Komponeret af:
John Williams

Dirigeret af:
John Williams

Orkestrering:
John Neufeld

Fremført af:
Ukendt

Trompet-soli:
Tim Morrison

Udgivet:
1995

Label:
Hollywood Records - HI-62043-2

Anmeldt:
06/12/2005

Lydklip:
1. The 1960's: The Turbulent Years (0:33)

3. Growing Up In Whittier (0:40)

4. The Ellsberg Break-In and Watergate (0:30)

11. The Meeting With Mao (0:33)
Nixon



Nixon fra 1995 er ét af John Williams mørkere scores fra 90'erne, og langt mørkere end musikken fra JFK som Williams også komponerede til en Oliver Stone-film.

Selv om der er temaer på Nixon skal man ikke forvente et stærkt tematisk album; der er forholdsvis meget underscore på albummet. Når det er sagt, skal det imidlertid med det samme slås fast at den underscore der er bestemt ikke er dårlig. Det dominerer måske bare en smule på albummets anden halvdel.

Der er to temaer på scoret fra Nixon. Det første tema høres i en trunkeret version i begyndelsen af nummer 1,"The 1960's: The Turbulent Years", hvor det nærmest har karakter af en fanfare, men går derefter over i den fuldt udviklede version. Temaet viger dog forholdsvis hurtigt pladsen for scorets andet tema; et højdramatisk og ret brutalt tema, der bærer en (meget) overfladisk lighed med "The Imperial March" - men kun overfladisk! Temaet er drevet af ostinatoer og blæsere, og er i al sin brutalitet ganske fremragende. Scoret blide tema høres bedst i nummer 3, "Growing Up in Whittier". Det er et nærmest landligt idyllisk nummer, uden at Williams dog forfalder til den rene americana. Nummeret har en uskyldig kvalitet, der står i skærende kontrast til scorets overvejende dystre karakter. Og så nyder nummeret godt af Tim Morrisons trompetsolo.

Af de to temaer er det det magtfulde tema 2, der er mest prominent på albummet, og det dukker op i flere cues, hvor det også nogle gange kun anvendes kort.

Hovedindtrykket af scoret er dog den forholdsvis store mængde atmosfærisk underscore. Her er der bl.a. nogle fremragende numre, der nærmest må karakteriseres som suspense. Herunder "The Ellsberg Break-In and Watergate" (nr. 4), der begynder med percussion og piano-drevet suspense, der har en (igen overfladisk) lighed med Williams' suspense-musik fra JFK. Senere i cuet anvender Williams også synthesizer, hvilket han faktisk gør på adskillige numre uden at det nogensinde bliver påtrængende.

Også nummer 5, "Love Field: Dallas, November 1963", må nærmest karakteriseres som suspense, der er konstrueret over et motiv der gentages igen og igen mens orkestret langsomt spiller højere og højere indtil nummeret når et crescendo ca. midtvejs og skifter karakter - dog forbliver det atmosfærisk underscore.

Et af scorets højdepunkter er "The Meeting With Mao" (nr. 11), der er et smukt og til tider nærmest tragisk strygerdomineret nummer, bygget over en variation af det første tema.

Det eneste tidspunkt Williams lader musikken antage triumferende proportioner er i slutningen af nummer 10, "The Miami Convention, 1968". Også dette nummer er blandt scorets højdepunkter, der igen anvender det ostinato-drevne sekundære tema, som Williams bygger op til den triumferende slutning.

Derudover er der nogle numre, der ikke rigtig sker så meget i, men som primært består af lav, dyster og/eller tragisk underscore - f.eks. nr. 6, "Losing a Brother", nr. 9 "Track 2 and the Bay of Pigs" (hvor dog også det sekundære tema dukker op) og nr. 12, "I Am That Sacrifice". Disse numre er på ingen måder dårlige, men taler nok ikke til de, der er mere hooked på Williams tematisk orienterede scores. Der er dog tale om fint udarbejdede cues (som altid når man har med Williams at gøre), og det er stemningsfulde numre.

Scoret er komponeret primært for symfoniorkester (som Williams altid gør), med anvendelse af synthesizer hist og her og også en del percussion. Desuden har Williams i flere cues trukket pianoet længere frem i lydbilledet end sædvanligt for ham, hvilket især gælder i de mere suspense-agtige cues. Endelig må også igen nævnes Tim Morrison, der har flere smukke trompet-soli på albummet.

Nixon er et fint score af Williams, og passer utvivlsomt filmen fremragende (jeg har endnu ikke set den). Musikkens karakter synes især at understrege Nixons mørke sider, men glemmer heller ikke de mere opløftende, selv om det er de førstnævnte der dominerer - især på albummets anden halvdel. Albummet er, med en spilletid på ca. 47 minutter et forholdsvist kort Williams-album, men længden er udmærket; med mindre der er mere tematisk orienteret materiale ville albummet nok ikke kunne holde til en meget længere spilletid uden til sidst at blive en anelse langtrukkent.

På nær "The Battle Hymn of the Republic", der ligger midt på albummet som nr. 7, flyder albummet meget fint, og hvis man er til Williams' mere mørke side vil man uden tvivl nyde Nixon.


Nummerliste:
  1. The 1960's: The Turbulent Years (5:01)
  2. Main Title... The White House Gate (4:15)
  3. Growing Up In Whittier (2:40)
  4. The Ellsberg Break-In and Watergate
  5. Love Field: Dallas, November 1963
  6. Losing A Brother
  7. The Battle Hymn of the Republic*
  8. Making A Comeback
  9. Track 2 and The Bay of Pigs
  10. The Miami Convention, 1968
  11. The Meeting With Mao
  12. "I Am That Sacrifice"
  13. The Farewell Scene
Total spilletid: 46:57

* Written by William Steffe and Julia Ward Howe



Noter:

CD'ens sleeve indeholder tekniske credits og nogle få billeder fra filmen.


Udvalgte credits:

Music Ccomposed, Conducted and Produced by John Williams

Trumpet Solos: Tim Morrison

Orchestrator: John Neufeld
Music Editor: Ken Wannberg

Music Preparation: Jo Ann Kane Music Service

Executive Soundtrack Album Producer: Budd Carr


English-language abstract:

Nixon is one of John Williams' darker scores from the mid-nineties. For the same reason, and because it contains a fair share of underscore, it might not appeal greatly to fans of Williams' more lighthearted and thematic material.

Not because there are no themes on the score - there are, but they are in no way dominating the album, and while one theme is reasonably light, the other is quite dark. Both theses crop up several times on the album. Both are presented in the very first track, "The 1960's: The Turbulent Years", but the first theme is presented in its most complete version in track 3, "Growing Up In Whittier". It's a quite lovely theme, somewhat rural and very idyllic although Williams never turns the theme into pure americana. The track features beautiful trumpet-solos by Tim Morrison.

The second theme is of another nature; a dark ostinato-driven theme, rich with brass, percussion and a bit of synths. It has a very superficial likeness to "The Imperial March", and in all its brutality it's a very effective and impressive theme.

Much of the music on the album is underscore, however, quite a bit of which is of a kind I would describe as suspense. For instance "The Ellsberg Break-In and Watergate" (track 4), which, with piano and subdued percussion, has some likeness with Williams' own suspense-cues from the earlier Oliver Stone-film JFK. Another suspense-driven track is "Love Field: Dallas, November 1963" where the orchestra its slow suspense-motif to a crescendo before the track changes character a bit.

Some tracks consist mainly of athmospheric underscore, for instance "Losing a Brother" (track 6), "Track 2 and the Bay of Pigs" (track 9) and "I Am That Sacrifice" (track 12). Themes do appear in these tracks, but they are mainly underscore-tracks. Not that this is a bad thing; the underscore is extremely well-composed as is always the case with Williams. One of these, "The Meeting With Mao" (track 11) is even one of the highlights of the score. It is a beautiful string-dominated cue with an almost elegiac quality.

Nevertheless the running time of about 47 minutes, which is somewhat short for a Williams-album, is probably enough unless more thematic material was left off the album. Had the album been longer, it would have run the risk of running out of energy in the second half due to the overweight of underscore.

Only once does Williams allow the music to swell to triumphant proportions - in "The Miami Convention, 1968", where Williams builds the ostinato-driven secondary theme to its triumphant conclusion.

The score is primarily composed for orchestra, as usually with Williams and with a dash of synths. In several cues (especially the suspense-like tracks), the piano is accentuated, however, which is somewhat unusual for Williams, but it works great. Also several tracks are blessed with Tim Morrison's trumpet-solos.

Nixon is yet another fine score from Williams which should appeal to all who like the darker aspects of the composer's music.


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ANDRE MENINGER OM SCORET
"Nixon is a wonderfully dark and motivic score. Williams accomplished what Stone hoped for in the film by crafting a score rooted in duality. The turbulent and heroic motifs suggest the duality of Nixon's character; he was a man driven by demons, yet one for whom greatness was just beyond his reach. It is lamentable that Oliver Stone has been unable to make a political film since Nixon; his films about the American experience in the 1960's and 1970's count among his most powerful works. If Stone is ever able to make another film with an American history theme, perhaps we will see another Stone-Williams collaboration."
*** (Todd China, Filmtracks)

"Nixon isn't quite up there with Williams's very best efforts, but it's an intelligent and powerful dramatic score that stands up very well to repeated listening. ... Highly recommended."
**** (James Southall, Movie Wave)

"Many reviews and articles I have read have questioned the thinking behind Williams' Oscar nomination for this score, but I have nothing but praise for the Academy's decision here. I would imagine that it must be very difficult to score a movie of this type, especially with a character such as Nixon, where the tone of the music has to be balanced perfectly so as not to influence the viewer in to making a certain kind of judgement about character, but while still adding the right amount of drama and weight to the scene. Like I've said before in other reviews, scores like Nixon simply maintain Williams' standing as the most respected composer in Hollywood at the moment. "
**** (Jonathan Broxton, Movie Music UK)