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FILMTRACKS.COM
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Review of Wyatt Earp (James Newton Howard)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if you appreciate the spirit of Bruce Broughton and Basil
Poledouris' expansive and highly motific music for the 1980's and 1990's
resurrection of the Western genre, for James Newton Howard offers a
worthy entry in this group of big sky adventure works.
Avoid it... only if you have clearly defined the Western genre as one that you cannot appreciate under any circumstances, even if it is approached from a direction of easily digestible romantic melodrama with clearly developed themes.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
Wyatt Earp: (James Newton Howard) In the early
1990's, the idea of the massively proportioned Western film had been
reintroduced with the success of Silverado and Dances With
Wolves on big screens and Lonesome Dove 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 Unforgiven and Tombstone, Warner
Brothers' Wyatt Earp 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 Bad Girls and The Quick and the
Dead begin to steal the sense of dramatic weight from the genre. The
Lawrence Kasdan and Kevin Costner partnership for Wyatt Earp 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,
Grand Canyon, 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 Wyatt Earp isn't quite as elaborate and broadly
dramatic as James Horner's concurrently popular Legends of the
Fall, 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. ****
TRACK LISTINGS:
1994 Warner Album:
Total Time: 60:33
2013 La-La Land Album: Total Time: 162:40
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert of the 1994 Warner album includes a note from director Lawrence Kasdan
and extensive cast photography. That of the 2013 La-La Land set contains extensive notation
about the film and score, as well as the same note from the director.
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The reviews and other textual content contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Christian Clemmensen at Filmtracks Publications. All artwork and sound clips from Wyatt Earp are Copyright © 1994, 2013, Warner Brothers, La-La Land Records and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 6/23/03 and last updated 12/26/13. |
