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Rough Riders: (Peter/Elmer Bernstein) In
Rough Riders,
a venture to the great plains of the television genre, acclaimed director John
Milius tells the tale of the G Troop's heroics as their rough riding groups helps
establish the United States as a major world power during the Spanish American
War. With very few depictions of that war adapted onto film, Ted Turner's TNT
celebrated the 100th anniversary of the conflict with a surprisingly accurate
three hour perspective on Theodore Roosevelt's volunteer cavalry unit. As was
typical for TNT films of the era, the project would be very well funded, and a
significant budget was allotted for the score. The vast locations in the Southern
U.S. and Cuba, as well as several extended scenes of riding, caused
Rough
Riders to be a film that would require a large-scale Western score, complete
with a significant presence of themes with a number of different purposes. While
Hollywood legend Elmer Bernstein turned down an inevitable offer to score the
picture himself, his son Peter picked up the assignment and sought to create a
Western score in his own style and voice. His intent was to blaze into new musical
territory, quickly pointing out that he didn't want to retread on the worn sounds
of previous Western material, and especially that of his father. Interestingly,
though, Elmer Bernstein would step in to score one major theme for
Rough
Riders, amounting to about five minutes of material in its adapted sum. Elmer
also agreed to conduct the score, adding yet another touch of his own flavor to
the equation. The remarkable aspect of this contribution is that while Peter's
music is certainly adequate for the genre, it is rather pedestrian when compared
to Elmer's contribution, which is instantly recognizable in his usual style.
Coming from the same sentimentality as
The Magnificent Seven, Elmer's "G
Troop" theme will bring back fond memories for any collector of the composer, and
for those fans in particular, those sequences will easily be the highlight of the
score.
Outside of Elmer's two cues, unfortunately, the score by Peter
follows predictable, though functional lines. It is disappointing that most of
Peter Bernstein's music for
Rough Riders sounds like bits and pieces of
other Western scores thrown together in a stock package. Even without an abundance
of originality (or even a small new twist to the Western formula), though, this
score still functions in its place. It is exactly what one should expect for a
made-for-TV Western film score, and little more. The title theme bounces along
with riding-worthy brass and percussion, and the quieter moments feature the same
idea performed by strings. Other than the use of an acoustic guitar and a faint
harmonica in a few of the cues, the score is orchestral in a traditional sense,
with no experimentation with unique instruments, solos, or rhythms. Thus, with
such a distinct difference between the music of Peter and his father, the issue of
usability arises. Whenever one of Elmer's contributed tracks begins to play,
something in the back of the mind of any casual viewer of the film instantly
clicks and recognizes the veteran's superior style. The two short selections by
Elmer will be the enjoyable enigma on album and in the film, with the upbeat theme
that he wrote shining due to its swing of rhythm and other aspects of the genuine,
magical Elmer touch. It begs the question as to why this theme was not better
adapted by Peter into the starring role of the title theme for the entire
production, unless he was too concerned about allowing his own music to take
center stage. The rest of the score by Peter plays like little more than stock
Western music and is generally average work. Surely, the two tracks by Elmer
Bernstein are worthy of attention, but are they worth the price of the entire CD?
Perhaps so for Bernstein collectors, simply because Peter Bernstein's score,
although an offspring of other Western staples of the past, is still solid enough
orchestral music to suffice. With Elmer's career starting to slow down after that
year (1997), his
Rough Riders music would become all the more important.
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