FEBRUARY 21, 2018 — The International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA) announces its list of winners for excellence in musical scoring in 2018, in the 2018 IFMCA Awards.

The award for Score of the Year goes to British composer John Powell for his score for the Star Wars spin-off story “Solo,” which looked at the early life of the legendary rogue and intergalactic smuggler Han Solo. The film was directed by Ron Howard, and starred Alden Ehrenreich, Emilia Clarke, and Donald Glover. In describing the score, IFMCA members Asier Senarriaga and Óscar Giménez called Solo “a spectacular score that combines the classic ideas of Williams with the talent of Powell,” and proclaimed it “the score of the year,” while IFMCA member Jon Broxton – speaking about the score’s multitude of recurring character themes - said that the way Powell “incorporates all the thematic complexity into his score is masterful, but best of all is the way he allows them to develop organically; this is not just a rigid leitmotif score where mathematics trumps emotion. Instead, Powell engages in sensible and appropriate development, meaning that when the emotional outbursts do come, they pack a real wallop, and satisfy both the heart and the brain in equal measure.”

The score is also named Best Original Score for a Fantasy/Science Fiction/Horror Film, while John Williams’s contribution to the score, the standalone piece “The Adventures of Han,” is named Film Music Composition of the Year. These are the seventh and eighth IFMCA Award wins of Powell’s career; he previously won the Score of the Year award for “How to Train Your Dragon” in 2010.

James Newton Howard is named Composer of the Year, and takes home the award for Best Original Score for an Action/Adventure/Thriller Film for his work on the controversial Jennifer Lawrence Cold War spy thriller “Red Sparrow,” for which he wrote an astonishingly powerful classical overture for the film’s opening ballet sequence, as well as some intense action and suspense music. IFMCA member Mihnea Manduteanu described Red Sparrow as “beautiful and passionate” and “melodic and furious”.

Howard’s other work in 2018 was just as outstanding, and included the second Harry Potter spinoff film “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald,” and the lavish fantasy “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms,” which was inspired by Tchaikovsky’s seminal ballet. IFMCA member Christian Clemmensen called Fantastic Beasts an “accomplished and mature fantasy score” which “sits comfortably with Howard's accomplished genre works and competes favorably for a place amongst 2018's best scores.” These are the ninth and tenth IFMCA Awards of Howard’s career. He previously received IFMCA Score of the Year honors in 2006 for “The Lady in the Water”.

British composer Amelia Warner is named Breakthrough Composer of the Year for her enormously impressive mainstream debut work scoring the literary drama based on the life of the groundbreaking horror author “Mary Shelley”. IFMCA member Peter Simons said that Mary Shelley was “a wonderful score … mesmerizing … unlike anything I’ve heard in a long time, if ever. The use of synth and vocals over strings and piano is just exquisite. There is always something interesting going on, either melodically or aurally … it’s one of the most exciting scores of the year”.

The various other genre awards are won by Max Richter for his classically-inspired music for the historical drama “Mary Queen of Scots”; Marc Shaiman for his loving, nostalgic homage to Walt Disney and the Sherman Brothers on the comedy musical sequel “Mary Poppins Returns”; Mark McKenzie for his spectacularly beautiful, reverent score for the Mexican animated film “Max and Me”; and Pinar Toprak for her broad, adventurous, expansive orchestral score for the yacht-racing documentary “Tides of Fate”. With this win Toprak is now the only person with more than two IFMCA Award nominations to win every time she has been nominated – her previous wins were for “The Lightkeepers” (Comedy, 2010) and “The Wind Gods” (Documentary, 2011).

In the non-film categories, composer Christopher Lennertz wins the award for Best Original Score for a Television Series for his bold, exciting score for the rebooted version of the classic sci-fi series “Lost in Space,” while composer Bear McCreary wins the award for Best Original Score for a Video Game or Interactive Media for his thrilling score for the action adventure game “God of War”.

Burbank, California-based La-La Land Records is named Film Music Record Label of the Year in recognition of their ongoing excellence in restoring and releasing the most beloved film scores of the past. Acclaimed album producer Mike Matessino receives both Archival Awards: one for his work restoring and releasing John Williams’s classic score for the 1979 Frank Langella version of “Dracula” on the Varèse Sarabande label, and one for his work in putting together the lavish box set of John Williams’s three Harry Potter scores - “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,” and “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” – for La-La Land Records. Producer Robert Townson shares the award for Dracula, and album artist Jim Titus worked on both releases.

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FILM SCORE OF THE YEAR

• SOLO, music by John Powell

 

FILM COMPOSER OF THE YEAR

• JAMES NEWTON HOWARD

 

BREAKTHROUGH COMPOSER OF THE YEAR

• AMELIA WARNER

 

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A DRAMA FILM

• MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS, music by Max Richter

 

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A COMEDY FILM

• MARY POPPINS RETURNS, music by Marc Shaiman

 

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR AN ACTION/ADVENTURE/THRILLER FILM

• RED SPARROW, music by James Newton Howard

 

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A FANTASY/SCIENCE FICTION/HORROR FILM

• SOLO, music by John Powell

 

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR AN ANIMATED FILM

• MAX AND ME, music by Mark McKenzie

 

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A DOCUMENTARY

• TIDES OF FATE, music by Pinar Toprak

 

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A TELEVISION SERIES

• LOST IN SPACE, music by Christopher Lennertz

 

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A VIDEO GAME OR INTERACTIVE MEDIA

• GOD OF WAR, music by Bear McCreary

 

BEST ARCHIVAL RELEASE - NEW RELEASE OR NEW RECORDING OF AN EXISTING SCORE

• DRACULA, music by John Williams; album produced by Mike Matessino and Robert Townson; liner notes by Mike Matessino; art direction by Jim Titus (Varèse Sarabande)

 

BEST ARCHIVAL RELEASE – COMPILATION

• HARRY POTTER: THE JOHN WILLIAMS SOUNDTRACK COLLECTION; music by John Williams; album produced by Mike Matessino; liner notes by Mike Matessino; art direction by Jim Titus (La-La Land)

 

FILM MUSIC LABEL OF THE YEAR

• LA-LA LAND, MV Gerhard, Matt Verboys

 

FILM MUSIC COMPOSITION OF THE YEAR

• “The Adventures of Han” from SOLO, written by John Williams

Fans of Rachel Portman should be rejoicing at this new deluxe three-disc set of her work for The Storyteller (1987-88; 1991) from Varese Sarabande.  Muppet creator Jim Henson was in the midst of many creative bursts in the 1980s that began by first wrapping The Muppet Show and moving into the fantasy worlds of The Dark Crystal (1982) and Labyrinth (1988).  In the middle of this fertile time, he produced Fraggle Rock which ran on HBO (1983-1987) becoming an important cultural touchpoint for those who were able to watch it on premium cable.  As Fraggle Rock was coming to a close, his daughter Lisa suggested a series that would be an anthology of stories steeped in mythology and folklore.  That idea would become The Storyteller.  John Hurt played the narrator who relates these tales to his rather cynical dog.  The series ran in the UK and appeared here on NBC first.  While reviews were stellar (it even received a Primetime Emmy) the series did not quite catch on and it was dropped from the latter’s schedule.  It would get a second chance on pay cable when HBO decided to run the series and even added a third set of stories, The Storyteller: Greek Myths (1991).

Composer Rachel Portman was in that early stage of her career where a great project would catapult her into more work.  Her first film, Privileged (1982) is remembered mostly for its introduction of Hugh Grant.  Other projects that followed were mostly made for TV movies.  The opportunity to work on a series with somewhat cinematic qualities was an important opportunity for her to demonstrate her craft and she would score all the episodes for both incarnations of the series.

She would write a deliciously mysterious “Main Title” with an opening flute line that gives way to a dark bass clarinet.  Varese opens the first disc with an extended version of this opening leaving disc two to open with the version featuring John Hurt’s narration.  Both discs for The Storyteller are bookended by title music, an “end title” for disc one, and then a shorter main title for disc two.  Disc Two also includes a couple of unused bumpers for the series.  The music is presented as suites (“A” and “B”) that essentially present the two halves of the episode.  These are presented in chronological order.  The music here encapsulates so much of what Portman’s music is known for overall.  Warm string writing, gorgeous melodies that are brilliantly shifted through different instrumental timbres, and that little minor third minimalist-like ostinato pattern.  These are on display throughout the music for “Hans the Hedgehog” which features a heart-melting flute theme and gorgeous soprano sax.  There is even a delightful fiddle jig that adds some folkish flair.  In “A Short Story”, Portman uses her end titles music as the thematic source developing here with these contrasts of darkness (bass clarinet) and magical light (celesta).  Some of the stories are equally creepy, beginning with Fearnot which adds to this with the use of Ondes Martenot and tremolo strings.  There is also a truly beautiful violin idea.  The Luck Child is perhaps one of the darker episodes and Portman creates the perfect atmosphere with the use of contrabassoon and an ethnic flute.  A light flute line is also used against a plodding trombone and strings for “The Heartless Giant.”  Disc two begins with the equally moving “The Soldier and Death” which features a plaintive oboe, a mysterious bass flute in its texture, and later organ.  The score tends to feature rich low woodwinds and adds a harp for a touch of magic.  French Horn becomes an important color connected in the story of “The True Bride” along with celesta.  For the more sinuous, and frightening tale of The Three Ravens Portman chose to use a cor anglaise which adds a deep, dark, reedy quality to the music.  The soprano sax returns for Sapsorrow which also features a truly beautiful waltz, and a nice little string quartet moment.  Throughout the series, the low bass clarinet often helps present the series main theme which creates a nice overall connection across the series.  There tends to be one amazing thematic surprise after another for Portman’s fans to rediscover.

Disc three focuses on music for The Greek Myths and is edited similarly with the two suites for each of the four episodes here.  The UK version is used to open the disc with the US one closing off the primary portion of the presentation.  A couple of brief “bonus” tracks are then added.  The theme here revisits the original with some slight color differences.  The paired suites here for these four episodes are slightly longer than those from the primary series.  However, the style and rich thematic content continues with a general darker mood across the different stories.  First up is Theseus and the Minotaur”. The score continues in the style of those from the previous series, adding trumpet here for its primary tonal color against strings and winds.  The second suite features some interesting folk music that has a more medieval/ancient quality.  Perseus and the Gorgon has some equally beautiful lyric writing that explores low flutes and oboe and adds a sense of danger with high clarinet following a somewhat more sinister melodic outline.  Piano is also added for an extra magical touch here.  That romantic piano and strings, with flute, quality opens Daedalus and Icarus, but this too soon shifts into dark undulating colors.  These two opposites of simple beauty and darker brooding are the primary contrasts of these scores.  The latter suite feels almost balletic in its structure.    The final set of suites follows the storied lovers Orpheus and Eurydice.  This opens with a rapid flute idea in a modal melodic idea that is then accompanied by other folk-like instrumental sounds and a style that was used earlier.  This one tends to rely more on simple solo instrumental statements though lending it a decidedly ancient character, even when the string orchestra and harp appear.  These add a deeper emotional warmth to the music while the “period” or “folk” moments provide the musical contrast.  Each of these little episodes features more gorgeous music that reveals how Portman’s music has coalesced into the sort of sound that would become noted throughout her work in the early 1990s culminating in her Oscar for Emma (1996).

The accompanying booklet is set up as a series of interview responses by the different creative forces involved.  These are organized into good succinct commentary that explores, the stories, the resulting mini films, the music—including brief commentary on each episode’s ideas; and the historical aspects of the primary series.  The information for The Greek Myths though is minimal.  Otherwise, it is a very well-done monument to this important moment of television history.  In a day of so much electronic generic writing, it is an amazing experience to sit back and enjoy the various ways Portman’s music warms these tales, adds an appropriate amount of emotional depth, and helps draw us into these fantasy worlds that blend aspects of darkness and light.  Each has an almost timeless quality to them which makes for an engaging, and rich, listening experience.  This limited edition release of 1500 copies may still be available.