Well it was a long fruitful weekend and now I'm sitting back listening to a ton of music that landed here today.  Since we are fast approaching the Oscars, it is time to weigh in on the nominated scores.  I've already commented earlier here on Javier Navarrete's music for Pan's Labyrinth.  

THE QUEEN (ALEXANDER DESPLAT)

I have been a growing fan of Desplat's music for some time now.  This year he scored three films that provided windows listeners a chance to discern his musical approach.  Generally, Desplat has a style that most hear as a continuation and extension of John Williams.  I think that is due mostly to some of his ability to compose wonderful full thematic statements in often lush orchestrations.  Yet, Desplat also has a decided blend of European film scoring and Hollywood film scoring approaches that can be quite entrancing.  His approach in the Golden Globe winning score for last year's The Painted Veil is as different from The Queen as one can get.  Add to that the score for Firewall and you begin to see that Desplat is very capable of writing underscore that is not simply copying a temp track.  The Queen made me wonder if there would not be a Harry Potter film in Desplat's future.  There are moments of pure magic in this score as things get layered on top of one another and a celesta line adds just a little bit more otherworldly dusting.  The score unfolds its thematic ideas with great restraint.  Most interesting is the way a theme seems to grow out of a small motivic idea and then collapses backward on itself.  It's interesting to hear especially in the two ""People's Princess" tracks.  There is also a sense of classical poise and restraint in another thematic idea that appears in music for Elizabeth and Tony.  It makes for a delightful listening experience. 

THE GOOD GERMAN (THOMAS NEWMAN)

I had little interest in even seeing this Soderbergh film...until now.  Thomas Newman's score picks up the legacy of his father, the legendary Alfred Newman.  This is one of those scores that takes the classic Golden Age scoring approach to the extreme.  The harmonic language here combines some of the film noir style of Rosza with Steiner, but there is still plenty of Thomas Newman's own interesting thematic development.  If he ever wanted to consider extending a work into a concert piece, this is the score that could do just that.  The music here is the kind of thing that makes you sit up and take notice as you listen to its CD presentation.  A fine main title, an interesting love theme, and interesting orchestrations by Thomas Pasatieri help lift this score to the top of Newman's output.  Probably the best score he has done since The Shawshank Redemption. 

Now, Newman tends to receive an Oscar nod every once in a while and the academy has tended to be pretty good at picking the best of his game for these nominations.  This score is no exception.  Now for the goofy trivia moment.  Newman's score is released on Varese Sarabande, THE label for film music.  So far, no nominated Oscar score that was first released on this label has won.  I know, stupid reasoning. 

Thoughts so far

The music category is an odd one this year altogether as mentioned earlier here.  Both of the scores discussed today are definitely worthy contenders.  I would be hard picked to choose between either of these nominations but personal taste would have me leaning to the Newman score even though it is not necessarily "original."

I am even more confused as to why the music for Babel was even nominated since it uses so much tracked in music from other composers that it should have been ineligible.  So it will probably win.

I'll take a listen to the Glass score and post thought on that later today, or tomorrow.

My first comments about this Alexandre Desplat score were a couple of weeks ago (1/16, with link to purchase) when it received the Golden Globe.  Desplat's score for The Queen is up for an Oscar as well.  I finally had a chance though to hear The Painted Veil this week. 

There is a lot to like in this classically restrained score.  The title track only hints at some of the ideas to come and sounds a lot like a John Adams post-minimalist score at times.  Desplat's music demonstrates that he is a fine composer at any rate.  The "River Waltz" (which appears in a piano solo and piano with ensemble version) is a delightful miniature.  More interesting though is that it forms a nice parallel to the Satie piano piece included on the disc, the "Gnossienne no. 1."  There are some melodic and extramusical similarities between the two pieces that made me wonder if Desplat was asked to write something to match it.  He manages to do that brilliantly here.  "Kitty's Theme" stands out less than other purely thematic tracks from other Desplat scores (expecially "Griet's Theme" in the gorgeous A Girl With A Pearl Earing).

The longest track, "The Water Wheel," is the highlight of the album.  It is filled with a wonderful forward propulsion that makes use of thematic elements as well as a delightful piano filligree that is orchetrated to accompany along the primary melodic line.  At times, this particular track reminded me of John Williams' music for last year's Memoirs of a Geisha.  As the energy is handed over to a battery of various percussion instruments the track builds to a brief climax before folding back onto itself with some creepy string echoes.  Desplat's use of the piano in this score has a kind of E.T. sound as well that gives him a chance to inherit William's musical sound while carving out his own unique orchestration approach. 

I think what is striking is how Desplat has also incorporated an orchestral style that takes a little from French music in the 1920s.  The opening of "The Lovers" sounds like something from the pen of Debussy, and the piano and orchestral combinations seem at times to take their inspiration from Ravel.  Helping the score as a listening experience is the recurrence of Desplat's engaging thematic writing.  We hear these themes in their entirety enough to be able to discern them when they are later deconstructed, to magical effect in "Promenade." 

The Deutsche Grammaphon cover art is attractive as well and the sound is wonderful. 

This disc makes a fine companion to Dario Marianelli's superb music for 2005's Pride and Prejudice.  That score illustrates a more Classical approach a la Beethoven.  But they are two great examples of updating previous historical music periods into present film music.