Filmtracks Traffic Rank: #1,349
Written 1/21/00, Revised 11/10/07
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Buy it... if you have always enjoyed the melodic romanticism of
Ennio Morricone's light, dramatic works and wish to hear the first
American score by his son, Andrea.
Avoid it... if you expect to hear any of the unconventional
elements of the father's style in his son's early work, for Liberty
Heights is as pleasant and relaxing as it gets.
Liberty Heights: (Andrea Morricone) In an attempt
to win arthouse audiences in the 1999 awards season, director Barry
Levinson returned once again to the setting of Baltimore for a film that
could not be any more different from his disastrous, previous venture
for Sphere. Levinson's rich, period character dramas, whether set
in his favorite city or not, have often exhibited the director's best
work. In Liberty Heights, he would tell the story of a Jewish
family growing up in 1954, and the cultural, racial, and religious
narratives span each member of that family for significant air time.
With the story's constantly pleasant tone and little violence to speak
of, Liberty Heights is a positive and upbeat tale, and this tone
translates to an easy score by Andrea Morricone. Son of the famed
composer Ennio Morricone, Andrea's writing career for most casual
listeners was restrained to the additional work he had provided to his
father's efforts. Levinson's usual list of musical collaborators resides
high on the talent scale, including several projects worked with Ennio
Morricone. While it's not certain if Ennio was the primary choice of
Levinson for Liberty Heights, it wouldn't be surprising to learn
that he recommended his son for the assignment. The score would be
Andrea's first American exposure, though the recording would be
conducted in Rome. Perhaps also of no surprise is the plain fact that
Andrea's writing for this score reflects many of the stylistic tones of
his father's career, though without any of the unconventional aspects
that have defined his father. A keen sense of melody, and the lyrical
expression of fragments of that melody throughout the score, is a
capability that has obviously passed from father to son. His work for
Liberty Heights is rich with meaningful theme and heart,
providing a very strong backdrop for the family tale in timeless
fashion. It is impressive not only in the genuine conveyance of
contemplation it provides for the film, but it also translates into a
very listenable series of classically constructed orchestral cues (with
a few highly notable solos) on album.
With a minimum of pomp and with outstanding
orchestration, Morricone's score utilizes an acoustic guitar with the
traditional elements of an orchestra in a conservative manner. Loosely
classical and very romantic in a European sense, the style of the music
will remind listeners of not only Ennio, but also Gabriel Yared and
Nicola Piovani in parts, not to mention an occasional woodwind solo that
will hail back to the personal dramas of Elmer Bernstein. No single
piece of thematic material is dominant in
Liberty Heights, though
Morricone alternates between a primary "family theme," heard first in
the opening moments of the score and prominently in "Patterson Park
Story," as well as a "youth theme" heard in the cue of that title and
"Nate With His Boys." Individual cues introduce new dilemmas using
fragments of these themes, with these pieces often in performance to
some degree in each cue. The majority of performances is highlighted by
rich, multi-level strings, with an occasional wandering and deep piano
accompaniment. The acoustic guitar performances fare better than the
solo woodwind ones, if only due to the guitar's more resounding depth.
Unlike most typical low-key scores of internal character development,
Morricone's music never becomes burdensome or boring on album; this
despite the consistency of a score broken only by the percussion-aided
"Down a Baltimore Street," the only suspenseful cue. While not
exhibiting anything flashy in his instrumentation or volume, Morricone
still maintains a consistent level of dramatic substance. For fans of
Ennio, there is a distinct bond here that is conveyed in the willingness
of Andrea to shamelessly explore pleasant melodies for extended periods
of time. While many had hoped that
Liberty Heights would lead to
a major international scoring career for Andrea, he has had little
exposure in America in the years since. One can only imagine how a son
could compete with a father so dominant in the field, even into the late
2000's. Regardless of the outcome, Andrea's first scoring assignment is
relaxing and warm, with several cues that will surely impress. A score
album was released concurrently with a song album, and although the
score album features a minimum of dialogue from a narrator at the start
and finish, it has very little impact on the music itself. Overall, the
album is a delightful surprise.
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
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