Top Film Scores: 10-6

10. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), Tan Dun. An imaginative score from a well known composer who has written quite a bit of music outside the realm of cinema. Dun uses traditional Chinese percussion instruments, as well as the erhu and solo cello to bring us into a fantastical world set in ancient China during the Qing Dynasty. The main theme is a sorrowful kind of lament, peformed by Yo Yo Ma on the cello. There are many exciting action sequences, scored for heavy percussion to driving rhythms, accentuated by blunt chords in the brass. My favorite musical moment arrives when Li Mu-bai pursues Jen into the top of a forest of supple trees where they engage in a sort of languid sword fight. The lazy strings bend gracefully as the trees, and the action seems to settle down for a moment here; the orchestration of this passage is brilliant.

9. Meet Joe Black (1998), Thomas Newman. I only saw this movie once, and it’s unfortunate that I don’t have a very great recollection of the music. I do remember being struck very deeply by it though, particularly a provocative phrase in the strings that is one of the most beautiful I have ever heard. It was so good, you see, that even though I can’t remember exactly how it went, I thought it worthy enough to put in the Top 10. After hearing this music, I became an instant fan of the young Newman (Randy Newman’s cousin, in fact). I’ll need to dig it up and either watch it again or listen to the soundtrack. Newman’s usage of silence is just as powerful as the spare and simple writing for this dark film. I wish I could say more about it, but that’s all I can recall. (*UPDATE* 10/21/08: I just watched this film again a few nights ago. There is more to this music than I had even first thought. I was struck not only by that moment in the strings I previously mentioned, but nearly more so by the phrases that surround it. What a lovely use of the oboe to repeat the theme. It is very sensitive and vulnerable. It was good to hear why this soundtrack legitimately makes the Top 10 in my list.)

8. Edward Scissorhands (1990), Danny Elfman. This is Elfman’s most memorable score, in my humble opinion. Along with the usual musical quirkiness that so befits a Tim Burton film, Elfman composed a beautiful melody that allows us as viewers to empathize with Edward’s tragic story. This is accomplished with strings and a choir of humming voices that rises hopefully and falls gently like snow. The harmonic language is a mixture of bright and dark modal harmonies, and the overall effect is both sad and beautiful.

7. Jesus of Nazareth (1977), Maurice Jarre. If I were asked as a film composer to write the music for a movie about the life of Jesus of Nazareth, I might be undone by the daunting task before me. After all, my job would be to tell the story of Jesus Christ–from a musical perspective. First of all, I think it’s a very sensitive subject to bring to the screen. We’re talking about the Gospel here, and it would be so easy for the director to make it just another ‘Hollywood epic’. The same holds true for the music. My greatest fear would be that I would over-sentimentalize it, make it too personal, sappy, emotional, and thus weak. As a music writer, I would hope to create something that is firstly true to the Gospel, and an aid to the story and the director’s vision; most importantly, I would hope that it would resonate deeply with the viewer, leaving an imprint on the soul.

Many may ask, why do we need a film about Jesus when the Bible is enough? I tend to agree for the most part. I haven’t really been a fan of the movies on Jesus out there, including Mel Gibson’s “The Passion”.

But there is one exception.

In a word, I would describe Jarre’s score as…solemn. And I think that is the best compliment I can give it. It doesn’t even approach being overly dramatic; but the theme is paramount, powerful, grave and beautiful. In my mind, it is perfect.

The rest of the music is not terribly memorable or catchy. This is a good thing, actually. For one, it lets the main theme stand out above the rest. Also, it doesn’t draw too much attention to itself; it aids the plot subtly. Jarre employs traditional Hebraic melodies played on folk instruments from the time that are woven seamlessly throughout the film. This integrates the music, and gives us a truer ethos of the story.

Another factor worth noting is the use of the tritone. In history, this dissonant interval has come to bear the name ‘diabolus in musica’ or ‘the devil in music’ because it is so harmonically unpleasing to the ear, and very unstable as a sonority by itself because it must resolve either inward or outward. How interesting that Jarre has made this interval a recurring motif in his music; it is a defining element in the development of characters and ideas, especially in the case of Judas Iscariot. There are many dark and menacing moments in the score, especially toward the end in the scenes of Judas’ betrayal and subsequent suicide, and of course the sequence of Christ’s Passion.

One of my favorite musical moments comes at the raising of Lazarus. Christ descends to the tomb, and a low brooding melody begins in the string basses; as the Lord approaches the grave stone, the melody cycles methodically lower and lower until it is so deep and resonant that it almost can’t be heard. What a profound protrayal of death!

Maurice Jarre has accomplished an incredible feat with this score, just as impressive as the director Zeffirelli’s sensitive and reverent treatment of the story.

6. Glory (1989), James Horner. Much like “Edward Scissorhands” Horner’s central theme is an inspiring melody for both choir and orchestra that tells of the great heroism of the famous company of soldiers. The theme follows the main character, Colonel Robert Gould Shaw on his journey as a young and promising office from a privileged family to the volunteer commander of the first all black regiment in the Civil War. The final thirty minutes of the film are incredible, the music growing with excitement as Shaw and his men volunteer to lead the first charge against a heavily defended Confederate fortress on the ocean–a suicide mission. Incredibly, the company advances much further than expected, beyond the perimeter defenses and into the fort itself. This movie not only has great music, but some of the best performances from actors Matthew Broderick, Cary Elwes, Morgan Freeman and Denzel Washington.