FILMTRACKS.COM
PRINTER-FRIENDLY VIEW

Review of Earthsea (Jeff Rona)

FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:

Buy it... if you specifically noted the half dozen memorable highlights of the score in context, including the remarkable vocal performances over the opening titles and finale.

Avoid it... if you're expecting the same high quality of orchestral underscore that you heard in other popular Hallmark/Sci-Fi Channel fantasy series of the early 2000's.

FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:

Earthsea: (Jeff Rona) Attempting to continue capitalizing on the massive popularity of television hits in the fantasy genre such as Children of Dune and The Mists of Avalon during the early 2000's, Hallmark Entertainment and the Sci-Fi Channel brought Ursula K. Le Guin's world of Earthsea to the small screen in 2004. Known alternatively as "The Legend of Earthsea," the magical, medieval fantasy universe created by Le Guin is roughly comparable in its depiction of wizardry and sorcery to J.R.R. Tolkien's lengthier "The Lord of the Rings" tales. The basic premise of its plot involves a young, talented, but immature wizard who must summon the strength to do everything from control his own burgeoning powers to reunite humanity and bring world peace. That basic concept is familiar to veterans of fantasy novels, as are the mythical creatures, mysterious locations, and curious characters. With content taken from the first two books of Le Guin's classic series, the four-hour Hallmark/Sci-Fi Channel production is ambitious in the amount of material it attempts to squeeze into its initial venture into the series, and the result still omits plotlines that might disappoint fans of the books. Premiering on the Sci-Fi Channel on December 13 and 14, 2004, the series came and went without much of the cross-channel advertisements and other hype you usually heard about these productions ahead of time. Since the premieres of The Odyssey and Merlin (both from Hallmark) in the 1997-1998 seasons, these films typically hit the small screen with significant fanfare. Suffering from poor reviews and tepid warm word of mouth, this vision of Earthsea began fading away not long after its debut. The musical scores for prior fantasy adaptations of this sort, from Trevor Jones' Merlin to Lee Holdridge's The Mists of Avalon and Brian Tyler's Children of Dune, have sold very well and remained popular long after their debuts. All have been released on CD by the Varèse Sarabande label, as is Earthsea, but Jeff Rona's journey in the fantasy realm this time around is not as spectacular as those other products. Already long a veteran of television scoring, Rona is equally experienced in the recording and sampling of various ethnic sounds, and this talent in particular is what interested director Rob Lieberman in hiring him for this production. Unfortunately, instrumental and vocal texture seemed to become the sole focus for Rona on this project, leaving melodic and narrative continuity by the wayside.

As expected, the director requested that Rona write an appropriately epic title theme for the opening of the series, but then advised a more worldly and varied approach for the interior underscore. The unusual result was meant to differentiate Earthsea from the many fantasy series that came before, whether the setting necessitated a Celtic sound, Middle-Eastern flair, or traditional Medieval bombast. Rona's title theme is elegant and impressive, utilizing a simple melody with large-scale orchestral and vocal muscle. Rather than employing a full choir, Rona chose a small group of notable solo voices to perform in unison or layers. This vocal group yields the vaguely African sound that you heard from the Adiemus albums at the time, and despite being an intriguing and distinct tone in and of itself, that group of vocal performers is largely absent from the rest of the score. Aside from some sporadic references, the title theme is also missing in much of the effort, leaving Earthsea to become an instrumentally schizophrenic collection of seemingly unrelated atmospheric cues. Rona's work wanders about the landscape of world music, but not in a flamboyant or memorable fashion. In fact, for a series and score supposedly of an epic scope, the score is disappointingly restrained and introspective during much of its length. The collection of world instruments fashionable in the film music world is appealing but applied without cohesive resolve. A lack of passion in the performance is also a major detriment; a potentially momentous scene such as "A Lesson Learned" lacks grip in its string theme, perhaps due to compositional underachievement but more likely a lack of inspiration in the ensemble. There is practically no action material present (the brass makes a notable appearance in "Sailing"), and moments of horror or enchantment ("The Book of Spells") are tackled with frightfully loud, simplistic dissonance. The new age vocal approach that many composers have used for this genre (with even Howard Shore working with Enya for the big screen) is also largely absent here; only in the powerful "Sparrowhawk" and final "Light Over Earthsea" cue does it make a welcomed intrusion. Overall, Rona's Earthsea gets off to a great start but stews and stumbles throughout its underscore without clear direction or purpose. Given the vast array of fabulous resources at Rona's disposal, such an uninspired end result is truly unfortunate, and the only reason the score achieves a third star is because of its occasional textural appeal. On the upside, the recording with the Slovakia Radio Symphony allowed for an abnormally lengthy Varèse Sarabande album for that era, presenting 67 minutes of material for enthusiasts of the concept to appreciate.  ***

TRACK LISTINGS:

Total Time: 67:16

• 1. Main Title (1:51) • 2. If Not Us (3:22) • 3. Ged and His Teacher (1:45) • 4. Follow Your Path (1:09) • 5. Isle of Roke (1:40) • 6. The King's Plan (0:53) • 7. The King's Plot (1:15) • 8. Time to Go (1:56) • 9. The Kargide Attack (1:33) • 10. Walk Along the Way (1:03) • 11. Sailing (1:33) • 12. Atuan (1:03) • 13. The Book of Spells (2:04) • 14. Sparrowhawk (1:28) • 15. Fireside (1:28) • 16. When We Meet (5:19) • 17. At Dawn (1:10)

• 18. Halls of Wisdom (2:28) • 19. Wonderful Friend (0:46) • 20. A Discovery (2:54) • 21. My True Name (1:20) • 22. Mists of a New Land (4:22) • 23. A Lesson Learned (1:53) • 24. The Chambers (1:01) • 25. My Strength (1:57) • 26. Visions (1:07) • 27. The Nameless Ones (1:56) • 28. Catacombs of Atuan (2:02) • 29. The Dragon's Tale (5:26) • 30. My Successor (2:07) • 31. The Last Song (1:09) • 32. Into the Catacombs (1:47) • 33. Light Over Earthsea (3:48)

NOTES & QUOTES:

The insert includes a note from the director about the score and film.

Copyright © 2005-2024, 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 Earthsea are Copyright © 2004, Varèse Sarabande and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 1/14/05 and last updated 10/21/11.