Thomas Newman, one of the finest film score composers of our day, did some of his finest work with Meet Joe Black. Mr. Newman is particularly adept with scoring for large orchestra, especially the string section. With the orchestra he often mixes electronic sounds and exotic instruments, not in some gimmicky way but so seamlessly that there's no way to tell exactly what you're hearing. His forte is large-scale, adagios, slowly played by seemingly endless strings to create moods of melancholy, tenderness or triumph. In the case of this score he also has created themes that hint at the vastness and mystery of the universe, something totally appropriate to the film itself.
The music of Meet Joe Black is mostly of a sweeping nature, the large orchestral forces totally engulfing the listener in long passages without any apparent pauses, the kind of music one might listen to when looking at a starry sky deep at night. But there's more than that. The "Everywhere Freesia" section plunges the listener into the world of English Pastoral music for a few minutes of delightful reverie. "Fifth Avenue" is a jaunty dancelike piece that features an almost Klezmer-style clarinet. The Finale (That Next Place) is a resoundingly triumphant movement, full of resolution and ending with a gigantic flourish of horns and strings worthy of a Bruckner symphony.
The soundtrack works very well as a stand alone and can be enjoyed without any knowledge of the film. In addition, it varies it's themes often enough and its tracks are long enough to make it easily listenable. ...(Amazon review)
1 comment:
Thanks a lot!
Post a Comment