent for bringing sophistication to a score of any genre. In later years, he was known for his more successful, Emmy-recognized career in television music. Some of his works have aged better than others, but most critics and collectors will agree that the mid-70's to early 1980's represented the most lasting period of productivity in Rosenthal's career. After The Return of a Man Called Horse, which even Rosenthal agrees is one of his finest compositions, both Meteor and Clash of the Titans (despite the shortcomings of their films) would continue to interest film score enthusiasts. For The Return of a Man Called Horse specifically, Rosenthal had the opportunity to infuse a classical, European sound from the perspective of the title character into an ethnically rich canvas inspired by the Sioux tribes he becomes a part of. Add Kershner's habit of shooting long scenes without dialogue to the equation and Rosenthal's music was perfectly positioned to make an impact. The success of the composer's score comes from his ability to combine the two genres of music into one enthusiastic package.

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The film displays a rare acceptance of an Englishman (Harris) into the Yellow Hands tribe, and the collaboration they experience is one of trials and ultimate success. Thus, Rosenthal's music reflects the enthusiasm and perseverance of the title character during his journey to become a respected leader in the tribe. The score plays an enormous role in ensuring the film's upbeat vision of collaboration while also offering enough seriously inclined cues of drama and tension to service moments of despair felt by the tribe. It is a Western score by definition, but not with the bouncing rhythms of Jerry Goldsmith or challenging tones of Alex North. Rosenthal's style is all his own, though the complexity of his overlapping orchestral activity may remind listeners of John Williams's style for the genre during its robust sequences. Rosenthal offers several exciting action cues (for scenes such as the buffalo hunt) and authentic, spiritual music in alternating cues. It's difficult to imagine how the composer could so successfully integrate the classicism with the tribe's native chants, but the resulting congruence is more true to a documentary fashion than anything John Barry eventually wrote for similar situations in Dances With Wolves. On album, the score will still be easy to the ears of those who prefer not to hear an emphasis on straight, authentic Native American source material. Rosenthal's harmonically grand title theme, one which eluded the composer for a lengthy time, elegantly portrays Harris' character and the nobility of his heritage and intentions. If one were to have a complaint with the title theme as heard in the suite at the start of the album, it would involve an equally enthusiastic percussionist and his triangle (no, that sound was not a phone ringing in your house). The score existed on LP record at the time of the film's debut, but due to time restrictions on that format, a handful of noteworthy cues were omitted from the presentation. The limited Varèse Sarabande Club album of 2003 is a "Deluxe Edition," offering over twenty minutes of newly released material. Other than the "Battle at the Fort" cue, however, the LP really did contain all the best material. But don't let that stop you from investing in this crisp-sounding CD release of one of Rosenthal's finest career achievements. ****   Amazon.com Price Hunt: CD or Download