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.

It would be a very safe bet that there is not a person who has gone to the movies in the past 40 years that has not heard the flute playing of Louise DiTullio.  DiTullio has over 1200 film score recordings to her credit and also bears the distinction of having made some of the classic Stravinsky Columbia recordings with the composer conducting.  Her exquisite playing in films like DANCES WITH WOLVES and HOOK elevated the music in ways its composers might never have expected.  The present disc is a pet project of the flautist intending to pull together some of the finest flute solo moments from some fond film scores so that they can be performed more often in concert.  The chamber music format allows a wider opportunity for the music to be used as well. 

The CD opens with a suite of selections arranged from HOOK by Mark Watters.  Watters has managed a fine reduction of this classic John Williams’ score and the reduced forces are not noticeable at all.  The music moves beautifully from the “Prologue” through smaller cues, the beautiful “You Are the Pan,” “When You’re Alone,” and concludes with “The Lost Boys Chase.”  It all works rather splendidly.

Conductor Ronald Royer arranged the remaining film music selections.  Again, pulling out more of the flute lines for the music from Dances With Wolves does not damage the integrity of Barry’s musical ideas at all.  They are helped by DiTullio’s sensitive and rich playing.  The music from Elfman’s CHARLOTTE’S WEB is an odd choice and less interesting than much of the other material on the disc, but it does provide for some stylistic diversity.  There are two Jerry Goldsmith themes included on the disc.  The first one from SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY has a sinuously dark quality while the sheer beauty of the theme from RUDY, which closes the entire program, is a gorgeous and fitting conclusion to the disc. 

Music inspired by the Wind in the Willows stories is heard in the unaccompanied flute piece by Laurence Rosenthal, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn.  The work is receiving a premiere recording here and is an amazing demonstration of DiTullio’s technical skill as well as being a fine solo flute work in its own right.  It begins a segment of the disc devoted to concert hall pieces with some Hollywood connection.  The thirteen-minute Short Stories by conductor Ronald Royer is a sort of homage to great film music styles and composers from film noir to Mancini.  It a rather unique work in that each movement uses a flute from a different register allowing for a quick exploration of the virtuosic abilities on each.  The alto flute, bass flute, C flute (regular flute), and piccolo each get their own movement.  David Rose wrote Le Papillon for DiTullio in 1980 and through the work of Royer the piece can now be enjoyed by a host of chamber music audiences in this reduced ensemble version.  This near fifteen-minute piece is simply gorgeous with enough of Rose’s filmic touches to identify his musical voice quite easily.

Overall, the sound of this release is superb.  The flute manages to cut through the chamber textures quite well.  Apart from a couple of perhaps overly-exuberant French horn moments that almost blurt, the music making here by the Sinfonia Toronto is perfect with a dedication to rival their colleagues in Southern California.  DiTullio’s playing is simply magical and one quickly hears why so many of Hollywood’s finest composers turned and continue to turn to her to interpret their music.  Her brief comments personalize this music in a way we might otherwise overlook while the additional liner notes remind the listener that so often Hollywood performers come to sessions music unseen and have roughly an hour for every 5 minutes of music to get it right.  The present CD is worth tracking down for any number of reasons whether it be repertoire or performance.  It ends far too soon even though it is quite generous in its playing time.  Some might find themselves running to their music libraries to listen carefully again to DiTullio’s performances in their original score sessions.  Easily one of the best film music compilations this year!