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Conducted by:
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Marty Paich
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Co-Produced by:
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Michael Mason
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Release Date:
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June 21st, 1994
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Availability:
Regular U.S. release.
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Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... if you appreciate the best of modern Western orchestral
scores, ranging from Tombstone to Silverado, and want to hear
yet another one.
Avoid it... only if you have clearly defined the Western genre as one
that you do not enjoy under any circumstances.
Filmtracks Editorial Review:
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Wyatt Earp: (James Newton Howard) In the early 1990's,
the idea of the massively proportioned Western film had been reintroduced
with the success of Dances With Wolves, and most of the major studios
attempted their own Western pictures with similar aspirations. After the
continued critical and popular success of Unforgiven and
Tombstone, Warner Brothers' Wyatt Earp came at a time, in
1994, when the genre had reached its saturated point (and you started seeing
spin-offs like Bad Girls begin to steal the importance from the
genre). The Lawrence Kasdan/Kevin Costner film made the crucial mistake of
taking itself too seriously, and tried the patience of its audiences with
its significantly elongated scenes of character development and drama.
Despite having all of the Western elements in place --including a
magnificent cast of well-known, secondary actors and actresses-- the film's
script was its own worst enemy. A financial disaster for the studio, the one
aspect of the film that could not be criticized was the score by James
Newton Howard. Kasdan, who had been extremely impressed with Howard's score
for his previous film, Grand Canyon, went so far as to state that
Howard contributed more of himself to the picture than any of the other
production team members. As a musical journey, the score for Wyatt
Earp isn't quite as elaborate and dramatic as James Horner's
concurrently starring Legends of the Fall, but it begins to approach
the same territory in its development of emotions. Howard would employ a
traditional, large-scale orchestral ensemble for Wyatt Earp and
insert only a few elements of locality (accordions, fiddles, harmonicas,
etc), thus keeping the score as classically inclined as the script. This
choice by Howard would lead to a very enjoyable result.
Howard is certainly known for his versatility today, but in
1994, the Waterworld composer was still proving that his transition
from the rock genre to the orchestral scoring business was a success.
Wyatt Earp really helped that effort, because the score stands
strongly with Bruce Broughton's modern Western genre scores as a distinct
and memorable work. Howard's noble title theme for Wyatt Earp may not
be the most elegantly sweeping Western theme, but it suffices in
establishing the mood of the era (and, not to mention several imitations
that other composers would attempt of that theme in later scores). Even more
powerful, however, are Howard's subthemes, highlighted by the Earp's romance
and wedding cues. Several woodwind and solo string themes would accentuate
the hardships of the characters, and this, maybe, is where the protracted
script actually assisted Howard in providing substantial development to his
themes. The action sequences are backed by driving snare and other
percussion, beginning with the wild "Wagon Chase" and culminating in a
climactic cue for the "O.K. Corral" battle. A certain amount of heroism is
also infused into the score; one blatant performance of this victorious
attitude can be heard in "Dodge City," a cue that very much resembles the
lively title theme from Waterworld. The length of strong material on
the album is indicative of the length of the film as well. Whereas the film
can be boring to many, there are a handful of underscore cues (during
conversational scenes) that may not be of interest to the listener either.
And yet, each cue, regardless of volume, is solid in its orchestral
integrity, and Wyatt Earp stands a worthy Western score of modern
times. James Newton Howard would go on to establish himself as a premiere
composer in Hollywood by the turn of the century, and Wyatt Earp
gives you a great glimpse of the road he took to get there. ****
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Viewer Ratings and Comments:
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• 1. Main Title (4:40)
• 2. Home from the War (1:58)
• 3. Going to Town (2:00)
• 4. The Wagon Chase (2:42)
• 5. Mattie Wants Children (1:56)
• 6. Railroad (1:50)
• 7. Nicholas Springs Wyatt (1:31)
• 8. Is That Your Hat? (2:07)
• 9. The Wedding (3:16)
• 10. Stillwell Makes Bail (2:37)
• 11. It All Ends Now (1:54)
• 12. Urilla Dies (4:35)
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• 13. Tell Me about Missouri (2:56)
• 14. The Night Before (3:11)
• 15. O.K. Corral (7:02)
• 16. Down by the River (2:58)
• 17. Kill 'Em All (5:02)
• 18. Dodge City (1:02)
• 19. Leaving Dodge (1:24)
• 20. Indian Charlie (1:33)
• 21. We Stayed too Long (1:50)
• 22. Winter to Spring (1:18)
• 23. It Happened that Way (1:10)
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Insert includes a note from director Lawrence Kasdan and several pictures from the film.
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