As regular readers have probably realized, May was a pretty slow month for releases.  I don't think I have 5 to recommend that were not downloads. 

However, I will say that The Tree of Life score by Alexandre Desplat which I have heard is really a standout score of the year.  There are many threads in this music that have to do with spirituality, life, and nature all rolled into one fascinating score.  Had a physical disc arrived this would be handsdown the best of the month (which means I probably need to move into the 21st century of compressed sound and incldue downloaded promo reviews!).  Desplat's new score is unlike much of his more familiar music and had great potential as standalone concert music.  So, this is the first "best score" of the year for a Terrance Malick film that just one the "Palm d'Or" at Cannes after some much ballyhooed booing at its first screening.

May saw a lot of "announced" limited edition releases some of which are still on the way.  Intrada's release of John Addison's delightful Sleuth score is well worth your time.  Delightful early 1970s orchestration, with a little harpsichord thrown in for good measure, and a couple of great tunes.  Intrada's 2 big surprises in May though are the earliest Jerry Goldsmith score now available on CD, City of Fear from 1958.  I have not had a chance to hear this yet, but the brief material will likely include some nice jazzy assymetrical ideas and have a sound close to another early score, Studs Lonigan.  Personnel notes are that composer John Williams is pianist for the recording.  And this week, fans of Goldsmith's Masada score will finally get a chance to hear the original recording of the score (the Varese disc is a standard "re-recording" at hard to find as an OOP).  The two disc set features Morton Stevens' contributions to the third and fourth parts of the "mini-series".

Varese Sarabande released four "club" discs this month with less fanfare.  Among them is a 2-disc set of music from The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.  The release is listed as "volume 1" and is important because it is some early Bernard Herrmann television music previously unavailable.  It includes his classic arrangement of the show's Gounod theme for 8 bassoons--gotta love that.

So we will see what June brings.  I was a bit lax in posting here since beginning a more vigorous composing schedule that included a vocal work and a band piece.  So most days just zipped by.  I do compose on commission so drop me a line if you are interested.  Most of my music though is available at www.sibeliusmusic.com.

When it comes to scores nominated by AMPAS one sometimes shakes the head in wonderment.  This year though at least most of the scores nominated seem to have received a fairly broad critical recognition.  In the past, I've tended to list five reasons why each score should receive an Oscar but I am going to part ways this year with that criteria.  The five scores nominated this year are:

127 Hours, A.R. Rahman
How To Train Your Dragon, John Powell
Inception, Hans Zimmer
The King’s Speech, Alexandre Desplat
The Social Network, Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross

Each has its unique points but two of them have something in common.  Both Inception and The Social Network feature scores composed away from the film and then edited into the final product by their respective directors.  The procedure is similar to what directors do when they license songs or other classical material for a film and edit it into the final product.  Depending on your point of view, this is either an interesting technical achievement or runs counter to how film music should be written.  Traditionally, composers would sit through a film ("spot") and then determine where music could go--it is what essentially separated a film composer from any other composer because it takes a real special skill to figure this out.  Details get worked out on the scoring stage so that the music can be adjusted to fit the finished (sometimes not completely finished) film.  In both of these current scores that did not happen.  The process might best be likened to that often used by television composers in the 1950s and on where library cues were written to depict certain types of scenes or emotions and then were tracked in as needed, sometimes as recorded, or more often, edited to fit.  So the question would be for the Oscar voter whether or not they liked this approach.  Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross already have a Golden Globe to show for their effort so it is possible that they might pick up an Oscar here--but one wonders if the film has lost some momentum.

Rahman's film underscores a strong performance and a film that seems to be getting more legs.  I can't honestly comment much on it having not had a chance to catch the film or hear much from the score at this time.  It is not like Rahman has not scored a dramatic film, but this one gives him the chance to do that apart from engaging song material.

Desplat's score for The King's Speech is the sort of music one expects for a drama about a disability.  It sounds a lot like The Accidental Tourist (a 1988 nominated score by John Williams).  Two things going for this film have nothing to do with the craft of its composition.  The first is that a pivotal scene uses music by Beethoven for its emotional punch.  On a technical level, the score was recorded with microphones from the period lending it a different sound than contemporary scores.  So it is an example of the technology having an impact on the final product--the way Zimmer's recording approach to Sherlock Holmes garnered a nod last year.

John Powell's first Oscar nomination for How to Train Your Dragon is well-deserved as it is one of his finest scores.  It boasts a more traditional big orchestral sound and technique where music follows the action on screen.  It works unbelievably well in the film and on its own. 

Powell's score deserves an Oscar if you subscribe to that recognition of classic film scoring with big orchestral sound.  However, if you don't, and there are many who will be voting for these scores that don't, this will not be a selling feature and most likely your vote will go to The Social Network.  It is the score most likely to win and drive film music enthusiasts nuts.  But there is a slight chance that Desplat's score will nudge forward and claim him his first Oscar.  Of the four nominees, only Rahman and Zimmer have won and if name recognition has something to do with this Zimmer may pick up his first Oscar since The Lion King (1994). 

The music category may not have many waiting to hear the winner, but regardless of who wins, the choice will be historic.  I'm pulling for Powell and Desplat personally but wish all the nominees the best!  There's always next year!