: (James Newton Howard) In the early
1990's, the idea of the massively proportioned Western film had been
reintroduced with the success of
on television, and
most of the major studios started production on their own Western
pictures with similar aspirations. After the continued critical and
popular success of
came at a time in 1994 when the genre had
reached its saturated point and you started seeing spin-offs, spoofs,
and inferior alternatives like
begin to steal the sense of dramatic weight from the genre. The
Lawrence Kasdan and Kevin Costner partnership for
made
the crucial mistake of taking the genre and this particular production
too seriously, and in so doing tried the patience of its audiences with
its significant and often boring, elongated scenes of character
development and overwrought drama. The intent of the picture was to
resurrect the glory of the greatest Western epics of the past, with set
construction, hoards of extras, and a long shooting process that were
reminiscent of glorious endeavors of a different generation. Despite
having all of the necessary traditional Western elements in place,
including a magnificent cast of well-known supporting actors and
actresses, the film's script, re-worked from origins meant for a
television mini-series, was its own worst enemy. A financial disaster
for the studio, the film did feature one aspect that could not be
criticized: its score by composer James Newton Howard. Kasdan, who had
been extremely impressed with Howard's music for his previous film,
, went so far as to state that Howard contributed
more of himself to that picture than any of the other production team
members. The composer was also in the middle of an artistically fruitful
series of scores for Costner, despite the fact that most of their
collaborations existed for films of dubious merit. As a musical journey,
the score for
isn't quite as elaborate and broadly
dramatic as James Horner's concurrently popular
, but it nearly reaches the same territory in its expansive
emotional development.
Howard employed a traditional, large-scale orchestral
ensemble for
Wyatt Earp and inserted only a few elements of genre
personality (including accordions, fiddles, and harmonicas) and ethnic
spirit (a recorder and other elements for the Celtic references
necessitated by this more accurate approach to the genre), thus keeping
the score as classically inclined as the script. These choices by Howard
yielded a very consistent strength of sonic posture that stands as the
score's greatest asset, even if most of the more ambitiously engaging
material is concentrated in the first half of the work. Representing six
months of solid work,
Wyatt Earp was a labor of love for the
composer, one that he actively sought to be a part of at the outset of
production and one he confessed to meaning more to him than any other
project at the time and is even unparalleled in his career over the
subsequent few decades. In the years to follow, Howard certainly became
known for his versatility with orchestral and choral ensembles, but in
1994, the
Waterworld composer was still proving that his
transition from the rock genre to the orchestral scoring business was
viable. More than any other score,
Wyatt Earp really helped that
effort, because the work stands strongly with Bruce Broughton and Basil
Poledouris' modern Western genre music as a distinct and memorable
entry, if not for its consistent quality, then for its significant
length. Howard's noble title theme for
Wyatt Earp may not be the
most elegantly sweeping of Western melodies, initially meant by the
composer as a secondary device until being talked into adapting it as
the primary identity of the entire story (not necessarily the titular
character alone). But it suffices in establishing the mood of the era,
as well as inspiring several imitations of the theme that other
composers would attempt in later scores, and Howard inserts just enough
rhythmic movement to its background lines for it to serve genre
expectations. Even more powerful, however, are Howard's three major
secondary thematic constructs, highlighted by the title character's
romance theme. This idea poignantly inspires "The Wedding" (and
surrounding cues) before tentatively reshaping itself as Earp finds his
second love in the latter half of the film. The composer admits that
this is his own favorite theme from the score, one of the few times that
he has achieved perfection in how he treated a scene or concept in a
film.
Aside from the main theme and the romantic alternative
in
Wyatt Earp, Howard wrote two arguably more imperative
secondary ideas for major concepts in the story. The first of these is
the civilization theme, representing Dodge City and the Celtic tradition
that informed this and similar towns and superficially resembling the
lively title theme from
Waterworld (an intriguing connection to
frontier living). In these portions, Howard's approach to the West
reflects a similar technique to John Williams' in
Far and Away,
providing spirit and excitement that conveys the highest of hopes during
the era. The other theme in the score represents Earp's own personal
destiny, and this is the one identity that Howard nurtured with that
intent from early in the writing process. Initially heard as a bond
between Earp and his father (most impressively in "Nicholas Springs
Wyatt"), this idea eventually finds greater traction as the score
progresses. The bulk of the score's weighty drama exists in this theme
of gravity and scope, one with nothing in common with the genre per se
but addresses larger issues of perseverance. All four of these main
themes are afforded a suite-like arrangement in "End Credits," an
excellent survey but one that is rather light on the rendition of the
love theme. Additional motifs are commonly developed by Howard in
Wyatt Earp, the length of the film demanding such attention.
Several lesser woodwind and solo string melodies accentuate the
hardships of the characters, and this, maybe, is where the protracted
script actually assisted Howard in providing substantial development to
his many ideas in ways you typically hear in a television mini-series.
The rhythmically propulsive action sequences are backed by driving snare
and other percussion, beginning with the wild "The Wagon Chase" and
culminating in a climactic cue for the "O.K. Corral" battle before
exploring a few remaining confrontations (the lesser "The Train
Shootout" and "Wyatt's Ambush") thereafter. There isn't an abundance of
old-style or folk-inspired Western cliches at work in this score, with
the Celtic flavor of the buffalo sequences, the "Railroad" scene, and
the civilization theme in "Dodge City" being among a few that openly
exhibit this flair. There is some source-like material written for the
film, but not in the honky tonk style you would expect. The most
remarkable aspect of the
Wyatt Earp score as a whole is its
consistency of quality through most of its length, even during moments
of lesser volume and motific development.
Just as the movie can be boring to many, though, there
are a handful of underscore cues recorded for conversational or suspense
scenes in
Wyatt Earp that may not be of interest to the listener.
The original 1994 Warner Brothers album of an hour in length for this
score did a good job of stripping most of this less interesting material
from its presentation. On that album, only "Railroad" really breaks up
the otherwise steady and easily digestible sound of the score's
highlights. In 2013, La-La Land Records provided a whopping 3-CD set
featuring a massive expansion of material for enthusiasts of the
composer and film. While more of the less tolerable moments of the work
are included on this product, one has to marvel at the continued mastery
that the composer displayed in the entirety of the effort. Many of the
best newly released cues featuring the main theme on this set are
concentrated near the start of the product (on its first CD), including
the great "The Wagon Train" (a hybrid of Alan Silvestri and Jerry
Goldsmith mannerisms with Howard's own optimistic action voice), though
some additional development of the love theme in the latter third
finally illuminates Howard's full evolution of that idea. The third CD
has some redundant but still interesting alternate recordings of major
cues, as well as source material by orchestrator Brad Dechter, a
selection of the composer's synthetic demo submissions for various
scenes, and a heartwarming studio interaction between orchestra and
composer. Those who appreciate this score's throwback style and
consistent quality will appreciate the 2013 album's rearrangement of the
material into chronological order on top of its crisp sound quality. The
sound quality of this recording has always been dynamic, however, even
on the 1994 product. For listeners expecting weighty romantic drama, be
aware that despite Howard's best intentions,
Wyatt Earp doesn't
quite provide the moments of lush Americana romance with as much
resonance as James Horner did in
Legends of the Fall. That said,
Howard's music for
Wyatt Earp was an important step along his
journey to become one of Hollywood's premiere composers, and it remains
among the most compelling scores of the 1990's Western genre. It is
something of a shame that the composer has never really returned to this
style of drama since, admitting decades later that he wouldn't know if
he really could. As such,
Wyatt Earp may be a singular event
worthy of exploration on its limited 2013 album for any score collector
interested a well-constructed and enthusiastic, old-fashioned portrayal
of the West.
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
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| Bias Check: |
For James Newton Howard reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.4
(in 70 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.36
(in 86,418 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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