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Orchestrated by:
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Jeff Atmajian
Cliff Eidelman
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Release Date:
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February 16th, 1993
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Availability:
Regular U.S. release.
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Filmtracks Editorial Review:
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| | Eidelman | |
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Untamed Heart: (Cliff Eidelman) At the height of his early career, Cliff
Eidelman began his streak of scoring heavy character dramas. The film Untamed
Heart was of typical success at the time, with the younger appeal of the
film's stars drawing the most attention. The director of the film, Tony Bill,
was impressed with the early works of Cliff Eidelman, claiming that the young
composer had almost too much talent to describe, and crowning Eidelman as one of
the "best of the new." For the project, the composer would write a score that
would eventually be overshadowed for many in the public by the use of a Nat King
Cole song instead. The score is very typical of Eidelman's use of a small
performing group to build a suffienct emotion for the film, if not much more.
Ironically, the score passed by in the film without much attention, and it would
be hard to tell while watching it that Eidelman had composed the score. Some
would argue that the score was underused and especially undermixed in the film,
causing its demise as a companion for the film.
Luckily, with the budding partnership between Eidelman and Robert Townson of
Varèse Sarabande (which would lead to several of Eidelman's works being
released on the label), the score for Untamed Heart made it onto a short
album. The score does hold two unique personality traits that aren't evident in
much of Eidelman's other projects on album. First, the bittersweet romance of
the film's subject matter allowed the composer to explore a light mystical
avenue for the scoring of its opening and closing sequences, as well as the one
overtly dark stabbing sequence of the film. For these moments, Eidelman weaves
together a subtle cello/string theme with a light (and I suspect synthesized,
but maybe not) chorus. The eerie result produced about five minutes of mystery
to the sharp romantic edge of the film, and these passages were utlimately
rejected from use in the film. Neither Eidelman's proper opening or closing
sequences appeared in the final cut of the film, making the comments of praise
from the director all the more suspicious. In any case, these deleted cues
aren't the highlight of the score. The greatest positive of Untamed
Heart is Eidelman's dabbling with new age sounds on his keyboards, an
approach that quickly stole the entire score even though their performances only
amount to a five or so minutes of combined time.
The hockey game scene in the film represents one of the most upbeat
opportunities for Eidelman, and he responded by finally elaborating on a theme
that had been peaking through earlier in the score. The fully orchestral
accompaniment to Eidelman's simplistic, but rhythmically modern keyboarding
makes for a three minute cue that blows away the rest of the score in volume and
spirit. This keyboard theme does appear again twice in the subsequent tracks,
capped off by a tender flute performance at the very end of the album, but the
theme doesn't get the development it needs to satisfy the listener. Perhaps the
film didn't offer enough opportunities to allow Eidelman to do so, but with that
new age sound of the synthesizers dominating the second half of the score, it
leaves the first half in the cold, and makes one wish that Eidelman had expanded
upon this theme if possible (or at least foreshadowed it better as the romance
is initiated in the story). The album contains only twenty minutes of music that
made it into the film, and a little over 26 minutes total. I wouldn't recommend
it unless you already have Now and Then and/or A Simple Twist of
Fate and enjoyed those scores. Untamed Heart is a variation on those
Eidelman themes, and will be a welcomed addition to the collection of his fans.
Mainstream audiences seeking the Nat King Cole song, however, will be
disappointed by the album. ***
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Viewer Ratings and Comments:
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• 1. Untamed Heart (not in final version of film) (3:28)
• 2. I'll Give You My Heart (3:51)
• 3. Rainfall (1:37)
• 4. Stabbed (2:39)
• 5. You Are My Peace (2:55)
• 6. Opening (1:48)
• 7. Hockey Game (2:53)
• 8. Lost (4:14)
• 9. End Credits (not in final version of film) (3:00)
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The insert includes a very short note about the music from director Tony Bill.
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