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Gregson-
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| Zimmer |
The Whole Wide World: (Harry Gregson-Williams)
Robert E. Howard was one of the more inspired fantasy writers of a
generation, conjuring such famous serial characters as Conan the
Barbarian, Kull the Conquerer, and Red Sonja. His youthful, platonic
relationship with writer Novalyne Price Ellis is the subject of the
story for the 1996 movie
The Whole Wide World, with the
three-year friendship between writers recalled many decades later by the
still-living Ellis. The tumultuous but undeniably sweet relationship
between the two was strained if only because Ellis enjoyed writing about
naturalistic topics while Howard was obnoxiously stuck in the imaginary
land of Conan. Ellis' book of romantic recollection, "One Who Walked
Alone," was several years in the translation to the big screen, and
while embraced with critical success (especially in response to a strong
early performance by actress Renee Zellweger) at the time of its
release,
The Whole Wide World was actually seen by very few
people. Director Dan Ireland asked his friend and collaborator Hans
Zimmer to compose the music for film, and although Zimmer accepted the
assignment, he introduced Harry Gregson-Williams as the artist would
actually compose the music for the film. Gregson-Williams was mainly an
arranger who was quickly rising up the ranks of Media Ventures artists
(much like Nick Glennie-Smith at the time) and doing much of the
ghostwriting duties for Zimmer in the Oscar-winner's early collaborative
days. The intriguing aspect of
The Whole Wide World is that
unlike other Zimmer co-credited projects in which the better known
composer writes a theme or a cue or two, Zimmer did nothing for
The
Whole Wide World. As Gregson-Williams said back at the time of the
film's release, "Hans didn't write any music for
The Whole Wide
World. In fact, he heard my score for the first time at the
premiere." Strangely, though, the director emphatically thanks Zimmer
for the score and Zimmer's name appears atop the credits for the film
and album. For those who claim that the composer's army of assistants
can't be referred to as "ghostwriters," the controversy understandably
began with
The Whole Wide World. Nothing ever came of it, though,
likely because of the project's total obscurity. Regardless of its
curious production, the resulting music is an early and interesting look
at Gregson-Williams' solo talent.
The influences of Zimmer's styles of that era are
clearly evident in Gregson-Williams' work for
The Whole Wide
World, with pieces of
Crimson Tide's action motifs appearing
throughout the score. There are essentially three sides to
The Whole
Wide World: the internal world of each novelist and their combined
love theme. That love theme opens and closes the album, with one
magnificent performance in "The Telegram." While the theme's melodic
construct suggests a sincere heart in the composition, the sparse,
synthetic treatment in its performance proves that it is one of those
ideas that greatly needed a stronger orchestral presence to convey a
genuine heart. A sense of authenticity is missing from much of the
score, and despite the restraints naturally existing on a film like this
because of its budget, the score does suffer in its attempts to recreate
grand thematic statements. The romantic underscore for Ellis runs for
lengthy sequences throughout the score, and it is never less than
pleasant. In these sequences, you hear woodwinds, pianos, and acoustic
guitar accompanied by light strings with a more convincing orchestral
result. Contrasting these fluffy cues are the dark side of Howard's
imagination, with bass-heavy synthetics and deep mock choruses pounding
Conan inelegantly from pen to paper. These cues are unfortunately too
spread out and harsh in tone compared to the romance to really satisfy
enthusiasts of Zimmer's action influences. The score further feels the
effects of its schizophrenia within single cues such as "...Let Go of
Your Mother" (which features layers of female and deep male choral
vocals) and "Sombrero" (which comes out of nowhere with a short burst of
Latin rhythms). At the very end of the album, after a final restatement
of the primary theme, a minute of silence is followed by a hidden
reprise of "Conan Emerges," with an even wilder violin performance
tearing into the previous mood. Despite good intentions and excellent
compositions in individual sections of the score, the overall package is
lacking in cohesion and orchestral authenticity. Poorly rendered
electronics are the true villain here, the emotional impact a casualty
of immature synthetic libraries. Be aware that the first printing of the
album for
The Whole Wide World by Mojo Music and Mojotrax was
faulty and would not easily play; these copies often had Zimmer's name
misspelled on the front packaging. All versions have since gone out of
print and fetch over $40 on the used market. Approach the product with
caution, therefore, and be sure to remember that this is not a Zimmer
score as advertised.
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| Bias Check: |
For Harry Gregson-Williams reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3
(in 40 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 2.98
(in 55,208 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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The insert includes a note about the score and film from director Dan Ireland.
