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Gabriel Yared's Troy Reviewed
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| Posted By: David Coscina on June 8, 2004 - 10:00 PM |
Gabriel Yared's Troy Reviewed
By David Coscina
Troy *****
Gabriel Yared
UNRELEASED Excerpts of 18 tracks on gabrielyared.com - 32:53
Listening to Gabriel Yared's unreleased music for Wolfgang Peterson's
sprawling epic Troy, I cannot
help but wonder what would have happened if Mosfilms had ordered
Eisenstein to remove Prokofiev's music from Alexander Nevsky. How would it have
affected the lineage and development of film scoring, much less the
influence that that music had on Hollywood scores over the past 30
years. A bold supposition comparing Yared's music to a benchmark in the
history of film composition perhaps, but the unreleased score to Troy is closer to a cantata in its
style, tone and scope than anything that's come out of Hollywood in
years. The fact that it was tossed on account of being heralded as too
"old fashioned" is more a sad statement on the lack of sophistication
of contemporary audiences combined with the MBA mentality that pervades
in Hollywood, making reckless decisions in favor of the all powerful
dollar.
Every track from Yared's unreleased score offers something of interest
and an evocation of classical composers such as Prokofiev, Ravel,
Holst, Mahler and Debussy. But make no mistake; there are no "danger
motifs" here. The music is wholly original. Yared's compositions have
been crafted in a way that bears some stylistic similarities to the
works of the aforementioned composers but there has been no pillaging
of melodic or harmonic material. Think of the scene in Amadeus where Mozart is playing a
little tune on a clavier taking requests from the audience: "play it in
the style of Bach" or "in the style of Handel." This is what Yared has
done with his material from Troy.
In order to achieve a sense of the old, he has crafted his
multi-movement score in a way that approximates classical pieces yet
contains original melodic and harmonic material. A novel approach in
today's film score climate, but then again, Yared is as comfortable
with classical forms and the concert hall as he is with dramatic
underscoring for the film medium.
A great example of this approach can be found in "Approach of the
Greeks," a standout track. The piece begins with a distant three-note
chromatic ascending motif in the trombones that is imitated by the
horns in a semi-canonic manner. As an aside, the motif is one of a
series of phrases that's recapitulated throughout the score. The music
develops with a male chorus singing forcefully as percussion emphasizes
the invasion with strong accents on the downbeat of the bar. Although
there is an expansive quality to this music, with its strong rhythms
and fortified choral scoring, Yared clearly intersperses low woodwind
utterances of that same three-note motif. The piece builds, adding
female choir so that the entire chorus is singing fortissimo while
trombones take up the motif contrasted by strings and trumpets playing
a Holst-like asymmetrical ostinato in the upper register. Obviously
Holst's "Mars the Bringer of War" has been proliferated throughout our
society and the associations between that rhythmic figure is very
strong. Yared conjures up a great battle by applying this within the
fabric of his original material and thus powerfully suggests a great
conflict is impending.
Another delight of Yared's score is the inclusion of classic forms
found in "Priam's Fugue." The subject, sung by basses in the choir, is
a long melody that has some interesting chromatic turns. On its own,
this theme suggests an aged, slightly demented figure. Yared introduces
the answers that successively enter in up the register so that the
four-part fugue is ultimately being sung by the full range of the mixed
chorus. Because of the chromatic nature of the theme, the counterpoint
that is achieved between the parts creates harmonically unstable music,
effectively underscoring the titular character of the track. On its
own, it's an exciting piece to listen to especially at its conclusion
in which the chorus ends on a major chord (a resolution to the
dissonance) while the low brass once again enunciates that foreboding
three-note Trojan motif.
Yared's Troy is remarkable in
its orchestration. There are plenty of action packed moments but unlike
the ubiquitous action cues in contemporary Hollywood scores of late,
every instrument line is audible and musical. This music is not pitched
sound effects or aural wallpaper. "D-Day Landing" is a fine example of
this. It balances the percussion with low brass phrases, trumpet calls,
and Shostakovich-styled martial string lines in an almost pointillistic
fashion. Everything happens sequentially rather than all at once
thereby making the action coherent and immediate. It recalls the days
of Empire Strikes Back when
one could walk away whistling action cues such as "The Asteroid Field."
As the cue develops into the main theme in the trumpets, Yared leaves
room in between the phrases for horns to play a countermelody that is
imitated in the string section. The dramatic effect of this piece, with
its urgency, evokes the funeral marches of Mahler symphonies and the
impending dread of his 10th Symphony
(1st mvmnt) in particular. Once again, this is evocation rather than
plagiarism.
While the score features plenty of heart pounding action cues, it's
balanced by slower, more somber pieces that Yared's style has long been
associated with. "Hector! Hector!" begins with tentative rising
strings. In fact, the Yared's phrasing in this cue is masterful,
incorporating ritardandos and pauses to allow for a dramatic arc. Once
he's set the tone, Yared develops the piece into an impressionistic
work featuring incandescent choral/string unisons that move toward a
haunting bi-tonal conclusion played mezzo pianissimo.
"Achilles and Brisies" also contains some beautiful written
slower material. Beginning with a string rendition of Achilles theme,
this track is more overtly melodic than "Hector! Hector!" It benefits
from great phrasing, especially when Yared thins out that orchestration
whereby the violas and horns answer the violin theme with four-note
chromatic passage. It's a great way to re-invent the theme and color it
in a different light without abandoning the essence of the thematic
material. In fact, this cue features Achilles theme in its most
melodically developed form. Somewhat akin to the development section of
a sonata form found in a symphony.
Speaking of which, Yared's Troy
has exquisite development and continuity of both motivic and thematic
material. A prime example of this can be found in "The Flurry."
Achilles' theme is played in the trumpet section and is contrasted by a
variation of "Priam's Fugue" in the trombones along with the Trojan
motif added in for good measure. And let's not forget the addition of
that Holst-like ostinato which can also be heard in the strings. Once
again, everything is clearly scored. This kind of clever use of
existing themes isn't just great music but effective underscoring
because it contains a culmination of material that the audience has
heard leading up to this moment in the film…that is, if the music was
retained for this particular film.
I haven't mentioned the "End Credits Song," featuring the vocals by
Tanja Tzarovska that develops upon the melodic material found in "Paris
and Helen" and underlines the tragic elements of the film. Nor have I
detailed that exceptional use of brass in "The Armies Approach" that
recalls Alex North's Spartacus.
Or the percussive "Hector and Achilles" fight featuring anvils to evoke
the sound of a clanging sword fight. There's simply too much great
material to expound upon within the confines of a review.
In truth, Yared's score harkens back to the days of old, when film
scores bristled with overt melodicism, expansive harmonies, and themes
that were truly developed throughout the score. And let's not forget
music that didn't just function as aural wallpaper, something that is
endemic to scores nowadays. Point in fact is, it's impossible to say
how Yared's music would have worked within the narrative because it's
not in the finished film. On its own, it stirs up enough visceral
wallop to suggest great battles, tender character moments and the
tragic consequences of war.
MailBag@filmscoremonthly.com
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Today in Film Score History:
April 25 |
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| Alec Puro born (1975) |
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| Brian May died (1997) |
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| David A. Hughes born (1960) |
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| Franz Waxman records his score for Stalag 17 (1952) |
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| Gary Hughes died (1978) |
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| Georges Delerue records his score for L’Homme Qui Revient De Loin (1972) |
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| Heinz Roemheld's score for Union Station is recorded (1950) |
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| John Williams begins recording his score for How to Steal a Million (1966) |
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