| CLOSE WINDOW |
|
FILMTRACKS.COM
PRINTER-FRIENDLY VIEW 
Review of Angels in America (Thomas Newman)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if you have ever wondered what a Thomas Newman score would sound
like if you combined his experimental rhythms and instrumentation with his
orchestral and choral grandeur on a large scale.
Avoid it... only if nothing about any of Newman's styles has ever interested you.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
Angels in America: (Thomas Newman) A popular production on
the live stage, Angels in America is an examination of religion and
humanity that HBO pumped over $60 million into before debuting the six-hour show
over two nights in December of 2003. Set in 1985, the story follows the trials of
several gay men in Manhattan who are dealing with their experiences (in and out
of the closet) during the first onslaught of AIDS. Their personal stories occupy
one half of the overarching theme, with the element of Christian religion weaving
strongly through the other half. The extremely weighty and contemplative
political and religious landscape suggests an era during the Reagan presidency in
which God has abandoned Heaven and humanity, and several right-wing, Mormon, or
otherwise heavily religious influences in the film are offered in stark contrast
to the seedy world of gays and AIDS in the mid-80's. Directed by Mike Nichols and
starring Meryl Streep, Al Pacino, Emma Thompson, and a considerable secondary
cast, the film's success with audiences was split much along the same lines as
original responses to the play. One part of the production crew not questioned to
any extent was Thomas Newman, whose career had recently achieved an even higher
standard of excellence than usual. Despite assertions by devoted Newman
collectors that the composer had always been at the top of his game, many
listeners familiar with his early orchestral strengths nearly abandoned the
composer during his stage of introverted experimentation between 1999 and 2002.
While gaining an all new audience with his plucky and funky scores to American
Beauty and Erin Brockovich, among others, Newman fans from the early
days wondered when the composer would turn back to his use of large orchestral
ensembles in attractively bittersweet tones for his assignments. That
satisfaction came with Road to Perdition and Finding Nemo, both of
which far above average works and a return to what those original Newman
collectors wanted to hear from the composer.
The better question, however, arose when some began asking what Newman's perfect score would be, a score with all the grandeur and thematic resonance of his great orchestral works while also utilizing the vast arrays of unorthodox instruments and rhythms of his American Beauty phase at the same time. The answer was Angels in America, a score that has often been referred to as Newman's best career achievement. In the lengthy music for this series, you hear every era of Newman's career rolled into one frightfully effective and enticing package. After a truly stunning cue for the opening titles, Newman occupies the first half of the score with the likes of his skin drums, ice metals, bodhran, processed chimes, dayre, kantele, esraj, high-string guitar, baritone electric, lute, EWI, prepared guitar, and manipulated violin, producing music fresh from his very personal scores of 2000 to 2002, but at a larger, sustained level of harmonic tone and active volume. The latter half of the score explodes with high caliber orchestral beauty and mayhem, although never maintaining the title theme so elegantly established in the second cue of the album. Nearly every moment of the score is saturated with Newman's style of creating harmony with 90% of the orchestra while throwing one or two instruments of each chord off-kilter to some degree. The pastoral sounds of his career are heard consistently at the end of the album, with eight to ten minutes of truly harmonious beauty on a redemptive, pastoral level of religious satisfaction. The opening titles offer woodwind solos that are a trademark of Newman's thematic writing, with light guitars, fluttering flutes, noble trumpets as counterpoint, and a collection of raindrop-style tapping of metallic percussion. The expected melodic notions of religious harmony are very well accompanied by the wondrous aspects of the less typical instruments. Thus, there is a magic throughout Angels in America that Newman fans had heard in many sporadic places during his previous scores. The consistency of the listening experience on album is strong even though the tone and instrumentation switches in nearly every cue. The only detriments to the album are the source songs sprinkled in three places. There are a few cues in Angels in America that stand out as referencing the sound of other composers, and the interpretations of these other styles only serve to elevate Newman's work to another realm. First is the blatant use of Bernard Herrmann's "Scene D'Amour" cue from Vertigo at the conclusions of "Plasma Orgasmata" and "Garden of the Soul." Another style borrowed is the clearly malevolent and vicious orchestral representation of Elliot Goldenthal's dark, avant garde works in "Submit!" and "Black Angel." While the "Scene D'Amour" cues have, perhaps, a temp track written into their origins, the two violent cues of evil late in Angels in America are the highlight of the score while ironically being difficult to tolerate. If an orchestra was ever to sound so mean-spirited as to hasten the arrival of an evil, fallen angel, then these cues would lead the way, and their Goldenthal-like intensity of brass is fascinating to hear. For listeners not so keen on raising evil spirits with this music, Newman provides several lengthy cues of angelic beauty as well, with choral chanting or wordless vocals in most of the latter half of the score. These vocals culminate in a gorgeous operatic performance in the conclusive "Tropopause." Such serene moments, when studied in contrast to the horrific cues of evil and the several interludes of deep contemplation (with the experimental instruments), make Angels in America a score that touches upon every strength and weakness of Newman's career and rolls them all into one positively magnificent package. No two cues are exactly alike in this effort, partly because listeners finally have the opportunity to hear Newman place his experimental instruments alongside the traditional orchestra and choir as an ideal ensemble. The woodwinds are the heart and soul of the work, crisply mixed into the final recording. The year 2003, interestingly, proved to be a strong one for religious-related scores, and Newman added his own highly spiritual and uplifting entry to the equation. Whether you are a fan of the composer's orchestral themes or his quirky rhythms created with unusual instruments, Angels in America will satisfy your curiosity and successfully demand several repeat listens. Even if you don't entirely enjoy the score, it is one to appreciate and study for its extremely wide range of strong musical constructs and execution. *****
TRACK LISTINGS:
Total Time: 72:00
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert includes extensive credits, but no extra information about the
score or film.
Copyright ©
2004-2024, Filmtracks Publications. All rights reserved.
The reviews and other textual content contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Christian Clemmensen at Filmtracks Publications. All artwork and sound clips from Angels in America are Copyright © 2003, Nonesuch Records and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 1/23/04 and last updated 3/17/09. |
