Music is a personal thing, with choices often only clear to the listener. I know my reasons for having Mongolian throat singing in my playlists, even if it makes little sense to others. With this in mind, I want to kick off my MotM with one of my favourite categories: Film Scores. Though not everybody’s cup of tea, they can be very helpful. I like to listen to them when reading or writing, to set a particular atmosphere. Those that can keep my attention away from the page are few and far between. However, I find myself coming back to these few again and again, even for casual listening.
In August, I listened to the soundtrack for Sam Mendes’ war film, 1917. The film follows the story of a near impossible mission undertaken by two British soldiers during WW1. With its long takes and personal focus, 1917 is immersive to the extreme. Newman’s score only amplifies this.
What most critics – and I – wouldn’t recommend, is sitting and listening to the whole thing as you would an ordinary album. In guiding his writing towards action and suspense, Newman has included a LOT of “atmospherics” – varying textures of dissonant and static electronics, percussion etc. used to create and diffuse tension. There is also a rapid, five-second fade-out at the end of most cues (tracks). All this means you likely won’t want to listen to the full hour and seventeen minutes, like I did.
Still, some of the more atmospheric cues are well worth attention. Newman’s harsher critics should remember that he was writing for a purpose. And that he met that purpose extremely well. At no point watching in the cinema was I preoccupied by lack of melody or leitmotifs. I was too busy being scared by the snipers and explosions. The peak of atmospheric writing comes in ‘Sixteen Hundred Men’, which is inspired by Hans Zimmer. It has a strong sense of urgency with its repeated ‘ticking’ pedal under a slow-moving theme, building into what feels like a climactic countdown. The cue’s effective and dramatic, and exactly what you might expect from a War Epic.
That said, the moments I found most powerful – in both film and soundtrack – were in raw, often reflective corners. The cello solos in both first and final cues – ‘1917’ and ‘Come Back to Us’ – are beautifully lyrical, and certainly a relief after the emotional gut-punch of the rest of the movie. Likewise, ‘The Night Window’ is stunning. Even in abstract the slow build from the simple ‘Genhenna’ bell-like idea through to full orchestra is intense. When paired with the film’s image of waking to find the night sky lit with flares and fire, its simultaneous loveliness and underlying threat is just brilliant.
Overall, though facing mixed reviews, 1917’s score deserves attention. Its good moments are really really good. And it is so well thought out. Newman’s use of brass nods to the military, and the soundtrack replicates the parallel opening and closing camera shots, bringing the listener full circle. It may have missed out on that Oscar, but it succeeded in its own impossible mission: to enrich a film that tried to capture claustrophobic isolation, hope, and visceral, anxious horror of war. I am sure I will be listening to some of its cues for years to come.
See full Soundtrack on spotify and on Youtube
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Thomas Newman (1955 – ) is a US composer and frequent collaborator of Sam Mendes. He has scored films like The Shawshank Redemption, WALL-E (a personal favourite), American Beauty, and the two most recent 007 Movies. Newman noted how difficult writing for the Bond and 1917 action genre was, as it could limit a composer’s freedom. If you want to see how well the score and film fit together, I thoroughly recommend giving 1917 a watch – provided you aren’t squeamish and have a hanky at the ready. It’s available here, on Amazon.