The three artists had worked together on Davies' acclaimed
recording called "The Ghost of Time," bringing three distinct, but
equally respected Australian talents together for an album and
noteworthy live performances. As a composer and songwriter, Iva Davies
(the primary composer for this project) had written over one hundred
published songs, though his only prior film score was written for
Russell Mulcahy's thriller
Razorback in the mid-1980's. Tognetti,
as already mentioned, was a famed violinist in Australia, and had served
as the Artistic Director and Leader of the Australian Chamber Orchestra
since 1989. Most score fans will recognize Christopher Gordon as the
most regular film composer of the three (with his 1998 television score
for
Moby Dick showing much promise for this genre), and although
his output as a composer had been limited in the previous few years, he
continued his prolific career conducting and orchestrating other scores,
including the Melbourne and Sydney orchestral recordings for songs in
the hit 2001 musical
Moulin Rouge. Their combined contributions
to
Master and Commander would be accompanied by Weir's choice of
several classical and traditional folk pieces to be heard prominently in
the film. When you put these four elements together, you end up with a
score that couldn't be further from Korngold's swashbuckling ventures.
In fact, many score collectors were likely to be disappointed for a
second time in 2003, with neither
Pirates of the Caribbean nor
Master and Commander offering the traditional, swinging brass of
historical high seas adventure. Those who heard Brian Tyler's melodic
music from
Children of Dune in the lengthier trailers for
Master and Commander were unfortunately met with a soundtrack
that offers nothing even remotely that coherent, thematic, or
exciting.
It is difficult to evaluate
Master and Commander
by these standards, because Weir very clearly had a dramatic score of
introverted style in mind rather than a traditionally dynamic
alternative. The soundtrack as a whole suffers because of
inconsistencies in the styles of the three composers, as well as in the
context of the classical pieces. Ironically, the classical and folk
selections offer more of the spirited character of "Lucky" Jack in the
soundtrack, from the intimate solo performances to the rousing fiddle
and drum folk that you'd hear on the decks of the ship. The classical
pieces (some of which regular favorites) also encompass the melancholy
moments of the journey, underscoring the heavy drama of the equation
with sufficient roots in the time period. You get the sense that these
pieces were probably chosen first for inclusion as source material in
the film, and the score was a necessity only to fill in the gaps and
provide basic power for battle sequences. The original score, therefore,
is confined to the moments of mystery, anticipation, and battle. Davies
and Gordon's score is not thematically constructed, but instead relies
primarily on texture and electronic soundscape for its power. If you're
looking to be overwhelmed by thematic bravado, your money will be wasted
here. Well-known percussionist Mike Fisher was employed for his pounding
Taiko drums, sending the ships into journeys and battle with a rhythmic,
charged set of strong performances. Outside of the drums, however, the
actual orchestra performs only in textured, troubled layers, not often
harmonious, and very rarely do they expand upon a motif. A four to five
note bass string theme signals danger, and it would be an excellent
secondary theme to the score if Davies and Gordon had been able to give
the effort an identity with a title theme. This bass motif explodes in
"Into the Fog" with the drums in tow, both very reminiscent of James
Newton Howard's
Waterworld.
There is no dynamic enthusiasm to the score, no
memorable touch. Instead, brass is confined to a wishy-washy wavering
between notes and octaves (in
The Matrix style) and woodwinds are
seemingly nonexistent. The string work by Tognetti is often in sharp
contrast to the rest of the score because of its solitary, classical
nature, further clouding the overall effect. Elongated, dissonant notes
on violin in "Smoke N' Oakum" and "The Phasmid" are irritating in their
sharp intensity, typifying the score's reliance on the simplification of
every motif, solo performance, and orchestral element. As a whole, the
score for
Master and Commander is repetitive, simplistic, and
uninspiring, with even the meager attempts at counterpoint striking in
their basic and obvious construction. Compared to the classical and folk
tunes heard throughout the film and album, the score is a muddy mixture
of ineffective textures and basic rhythms. There is no dynamism, no
pointed emphasis on scene changes, and not enough substance outside of
the drums to retain the listener's interest. In the film, several
helicopter-shot vistas of the open seas rely only on the visuals for
their appeal, with music that raises none of the basic elements of fear,
romanticism, or perseverance in the genre. It's tempting to call this
music amateurish, because it is so blatantly underdeveloped. The album
is evenly divided between score and traditional pieces (30 minutes per),
and when intermingled with the classical material on the album, the
deficiencies of the score become all the more obvious. Inconsistent
mixing is another issue, causing passages in the score to be inaudible.
Overall, this film may not have required an overtly swashbuckling score
of the Korngold variety, but the comatose one that was utilized was an
extreme detriment to the production. The immense popularity of the
soundtrack was caused almost exclusively by the traditional and
classical source adaptations. The original score remains amongst the
most underachieving and disappointing missed opportunities of the entire
decade.
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