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Review of Far and Away (John Williams)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if you're passionate about highly lyrical and gorgeously
melodic scores, especially if they can make a splash with some boldly
orchestral adventure along the way.
Avoid it... if other composers' incorporation of uilleann pipes, pan flutes, penny whistles, and The Chieftains into less applicable settings has poisoned you to even the best that John Williams can muster with those elements.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
Far and Away: (John Williams) In an age when few
films were shot in the expansive 70mm format, Ron Howard's Far and
Away was a welcome return to the glorious cinematography of
Hollywood's great epics of yesteryear. When combined with the expansive
score by John Williams, the 1992 film was seen as an engaging and
beautiful visual and aural experience. Unfortunately, audiences also had
to contend with a contrived script and unconvincing performances by
lovebirds Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. It may look and sound great, but
Far and Away doesn't make much practical sense for the era,
moving in predictable narrative directions built seemingly only for
convenient Hollywood endings. The two leads come from different classes
in Ireland but flee together to America out of convenience, meandering
their separate ways once there but reuniting in an unlikely coincidence
to participate as reconciled lovers in the Oklahoma land races of 1893.
They strike luck at a fertile location along a river and all is too
wonderful. None of these problems seemed to have bothered Williams,
whose first collaboration with Howard proved to be among the best that
the director would ever have, even considering the multiple classics
that resulted from Howard's work with James Horner, including
Willow and Apollo 13. Williams had explored darker
stylistic territory in the late 1980's, writing several inconsistent,
intimate scores that were worlds away from his monumental fantasy and
adventure works earlier in the decade. With 1991's Hook, however,
came a rediscovery of Williams' more exciting action work, and Far
and Away similarly rolled to the top of film music's quality charts
the following year. The film provided the composer with an opportunity
to write for several genres at once; the story obviously has a
significant Irish tilt, and Williams embellishes upon the ethnic
elements with substantial beauty of authenticity in that realm.
More intriguingly, Far and Away also represented one of the first Western scores in a long time for Williams, whose endeavors in the genre during 1970's were often more unusual in tone than the straight forward kind of frontier adventure that you hear in this film. Finally, this period in Williams' career wasn't complete without the application of a spirited scherzo to elevate the perceived classicism of the score in a few parts. The shifting of the narrative from Ireland to Oklahoma allowed the composer to explore both locales' themes in expected instrumental colors, and while the score excels in these stereotypical but beautifully executed expressions, some of the best moments merge the two styles during their inevitable transition. It was typical for the composer to collaborate with a soloist or noteworthy group to perform for his scores in the 1990's, and the idea to approach The Chieftains came from Howard, who had heard the group perform years earlier and noted that they were per chance appearing with the Boston Pops at the time Howard sought to engage Williams for Far and Away. Unlike prior and subsequent appearances by the group in film scores, including James Newton Howard's The Water Horse, Williams' incorporation of the group here is both relevant to the topic of the film and integrated with his orchestral ensemble in the score proper. That group is also joined by uilleann pipes, pan flutes, and penny whistle for the more lyrical ethnic passages, sometimes courtesy of Horner's usual performers, and Williams also taps brief synthesizer augmentation at times, heard most prominently at the outset of "Leaving Home." Aside from handling both the ethnic and adventure genres with outstanding precision, Far and Away is an overwhelmingly successful score because of Williams' abnormally keen knack for generating several enticing themes for various situations in his works. The work has no less than three major themes and an equal number of supporting motifs, each majestic in their application to the ensemble and solo woodwind performances. Some, in fact, could rival the recorder solos in Schindler's List. The first theme in Far and Away is the most haunting element of the score; perpetually rising and falling in each of its parts, Williams' yearning idea for the Irish homeland is truly beautiful. Offered in "County Galway, June 1892" with grace on penny whistle and extending to equally elegant performances by pan flutes in the first moments of both "Leaving Home" and "Joseph's Dream," this theme receives a few full ensemble performances later on. It's understandably rare in its appearances as the film's story transforms into an American one, but it's intoxicating during each usage. The second theme is an overarching representation of both the love story and the journey the leading couple takes. It is, in short, the primary idea for Far and Away, and its performances span a range from the same solo ethnicity applied to the Irish theme to magnificent ensemble explosions that run through the momentous finale of the score. This primary theme is no less attractive than the Irish one, often following it on pan flute (in "County Galway, June 1892" and "Leaving Home"), and extending to further woodwind flourishes in the middle of "The Reunion" and "End Credits." It proves orchestrally victorious in the last few cues, as the race for Oklahoma territory proves fruitful for the couple. The third major theme in Far and Away is designated specifically for the racing concept, with a rousing introduction in the middle of "Joseph's Dream" and slowly building in momentum as the land grab draws near. As with most of the performances of this brassy, timpani-pounding adventure identity, the main theme is usually waiting for a boisterous entry at the end. Interestingly, the theme for "The Land Race" serves mostly as a transitional marker for other motifs, experiencing its only other full performances in the "End Credits." Expect to hear a surprising dose of Horner's The Rocketeer in this cue. The action material in the score often meanders in directions of its own, quickly referencing other ideas. One such reference comes near the start of the spectacular "The Land Race," a cue that rolls with all the excitement of Williams' later Star Wars prequel action cues and remains one of the most exhilarating single compositions of his career. The theme referenced near the outset of "The Land Race" is a more ambitiously ethnic one aimed specifically at The Chieftains for its major performances. Heard fully in "The Fighting Donellys" and the beginning of "End Credits," the same wild, Irish spirit is applied to "Fighting for Dough." Another singular idea that Williams conjures for Far and Away is a scherzo heard in "Blowing Off Steam" and in a quick interlude in the "End Credits;" it's a comical extension of the almost identical style heard in Home Alone and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. An Irish anthem of sorts opens "County Galway, June 1892" and "The Duel Scene," and a pretty but tortured idea for an early character's death is explored in "Joe Sr.'s Passing." These and other lesser motifs loosely waft in and out throughout Far and Away, but Williams' nearly constant references to all of the above major themes and motifs dominate the musical soundscape. Each of the themes, and especially the first two, is so lyrical that they retain much of the lovely tonal magic from the previous year's Hook, causing an extremely satisfying and sometimes lovely overall atmosphere. Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Far and Away is Williams' ability to state the Irish instrumentation and performance emphasis both in the proper ethnic context and in such a fashion that these elements contribute to the score rather than define it. Many Irish-laden scores tend to irritate listeners, especially in how Horner sometimes slathered them on an orchestra like a muddy lard. But Williams finds the right balance here, even going so far as to brilliantly combine The Chieftains with the orchestra in the "End Credits" suite for a rousing two minutes that even detractors of the performing group could enjoy. The use of Enya's "Book of Days" for Far and Away seemed like a logical extension of the ethnicity at the time (and the "Far and Away" lyrics are, of course, appropriate), and few could argue that the song wasn't among her best during that flourishing era in her career. This soundtrack's original album contains a version of the song that is different, its mix superior to that which appeared on her compilation album, "Shepherd Moons." It hasn't aged as well as Williams' score and is better placed amongst her own material, but there's a certain amount of sentimentality that accompanies its soft and progressive tones here. As an overall listening experience, Far and Away does take a while to gain some steam on album. Aside from the two lyrical performances of the main themes on pan flutes and a couple of entries from The Chieftains for fighting scenes, the first half of the score has some minimalistic meandering of slight thematic exploration in the kind of percussive way that Presumed Innocent and Jurassic Park also featured. The long "Am I Beautiful?" and "Inside the Mansion" cues represent an extension of the composer's most quietly contemplative, percussive and synthetic atmosphere. Only a few eruptions of dissonance in two middle passages interrupt an otherwise gorgeous series of thematic expressions. There is also intensity in the action material that foreshadowed the ambitious tones of Jurassic Park, a sound certain to please fans of the composer's scores from the early 1980's as well. In 2020, La-La Land Records expanded the album presentation to two discs without the Enya song, supplying additional cues sprinkled throughout and alternate takes or mixes of several major cues at the end, some offering different opening bars. The long, conversational "The Barn/Running Away" is a pleasantly ambient addition, "This is My Destiny" offers short but sentimental renditions of the two main themes, "Into the Bath" debuts the land race theme with subtle humor, "Banished" languishes in softly turbulent string and low woodwind shades, and a few other odds and ends don't add anything substantial to the presentation. The 28 minutes of alternate versions aren't significantly different from the other recordings, the slight edits and disparate mixes requiring acute attention to notice some of the time. The alternate "The Land Race" is a bit more whimsical in its middle passages, replacing brass accents with light percussion. The 2020 album is a solid product but not truly necessary for casual enthusiasts. The sound quality has always been crisp with this score, the improvement on the La-La Land product not earth-shattering. (Some of the alternate cues do sound a bit muted, interestingly.) Regardless of the album, Far and Away is an often overlooked and underestimated score. The failure of the film likely dealt this music a poor hand, though the score stands among the very best written by any composer in 1992. Anchoring a fruitful period for the maestro, Far and Away has always remained an outstanding pleasure worth regular appreciation, the composer steering away from this kind of blatant melodic exposition later in the decade. *****
TRACK LISTINGS:
1992 MCA Album:
Total Time: 67:12
* featuring The Chieftains 2020 La-La Land Album: Total Time: 110:07
* previously unreleased ** contains previously unreleased material *** featuring The Chieftains
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert of the 1992 MCA album contains a note from the co-producer and
screenwriter of the film regarding the inspiring location of the production and, to
a lesser extent, the score. That of the 2020 La-La Land album contains extensive
information about the film, score, and album release, including a list of performers.
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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 Far and Away are Copyright © 1992, 2020, MCA Records, La-La Land Records and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 9/24/96 and last updated 3/21/21. |
