Goldsmith had conducted Aaron Copland's score for the 1949 film (among the only lasting impacts from that project on mainstream culture) and was very familiar with it. He admitted that there were some influences that carried into the 1973 score, but the general demeanor was mostly of his own style. That said, he did access the American folk song "Git Along Little Dogies" as Copland had elsewhere in his career. The dramatic power inherent in Goldsmith's Westerns is largely absent in The Red Pony, yielding a strangely robotic entry that only offers abundant life during the Copland-like comedy portions in the first third that are decent but not as lively as hoped. On the other hand, the score has few challenging moments, the only standout cue of conflict coming in the highly abrasive and dissonant "The Buzzards," a striking change of course from the remainder of the score. Don't expect a really tight narrative in this music, either, a byproduct of lengthy sequences of the story containing no music whatsoever. Goldsmith's main theme for the ranch and the father, Carl, also serves as a rather bland love theme for his relationship with his wife. It's a stoic and reserved identity, with suggestions of strength but not much passion or resonance. Secondary lines are highly influenced by Goldsmith's famous theme to Wild Rovers, however. It's augmented by a quick, descending woodwind motif for the element of mystery and discovery as relates to the boy. This main theme is introduced fully in the middle of "Main Title - Part 1," highlighted by a notable trumpet rendition at 2:38. It's hinted but highly restrained in "How's a Boy Going to Grow" and explores its somber, conversational side throughout the lengthy "True Love" on woodwinds and strings. After having practically no impact on the central portions of the score, the main ranch theme contributes phrasing to the boy's material in "The Vacation," faintly guides early meandering in "Automobiles are Better," affords assurances and wisdom on woodwinds early in "A Helping Hand," and closes "The Foal" with a slow, definitive resolution of high drama. Despite a meaningful presence in "A Helping Hand," this theme is not clearly stated in the conclusive scenes to really wrap the idea back to its origins, making it one of the composer's more elusive themes to helm a Western film. In fact, the theme never does recapture the spirit it previews in the "Main Title" performance.

The other primary theme in The Red Pony belongs to the boy and his pony, exuding a more buoyant Copland influence of enthusiasm and slight Western comedy, including a variant that becomes a hoedown motif for the ranch operations. Lending itself to piano and percussive creativity in accelerated rhythms, this theme debuts at 0:39 into "Father's Home" with an upbeat tone that carries over into "Father's Gift," where it becomes a dramatic identity on horn and strings late in the cue. It informs the hoedown motif from "Father's Gift" for ranch activities in "A Day's Work," and trumpet carries the idea with joy over a pleasant guitar and string bed in "A Sick Horse." It closes "The Buzzards" with trumpet solace and provides an artificially fluffy rendition in "The Vacation" while the hoedown variant supplies some hope early in "10M1," a cue only seen in the European cut due to censorship in America. (Animal birthing was deemed obscene, for whatever reason.) The boy's theme then returns some optimism in the first half of "The Foal" for the replacement pony. The other theme of note in The Red Pony is for the Mexican, Gitano, and provides the most interesting instrumental colors of the score, led by acoustic guitar. A series of three-note figures of distinctly Latin character, this theme is teased in "A Dead Man" and developed with quiet grace in "Ninety-Seven Years." The marimba's role over guitar is expanded in "A Day's Work," and the idea turns melodramatic on strings and lone trumpet in "Final Ride," a cue that lays the drama on a bit heavy. Overall, The Red Pony is a decent and worthy score, but it cannot sustain some of its residual hype. Five-part suites from the score were assembled by Alexander Courage and David Newman through the years, the former for Goldsmith's concerts. A 2012 suite performance with the City of Prague Philharmonic doubles the ensemble size, though greater depth to the orchestra doesn't always afford more gravity to the work outside of a fantastic ending to "Main Titles." Courage added a more robust performance of the main theme at the end of "The Foal," though, which is a nice touch. This 13-minute Tadlow recording was appended to the group's performance of Goldsmith's Hour of the Gun on a 2012 Prometheus Records album. The actual score was released only once, its 51 minutes provided in acceptable but somewhat muted sound on a limited 2012 Varèse Sarabande CD Club offering. Stick with the re-recorded suites for this adequate but somewhat underachieving dramatic score.  ***   @Amazon.com: CD or Download