Score Reviewed (Two Angles)
Posted: 13 Jun 2014, 02:24
With respect to the film:
A score, when placed in the context of a film, is meant to be subordinate to the movie (except in cases like The Red Violin where the score is the main player in the film). The new score does this well: The new themes match up with new elements of the film, from a mystery-thriller type snippet (what I would like to call a "Bourne"-esque music) to minimalist lyrics.
It's a lot easier to digest at first viewing than the first film's score: the score is more settled, and less capricious in its direction. This gives the viewers something to hang onto in terms of mood. The newer ideas (themes) are simpler in their construction as well, mainly made up of pentatonic gestures.
Overall, with respect to the film, it is a great companion with both fun and pain.
By itself:
First of all, this should be let out: The intro of "Dragon Racing" is a completely different version from the actual version used in the film. It is heard later during credits as filler music; the actual film cut is much closer to the beginning of "This is Berk," with gentle horn melody and soft string accompaniment.
If you listen to the first and the second scores back-to-back, you can see where material was lifted off the first film's score (not just the themes, but the exact forms). From "Counter Attack" to "Vikings Have Their Tea" to "This is Berk" to "Test Drive," a lot of the material is the same settings rehashed into a slightly fuller mood (or sometimes they're nigh-identical). These are, as we all know, proven to be great.
Much of the portions utilizing new themes, I feel, lack something. It isn't gravitas; it has plenty of that. What I feel as lacking, viewing this as a concert work, is a sense of great movement that the first score had. As much as I like massive music, it can be achieved without sacrificing movement (The last movement of Mahler Symphony No. 9 is really, really, reallllly slow, but it still keeps a very weighted momentum throughout). I'm all for minimalists (Philip Glass, etc.) whose music often shows movement only when viewed on a bigger scope, but I feel that the disjoint between the two styles (and the intermingling of them) kind of broke some paces for me thinking of this as a concert piece. A huge exception to this was one of Drago-centric motifs (scale degree 5 - 10 -
which really breathed some John Williams DNA back into the score, and the 6/4 instances of one of the pentatonic motifs (3 - 3 - 4 - 5 - | 4 - 3 - 1 - 7 | 1) where the entire orchestra injected movement into the music with sheer force.
Addendum: The violin solo of the Celtic theme in "Dragon Racing" is sterile; The violin solo in "Two New Alphas" is a bit out of tune. UGGGGGGHHHHHH
That's all.
A score, when placed in the context of a film, is meant to be subordinate to the movie (except in cases like The Red Violin where the score is the main player in the film). The new score does this well: The new themes match up with new elements of the film, from a mystery-thriller type snippet (what I would like to call a "Bourne"-esque music) to minimalist lyrics.
It's a lot easier to digest at first viewing than the first film's score: the score is more settled, and less capricious in its direction. This gives the viewers something to hang onto in terms of mood. The newer ideas (themes) are simpler in their construction as well, mainly made up of pentatonic gestures.
Overall, with respect to the film, it is a great companion with both fun and pain.
By itself:
First of all, this should be let out: The intro of "Dragon Racing" is a completely different version from the actual version used in the film. It is heard later during credits as filler music; the actual film cut is much closer to the beginning of "This is Berk," with gentle horn melody and soft string accompaniment.
If you listen to the first and the second scores back-to-back, you can see where material was lifted off the first film's score (not just the themes, but the exact forms). From "Counter Attack" to "Vikings Have Their Tea" to "This is Berk" to "Test Drive," a lot of the material is the same settings rehashed into a slightly fuller mood (or sometimes they're nigh-identical). These are, as we all know, proven to be great.
Much of the portions utilizing new themes, I feel, lack something. It isn't gravitas; it has plenty of that. What I feel as lacking, viewing this as a concert work, is a sense of great movement that the first score had. As much as I like massive music, it can be achieved without sacrificing movement (The last movement of Mahler Symphony No. 9 is really, really, reallllly slow, but it still keeps a very weighted momentum throughout). I'm all for minimalists (Philip Glass, etc.) whose music often shows movement only when viewed on a bigger scope, but I feel that the disjoint between the two styles (and the intermingling of them) kind of broke some paces for me thinking of this as a concert piece. A huge exception to this was one of Drago-centric motifs (scale degree 5 - 10 -
which really breathed some John Williams DNA back into the score, and the 6/4 instances of one of the pentatonic motifs (3 - 3 - 4 - 5 - | 4 - 3 - 1 - 7 | 1) where the entire orchestra injected movement into the music with sheer force.Addendum: The violin solo of the Celtic theme in "Dragon Racing" is sterile; The violin solo in "Two New Alphas" is a bit out of tune. UGGGGGGHHHHHH
That's all.