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Review of The Greatest Miracle (Mark McKenzie)

2011 Promo

2011 BSX

FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:

Buy it... if your heart melts when presented with unyielding melodic beauty for orchestra and varied choir, a characteristic abundant in the consistently loving demeanor of Mark McKenzie's first score in several years.

Avoid it... if you are so bothered by what you consider religious propaganda films that the clearly pious nature of this inspirational score will annoy you in its attempt to glorify the purity of faith through wholesale tonal magnificence.

FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:

The Greatest Miracle (El Gran Milagro): (Mark McKenzie) An entire industry exists to promote the world's religious institutions and their faiths in the B-rate genre of inspirational movies. One such entry out of Mexico in 2011 and directed by Disney writer and storyboard artist Bruce Morris is what some might call a Catholic propaganda film, aiming its focus at encouraging faith through the lens of 3D animation. The story details the troubles of three people in contemporary times, all of whom dealing with loss and sickness in unforgiving urban environments and requiring the help of disguised guardian angels to steer them into their local parish. While the issues these ordinary people face are typical, the depictions of their experiences in the cathedral are quite frightening and spectacular in their literal display of angels and demons at work. The audience for El Gran Milagro is likely a targeted constituency of those seeking to solidify their beliefs in redemption, and although the movie was distributed in America as The Greatest Miracle the same year, its alternative purpose as a tool of conversion is likely defeated by the extremely dated look of its animated renderings. Although utilizing 3D technology to enhance the splendor of certain scenes, The Greatest Miracle may have better resonated with neutral audiences had it not attempted to resurrect late-1990's animation technologies and stuck with flat 2D renderings instead. The production is one of those rare events for which its soundtrack is practically its only claim to fame, composer Mark McKenzie integral to the success of the movie and advertised as such. McKenzie is a career orchestrator for a variety of major Hollywood composers, his associations with John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, Danny Elfman, John Barry, Alan Silvestri, James Newton Howard, and other top names dating back to the late 1980's. Throughout the 1990's, he made a concerted effort to break into the mainstream with his own composing, but despite a series of very strong scores for B-rate movies, he was never able to hit it big with a popular solo assignment. In the 2000's, while continuing his orchestration work, he limited himself to inspirational family dramas for productions of a Hallmark variety, though all of his activity tapered off as the decade closed. His sparse compositional career, much like Cliff Eidelman's, has been the source of much frustration for dedicated film score collectors, and The Greatest Miracle is a tremendous treat for these listeners.

It is difficult to separate the purpose of the movie and the totality of its religious message from McKenzie's music, if not because of the obvious spiritual tone in parts of the score, then simply because of the passion that the subject stirs in the composer. In these kinds of scores, you often hear about a how a composer's faith influences his or her writing of the composition (who could forget John Debney running into a parking lot in the process of fighting demons while writing The Passion of the Christ?), and McKenzie's genuine, heartfelt interest in The Greatest Miracle manifests itself so clearly in the tone of his music that this inspiration cannot be discounted even if you roll your eyes at the film's plot. While McKenzie has demonstrated a dramatic sense of charm in his scores throughout the years, this particular effort takes that wholesome demeanor down an even more openly religious path. Importantly, however, he expresses this faithful touch without bludgeoning you over the head with liturgical self-importance, a flaw inherent (possibly by necessity) in a work like Debney's The Passion of the Christ. McKenzie instead offers a score that pushes all the right religious buttons in his instrumentation and tone while remaining respectful enough not to overwhelm listeners of agnostic, atheistic, or secular humanist leanings. This approach yields music that is beautiful enough in the religious domain to provide a listening experience as satisfying as Ennio Morricone's The Mission simply because of its tasteful execution. The instrumental palette for The Greatest Miracle is as expected, starting with a standard orchestra and layering organ, vocals, and few other specialty instruments into the mix. The vocals include three separate group performances, including children's and women's ensembles, though the Libera Boys Choir in London provides the most spectacular, singular singing accents. The recording of the score in Seattle (at Bastyr University Chapel, no less) and London likely assisted with keeping the score's costs down, though the result exhibits few performance flubs and the mixing of the components back in Los Angeles matches the efforts of much larger productions. The composition's weight is largely conveyed by strings, occasional melodic lines extending into the woodwinds and piano. A harp and chimes/bells lend their usual tones of grace and gravity to the genre. Brass is often employed in John Barry-like supporting roles, though trumpet counterpoint and deep exploration of the demon motif in one cue keep these players engaged.

A compliment of three major recurring themes and one minor theme provides the basis for McKenzie's pleasantly tonal environment in The Greatest Miracle. Some of them, along with the lesser secondary motifs, may be character-centric. The three most frequently referenced themes seem to rank progressively on the "inspiration meter," each cranking up the religious element another notch. The primary one is a flowing identity of pure McKenzie heritage, similar in construct to the composer's hidden gem, Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde. This sensitive melody is introduced on album in the latter half of "Call of the Spirit" and is boiled down from its string layers to solo piano at the outset of "You'll See." Lovely choral cooing backs the theme in "Ultimate Love" and blossoms into the score's fullest expression of beauty during the entirety of "Ascension/Gloria Patri." This theme, while closest to McKenzie's usual sound, is overshadowed by the score's other ideas, starting with the driving call to action theme that some listeners might associate with Morricone's The Mission. The propulsion in this idea makes it a uniquely engaging identity given the otherwise serene personality of the other non-cathedral related cues. Aided by pulsating bass strings and swirling violins, the voices in this theme's performances culminate in chanted ensemble tones reminiscent of the Morricone classic. Similar renditions in "Offerings" and "Pictures With Black Bow" are joined by more restrained cooing choral tones in "Ask For What You Want" and "Go in Peace." Even more divinely powerful is the score's cathedral theme, the broadest representation of grandeur in the score and sometimes the recipient of organ backing. Repeated throughout "Entering the Cathedral" and making a short appearance in the middle of "A Clean Soul," this idea's climactic explosion of biblical force prevails in the latter half of "Angels, Demons and Prayer." This last sequence (although presented out of chronological order on the album) is the closest that The Greatest Miracle comes to enforcing the will of the underlying doctrine on the listener. The score's final noteworthy identity comes in the form of the theme of fear, a brass, low woodwind, and chopping string progression punctuating the bizarrely scary red demons of the story. Its statements are largely confined to the central portions of "Angels, Demons and Prayer" (the menacing brass reminder at 3:35 into that cue begs for more development, despite its coincidental similarity to David Arnold's Independence Day) , though its initial, rising three notes in the minor are referenced elsewhere whenever moments of doubt creep into the equation.

McKenzie spreads his thematic representations a bit thin in The Greatest Miracle, supplementing them with unique ideas in singular applications to further cloud the music's melodic narrative. Two individual ideas in "I Miss You" include a massive, timpani-pounding choral sequence followed by a solemn piano performance (reprised in "Bus Accident"). The redemptive progressions dominating "Go in Peace" will remind you of, if not their classical origins, Craig Armstrong's Love Actually. A snippet of Johann Sebastian Bach early in "A Clean Soul" provides the more obvious classical connection. Woodwinds in "That Beautiful Smile" likewise develop another individual idea. The most appealing of these singular melodies, however, comes in the Libera Boys Choir's performance in "Benedictus Deus," and it's a shame that this source-like material didn't find its way into rest of the score. The fact that none of these themes dominates the soundtrack becomes less important than the consistent overall tone of The Greatest Miracle. McKenzie does tend to spread out the melodic duties in his scores, and this entry may lack a clear enough of a thematic blueprint for some listeners. There also isn't much emotional variance in the score, the dissonant crescendo in "Bus Accident" about as close to an obvious synchronization point as you will find. Another potential drawback in this score, ironically, is occasional structural and instrumental inspiration from James Horner (the irony being that McKenzie is not a Horner collaborator). The passage from 0:45 to 1:15 in "Call of the Spirit" very closely emulates Horner's "forest wonder" mode, even down to the chimes. On the other hand, alternatively there are times when McKenzie's own trademarks shine through, foremost in "Ascension/Gloria Patri" when the light string ostinatos and trumpet figures optimistically reflect similar performances in Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde. In the end, The Greatest Miracle isn't a perfect score, its top rating tempered by a diluted melodic spread and its somewhat generic redemptive tone. The score's 41-minute promotional download presentation was followed later in 2011 by an expanded and limited BSX Records CD with two additional score tracks (the first of which a necessity) and part of a suite of music that was performed live during World Youth Days in Madrid in August, 2011. Because that live performance was on a make-shift platform in the middle of a city street, however, the suite on this product is seemingly assembled from the score itself instead, so don't expect this seven and a half minutes of music to include anything new. Don't hesitate to seek the lossless, expanded CD edition of this sentimental favorite, however, continuing proof that McKenzie's musical voice has too long been buried in the works of others.  *****

TRACK LISTINGS:

2011 Promotional Album:
Total Time: 40:34

• 1. Entering the Cathedral (2:21) • 2. Call of the Spirit (2:37) • 3. Angels, Demons and Prayer (5:34) • 4. Reclaiming Faith (3:13) • 5. Benedictus Deus (1:38) • 6. You'll See (1:16) • 7. Offerings (2:28) • 8. Ask For What You Want (1:43) • 9. I Miss You (3:35) • 10. Ultimate Love (4:46) • 11. A Clean Soul (3:04) • 12. Go in Peace (4:04) • 13. That Beautiful Smile (2:37) • 14. Ascension/Gloria Patri (1:47)

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2011 BSX Album:
Total Time: 51:12

• 1. The Greatest Miracle Prelude* (7:32) • 2. Call of the Spirit (2:36) • 3. Entering the Cathedral (2:20) • 4. Angels, Demons and Prayer (5:32) • 5. Reclaiming Faith (3:12) • 6. Benedictus Deus (1:36) • 7. You'll See (1:15) • 8. Offerings (2:25) • 9. Ask For What You Want (1:41) • 10. I Miss You (3:33) • 11. Ultimate Love (4:45) • 12. A Clean Soul (3:03) • 13. Go in Peace (4:03) • 14. That Beautiful Smile (2:34) • 15. Ascension/Gloria Patri (1:46) Bonus Tracks: • 16. Pictures With Black Bow (1:47) • 17. Bus Accident (1:56)

NOTES & QUOTES:

The promotional download-only album contains no interior packaging. The insert of the BSX Records CD album contains detailed notes about the score but no significant information about the film.

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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 The Greatest Miracle are Copyright © 2011, Dos Corazones/McKenzie Music (Promotional), BSX Records and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 10/24/11 (and not updated significantly since).