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| Isham |
Chicago Hope: (Jeff Rona/Mark Isham) The most
thriving genre on television in the 1990's seemed to be the medical
drama, and while
Chicago Hope never achieved the fame that
E.R. did, the David E. Kelley show produced 141 episodes from
1994 to 2000. Like many of its rivals,
Chicago Hope was a
rotating door for cast members, with only a couple of characters
consistent through the entire run and a long list of famous guest stars
making briefs stops in the timeline. The melodrama of a hospital setting
never seemed to cease inspiring more controversial explorations of moral
character, as well as the usual soap opera elements that accompany any
such show. The scripts often pushed the boundaries of censorship, though
surprisingly little protest erupted when episodes showed female nudity
or used obscene language. It would be America's first HDTV show as well.
The music for
Chicago Hope featured a title theme by film score
veteran Mark Isham, though the underscores for the series were handled
by three composers over its run. Jeff Rona, who was perhaps best known
for his association with Hans Zimmer at the time, provided the scores
for episodes from 1994 to 1998, while Peter Bernstein and Roger Neill
would handle the duties for one season each in 1999 and 2000. In 1997,
the Sonic Images soundtrack specialty label released selections of
Rona's music from the first three seasons, as well as the two variations
of Mark Isham's title theme as of the album's pressing. No other music
from the series has been released on album in the decade since. The
original version of Isham's main theme is more urgent and gritty,
containing the expected trumpet solos for an Isham recording in this
genre. The second recording, opening the album, is far more consistent
with the style of Rona's underscores, toning back the pace and washing
the theme with soothing electronic vocal effects. With the Isham
contributions only amounting to two minutes, that leaves roughly 50
minutes of extremely consistent material from Rona. While this
represents the vast minority of the music he wrote for
Chicago
Hope, it adequately surveys both important cues in the first three
seasons, as well as an intelligent balance between the stories' various
emotions.
The ensemble for the recording is led by Rona's own
keyboarding and woodwind performances. He utilizes the talents of nine
soloists (outside of Isham's trumpet performances) to provide color on
brass, cello, guitar, sax, and piano. The sound is understandably sparse
compared to the music that Rona was assisting Zimmer with at the time,
though for the atmosphere of this series, the distinctly clubby, modern
environment provided by Rona is a perfect match. It is easy listening at
almost every moment, relaxing and unobtrusive music that uses its solos
as an accent to distinguish the varying situations. There is thematic
continuity in some of these cues, but loyalty to theme in
Chicago
Hope isn't as important as the consistency in ambient sound design
that Rona could maintain given his status as the show's only composer at
the time. In the process of writing, performing, and arranging music
that elegantly accompanies the show's sensitivity, Rona helps you forget
the budget restrictions that can sometimes plague other shows. The mix
is intentionally wet, allowing cymbals and other percussion to swish
with fluid movement, and the echoing atmosphere compensates very well
for the minimal number of running lines in the mix. The acoustic guitar
especially benefits from the mix, yielding the sound of a live
performance. The synthesized beats and other rhythm-setters are
remarkably soft; they lack the sharp, jarring edge that makes many other
television show scores an impossible listen. Whereas the cello and
keyboarded cues for tension are the weakness of the scores, Rona excels
when poignantly extending the emotions of singular scenes or episodes
(which makes sense given that there are many tragic moments in a
hospital setting). The cue "The Author's Last Words" contains some very
powerful oboe and whistle solos, the latter rendered with extremely
elegant respect by Rona himself. The arrangement of the album places the
most harmonically rich pieces near the front, highlighted by the very
attractive pair of "New Hope" and "Bonding." Overall, Rona's work for
Chicago Hope is the kind of relaxing background experience
perfect for studying students or others who need to chill out to a
reliable soundtrack album. Interestingly, of all the reviews for
television series or films at Filmtracks,
Chicago Hope has easily
eclipsed all others in cumulative album sales through the site.
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
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