(The following donated review by Todd China was moved by Filmtracks to this comment section in May, 2009)
JFK: (John Williams) When JFK first came out in theatres, I saw it
and I carried away from that viewing the snare drum roll-off, followed by Tim
Morrison's wonderful trumpet solo as the card "Music by John Williams" came onto
the screen. That was the first impression I had of the score, and, several
years and many film score CDs later, I still consider JFK to be one of
the greatest John Williams scores of the 90's. JFK is unusual in that it
lacks a unified style overall. The score can be divided into two different
types; there's the noble, dignified, and solemn requiem to President Kennedy on
one hand, and there's dissonant and
dark "conspiracy" music on the other. The "Prologue" is one of the best pieces
of music Williams has ever written, with an elegiac melody that begins with
Morrison's solo and becomes grand and sweeping as the rest of the orchestra
takes over. This melody, incidentally, is melodically very
similar to one of the themes from The Cowboys as well as "Leaving Home"
from Superman.
"The Motorcade" accompanies Jim Garrison's recount of the assassination during
the trial of Clay Shaw. This is a very dark and dissonant, but listenable and
impressive, piece of music. It begins with a simple dotted eighth note -
sixteenth note motif in the bass clarinet and later builds
to a sharp and piercing rendition by the French horns, along with brutally
aggressive drum clips. There's some good CE3K-like piano licks in the
lower register (ala "Climbing Devil's Tower"), followed by a blaring rendition of
the JFK theme accompanied by bagpipes. This piece perfectly captures the
chaos that attended the JFK assassination. The low-end orchestral turbulence
heard at the end of the "Theme to JFK" and the warm "Garrison Family Theme"
connotes the dark ending to the Kennedy story and the continued danger, which I
think is a nice touch.
The conspiracy music such as "The Motorcade," "Garrison's Obsession," "The
Conspirators," and "The Death of David Ferrie" in general is very effective.
It's cold, dark, and uncomfortable, which is exactly the way we are supposed to
feel about the events on film; the music assists in sweeping us along into the
film's urgent, paranoid world. This is most illustrated by "The Conspirators,"
an incredibly original and innovative piece rhythmically driven by wood blocks,
keyboard, piano, and synth choir, all backed by the orchestra. This piece alone
has been imitated
numerous times by various composers, a testament to its influence in the scoring
of suspense music. "Arlington" stands apart from the rest of the JFK
score, beginning with a mournful rendition of the theme with Jim Thatcher's
French horn and then developing into a full-blown adagio in the string section.
In a score otherwise characterized by its emotional aloofness, this piece shines
as a stunningly emotional expression of the film's intensely tragic
dimension. We see on screen Garrison brooding over the Eternal Flame as a black
man stands beside him and points out the flame to his son. This sequence,
musically and visually, is very powerful.
I have gotten many emails from people asking where they can find the JFK
soundtrack. Apparently, the soundtrack to JFK has gone out of print in
recent years and cannot be found in any online music store that I know of.
JFK really is not a rare item, since a large number of copies were
pressed in the initial release, but it is now hard to find. However, I have
noticed a large number of JFK CDs regularly showing up for auction on
ebay.com. My suggestion to you, if you are looking for this CD, is either to win
one of these online auctions,
find someone who will be willing to sell you their copy, or hope you will get
lucky and find it in a used bin is some hole-in-the-wall record store. John
Williams has written some very excellent scores to Born of the Fourth of
July and Nixon, and JFK is no exception in the Williams -
Stone collaboration. The score is highly dramatic, listenable, and musically
impressive, and is strongly recommended to anyone who admires the music of John
Williams. ****