The Oscar nominations were announced today.  My earlier predictions for what might end up here resulted in a 4/5 correct.  Every year there is usually some common thread that pulls the score nominations together.  This year, it may be that each of these scores is a return to more traditional film composition, perhaps reflecting a nostalgia for supportive music that enhances a story through thematic support and development.  Each also hearkens back to a previous era in some ways suggesting a bit of a nostalgic thread through the music choices this year.

First off, it is no surprise that Ludovic Bource's wonderful score for The Artist appears here.  This is the composer's first nomination and he already received the Golden Globe for this score.  For 4 years running, the winning scores of the year received both awards.  The film is the sort of bait Hollywood loves,  which is to say it is about a love affair with the magic of the movies and recalls the Golden Age of film scoring.  This is a good nomination and most likely it will continue the pattern with an Oscar win here.

Howard Shore's last Oscar nomination, and win, was for the final score in the Lord of the Rings trilogy in 2004.  While Hugo is a wonderful film and score, it might not be enough to edge out the other scores this year.  It does recall many a magical film accompaniment however. 

As stated in my earlier, "Best of the Year" review, I find Alberto Iglesias' score for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy to be one of his finest efforts of the year, edging out the more macabre The Skin I Live In.  The composer's last nomination came in 2008 for The Kite Runner.  That score made use more of ethnic musics.  The present one is a return to Herrmann-esque scoring and a little film noir style.

The last time John Williams was nominated for an Oscar was in 2006 when two of his finest scores were both nominated, Memoirs of a Geisha and Munich.  When Williams gets two Oscar nods, the scores tend to cancel each other out making room for one of the other entries to move into the number one spot.  2006 was probably the biggest disappintment when he lost to the somewhat suspect music used in Brokeback Mountain.  For some perspective, the only time Williams one an Oscar when nominated twice was back in 1977 when both Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Star Wars were nominated, the latter winning him an Oscar.  (Coincidentally, the score won the Golden Globe that year as well.)  Both scores Williams provided are being nominated.  The first is for The Adventures of Tin-Tin.  While the score itself is essentially classic Williams, I am not so convinced that this is a good choice here.  A lot of the score feels like a blend of the many types of things the composer has revisited in previous films, especially Catch Me If You Can.  In some ways though, the music here recalls the composer's work in the 1960s--though the music is more sophisticated than in those days.  The other score nomination is for War Horse.  This is the score many were waiting to hear this past year and it features some amazing orchestral writing which recalls the sort of music that pushed emotional buttons and was common procedure for many decades.  The blend of Irish melodic structures hearkens back as well to the composer's score for Far and Away.  As much a fan as I am, I cannot bring myself to feel like either of these scores are at the same level as the ones nominated in 2006, though I too would love to see the composer win for War Horse this year.

Of course, with the nominations announced, I will begin my annual overview of each score here, pointing out as best as possible what each score has going for it and what the problems might be as well as we head into the next couple of months.

Concerts featuring music from The Lord of the Rings and Star Wars worldwide have continued to raise awareness by orchestras that adding a film night to their concert season might just be the sort of financial boost they need.  It also allows audiences the chance to experience the music in new contexts and with a live orchestra that might otherwise never do so.  The Mannheim court may never have thought that 200 years later its orchestra would still be around let alone performing non-classical music in public.  But that is exactly the case in this unique new release from Oehms Classics.  The Kurpfalzisches Chamber Orchestra decided to program a suite of music by Morricone on one of its concerts and the resulting overwhelming response convinced the ensemble and its board that they were on to something.  They turned to Matthias Keller to provide further arrangements of other music that the chamber group could perform.  For this recording on Oehms Classics, conductor Frank Zacher leads the ensemble in film music from the latter part of the 20^th- and beginning of the 21^st centuries and in some cases is joined by international pan flute artist Ulrich Herkenhoff.  The disc balances the pieces with Herkenhoff with purely orchestral selections for a rather enjoyable release.

Lest the addition of a pan flute be cause for pause, know that it tends to work fairly well in places adding a somewhat folk-like feel to the music.  It works quite well in the selection from Shore’s The Lord of the Rings score (“In Dreams”) and is perfect for Enya’s “May It Be So” heard later on the disc. It works a bit less so in the love theme from Bernstein’s The Age of Innocence mostly because the piece feels a bit rushed.  The primary work on the disc is an 18-minute suite derived from some of Morricone’s most popular works (Once Upon a Time in America, The Mission, La Piovra, Sacco and Vanzetti, and The Professional).  The somewhat Baroque feel of the music is well-captured in this arrangement that comes complete with harpsichord accompaniment.  The addition of the pan flute for the melodic segments does add a rather fascinating dimension to the six selections incorporated into the suite itself and it allows for some rather interesting results.  The while thing works surprisingly well—especially in the “Gabriel’s Oboe” from The Mission and in the selections from Once Upon a Time in America.  Later a single track from The Lady Califf becomes a wonderful duet for oboes and pan flute.

The “Convent of Sant’Anna” from The English Patient shows off the orchestra’s ability to capture the period inflections of this cue from Yared’s score quite well.  Later, the two familiar themes from Rota’s The Godfather (the waltz and love theme) receive moving and sensitive performances.  The inclusion of the delightful waltz from Amelie is one of many highlights on the disc.  What makes a compilation film music disc work best is when it includes the familiar and popular with equally fine, lesser known films and composers.  Zacher has chosen a couple of these for the latter part of the release with selections from Niki Reiser’s beautiful theme from Beyond Silence and Nigel Hess’ Ladies in Lavender (with Herkenhoff returning to solo on the latter in a gorgeous performance).  Goodwin’s delightful theme from the Miss Marple films is a wonderfully performed piece that captures the humor and wit of the music and the performance of Mancini’s popular theme from The Pink Panther (minus percussion) lets the ensemble try its hand at swing which was no doubt the cause of much laughter to get a classical chamber orchestra to swing.  The string writing is fine and things are kept perhaps just above being a silly misstep. 

Finally, as a sort of encore, arranger Matthias Keller has written a little set of “variations” called Elise Goes to Hollywood.  Beethoven’s classic Fur Elise gets taken to see Jurassic Park, Psycho, The Godfather, and Once Upon a Time in the West being invariably, and sometimes humorously, transformed as Keller treats the idea in the styles of each of the composer’s represented.  It makes for a fine cap to a rather enjoyable program.

What sets the disc apart is the musicianship of the ensemble that takes each of these works and performs them with sensitivity and the sort of clarity one expects from top-notch chamber ensembles.  At the very least, Keller’s arrangements capture the essence of the musical cues selected and provide for a beautiful release.  Oehms’ sound is quite clear and well-balanced making one not only want to hope for future film-related releases, but also to seek out other fine recordings by this superb, historic ensemble from Mannheim.—Steven A. Kennedy