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Review of Dead Poets Society (Maurice Jarre)

1990 Varèse Sarabande

1990 Milan

1996 Milan

FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:

Buy it... on any of its compilation albums only if you seek a survey of Maurice Jarre's relatively underwhelming synthetic works of the 1980's for Peter Weir films.

Avoid it... if you expect the mass of the brief score to match the attraction of the pivotal cue that introduces a full orchestra and bagpipes for the story's famous climax.

FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:

Dead Poets Society: (Maurice Jarre) Religious all-male preparatory schools of the 1950's weren't exactly the place where thoughtful students and innovative teachers thrived, and the 1989 Peter Weir drama Dead Poets Society reminds us about just how damaging such crushing environments could be. The film was a transcendent moment for actor Robin Williams, who carefully subdued his comedic inclinations to convey the role of a new English teacher at a stuffy New England prep school, challenging his students to look at life through different perspectives on the cusp of 1960's counterculture. His inspiration causes them to escape the school at nights to join a "Dead Poets Society" of poetry readings in a local cave. Upon the suicide of one of the boys due to an abusive father's expectations, the school discovers the group and exacts punishment that includes paddling and the firing of the teacher. His impact on the students is confirmed, however, in a poignant farewell scene, proving the entire story worth the while. Though highly respected and awarded at the time of its release, Dead Poets Society has always rubbed some audiences the wrong way with its morbidly overwrought melodrama and caricatures. The 1980's were a time of remarkable success for Weir, who often turned to French composer Maurice Jarre for his film scores. This music came at a time when Jarre had largely abandoned the classical orchestral magnificence that had defined his earlier career. His experimentation in synthesizers was not entirely surprising, as such was the popular trend in films during the 1980's. But he simply wasn't that good at writing compelling music for electronics, his ability to tell stories via his scores diminished greatly by the consistently muted keyboarding that left many of his listeners cold. Fortunately, Dead Poets Society marked a literal redirection of this sound at the time, Jarre using both sides of his career to pivot from the synthetics and minimalism dominant in much of the work to a monumental, fully orchestral cue at the end that not only represented the lesson learned in the story, but an important transition for Jarre himself. The judiciously spotted score for Dead Poets Society isn't particularly overwhelming until that final scene, serving its purpose dutifully but doing so with subtle and sparse pastoral restraint in its character passages and ambient synthetics in its slightly more suspenseful portions. Don't expect any significant dose of complexity in the score, its constructs and instrumentation simple by design to match the heart of the tale.

Jarre's synthetic portions of Dead Poets Society will sound fairly similar to his preceding score for Weir's Witness, emerging fully only in "To the Cave" but lending important opening context to "Keating's Triumph." Such material is basically sufficient as a somewhat alien presence in the otherwise proper prep school atmosphere. But musically speaking, it doesn't attempt much more than that, a rambling motif in the middle of "To the Cave" not explored elsewhere with any satisfaction. Otherwise, the work is wholly defined by its main theme for the campus and characters, which debuts almost immediately in "Care Diem" on an electronic wind instrument. A slightly Celtic tune helmed by a meandering nine-note opening figure, this theme is pleasant but by no means memorable. Its performances through many of the character scenes are overly consistent and lack much emotional variety, performed solely by dulcimer and harp throughout "Care Diem" when the electronic wind instrument isn't present. For "Neal," the boy who ultimately takes his own life, Jarre supplies the same theme but shifts it over to a flute with the harp and dulcimer in supporting roles. No other instruments occupy that collection of cues. Anyone investigating this score, however, will likely be doing so because of the closing scene of reverence and defiance by the teacher's students as he clears out his classroom of belongings. In "Keating's Triumph," Jarre begins with the synthesizers in support of the dulcimer performing the theme in slightly discordant tones. After a minute, however, the composer finally introduces a full orchestra, allowing strings and woodwinds to layer on top of the synthetics to form a more heroic take on the main theme. The timpani in this long crescendo match the footsteps of the students as they stand up for the teacher, culminating in a bagpipe performance of ultimate defiance for the theme. By the time snare rhythms join those bagpipes, the effect is a bit overplayed, and it will be guaranteed to annoy anyone not inclined to appreciate bagpipes in the first place since their presence is so sudden. But this climax fulfills the theme's Celtic inclinations and offers the theme a alternately English interlude sequence at 1:52, 3:22, and 4:34 that is an overdue dramatic exploration in the otherwise totally static theme. This one cue dominates the score and stands as the sole highlight of the album presentation. Only 16 minutes of original score from Dead Poets Society has been released in four tracks that usually combine multiple cues. Several iterations of these tracks from Varèse Sarabande and Milan Records combined this music with other Jarre music for Weir films. Despite its effective posture in the film, though, this particular score doesn't hold up as well on its own, the final cue appropriate for compilation appreciation only.  ***

TRACK LISTINGS:

1990 Varèse Album:
Total Time: 38:57

• 1. Carpe Diem (4:44) • 2. Neal (3:16) • 3. To the Cave (2:33) • 4. Keating's Triumph (5:52)

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1990/1996 Milan Albums:
Total Time: 41:37

• 1. Carpe Diem (4:47) • 2. Neal (3:16) • 3. To the Cave (2:35) • 4. Keating's Triumph (5:59) • 5. Football Training* (2:34)

NOTES & QUOTES:

The inserts of all the albums contain notes about the film and score. Those of the Milan albums also contain translations in French.

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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 Dead Poets Society are Copyright © 1990, 1996, Varèse Sarabande, Milan Records, Milan Records and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 5/30/24 (and not updated significantly since).