January 19, 2015

  • Debney's Passionate Crowning Achievement Expanded

    Released on Ash Wednesday in 2004, Mel Gibson’s massive retelling of the final days of Jesus, The Passion of the Christ, would become the highest grossing R-rated film ever released in the U.S..  Subsequent DVD sales have made it one of the most successful religious films to date.  Among many of its artistic choices, the most interesting was the choice of John Debney as the film’s composer.  Debney’s versatility in scoring everything from comedy to horror, and more recent work on The Scorpion King, were perhaps keys in his being given the task of creating an emotional core for Gibson’s storytelling.  The score would be nominated for an Oscar, losing out to Finding Neverland (Kaczmarek).

    Most biblical epics tended to set a backdrop that featured large orchestral swaths of modal musical ideas and large choral interjections often on biblical texts.  They tended to “suggest” period or regional music, or more often the “idea” of this music.  Debney’s score also has some of these global elements, making it closer perhaps to Peter Gabriel’s work on The Last Temptation of Christ (1988).  From the very moments of “The Olive Garden”, Debney’s music casts an almost surreal and otherworldly feel with unusual sounds and effects setting up the unsettling atmosphere as “Satan Appears”.  This latter musical idea will continue to be integrated into the score to help underline these moments of evil.  A plaintive vocalise is also a key ingredient to emphasize Mary’s emotional struggle made possible with Lisbeth Scott’s beautiful improvisatory approach.  Careful use of ethnic instruments (especially duduk) additionally lends further atmosphere that points up the mystery and power of what is occurring on screen.  A rather lighter Arabic-style idea appears in “Carpenter Flashback” providing a bit of relief from the opening sequences musically as well in a folk-dance like style.  The sound of this flute idea will be used in a more powerful moment in “Peter Denies Jesus.”   Hearing how this and other threads eventually are blended together as the “Crucifixion” and subsequent sequences are scored had been made further possible with their first appearance which opens disc two powerfully.  What is striking upon careful listening is the way some of Debney’s choices feel almost primal in their intensity, especially when percussion ideas appear and these are in stark contrast to the more spiritual high road being depicted.  The juxtaposition of these approaches is heard very effectively in “Jesus is Carried Down”.  The effect is stunning.  This careful integration of orchestral approaches becomes further blended into the score to help offset the eerier, and global/period sounds that are created in the score.  The final “Resurrection/End Credits” sequence is a bit controversial in its own right with a rather martial implication in the music, but remains one of the very powerful highlights of the score.

    While the original Sony soundtrack remains a fairly well-done representation of the score, La-La Land has returned the music back to the original sequence.  Tracks are carefully marked with what unreleased material is here, many smaller sequences again edited here for better musical flow.  Debney employed two musicians, Shankar and Gingger, who helped shape some of the global and ethnic elements of the score and their contributions are well-noted here.  Originally, Gibson had hired composer Jack Lenz to craft some of this musical styling and this music, some used in the film, is also credited and identified well in this release.  One of the highlights of his contribution appears in the opening “The Olive Garden” and later in “Peaceful but Primitive” (with an opportunity to hear this as an alternate approach).  Lenz’s music, along with Lisbeth Scott’s improvisational performance, can also be gleaned a bit in “It Is Done”.

    Of course, to help fill out the second disc, La-La Land has included a host of “bonus tracks.”  These include three different trailer music tracks.  Of particular interest is a choral setting of the “Resurrection” music.  There are alternate takes of “Peter Denies Jesus” and “Crucifixion” as well as the “original ending” for “Procession.”  A couple of album versions are also part of the mix here.  Notes document the tracks very well which will help listeners connect the scenes and music.  Debney’s score remains one of the crowning achievements in his career.  It combines a number of different approaches to create a very unique listening experience that really did, and still does, stand out from many film scores of this type.  Many of the techniques would be copied as the explosion of ethnic instruments set into traditional Hollywood scoring continued into the 21st Century.  Here is one score where the blending of these seemingly disparate approaches comes together superbly in an at times moody, sometimes emotionally overwhelming, but always powerful score enhanced in this new release.