The Soloist Composed by Dario Marianelli
Decca Records (2009)
Rating:
8/10
Soundclips provided below by AmazonMP3
“In the case of
DARIO MARIANELLI and THE SOLOIST, we have something unique; a much
different experience than his elegant, original works of the past,
but ultimately, no less enthralling.”
Voice Over, Beethoven!
Review by Christopher Coleman
By the close of 2008, THE SOLOIST had
been on a number of “most anticipated” lists for the better part of a
year. I counted myself among those who were eagerly awaiting this film.
Oddly, a last minute decision was made to push the release date back from
the heart of the award-qualifying-rounds of 2008 and into the comparative
obscurity of the second quarter of 2009. The film would star Robert Downey
Jr. and with his performance in the mega-hit, IRON MAN, he had become a major box-office draw
again. Jamie Foxx’s newfound bankability and the ever-enthralling
direction of Joe Wright added further reason to have such expectations. Add to this another opportunity for composer DARIO MARIANELLI, fresh off his Oscar winning score for ATONEMENT, to wow
audiences with another graceful composition, and THE SOLOIST
was poised to please on just about every level a film can.
With all of this going for it, THE SOLOIST faced some inherent
difficulties that films of this type generall do. First the portrayal of someone with a
mental/emotional challenge can easily tip into the well-worn spaces carved
out after films like RAINMAN or FORREST GUMP; weakening their story's
emotional power or rendering unintentionally comical. It’s a difficult line to
walk; to give an honest portrayal without offending members of the
audience. THE SOLOIST certainly bumps that line from time to time, but
manages to keep itself unspotted from the world of parody. From a
film-music perspective, there is another challenge for a film centered around
the subject of music itself…especially classical music.
In such instances, those looking for something fresh-off-the-pen of their favorite composer,
can have those hopes dashed in a way, as the respective soundtrack often
ends up being solely comprised of classical greats of yester-era. Of
course, compiling these classics as the representing soundtrack
makes complete sense, but are seldom favorites of soundtrack
collectors. On occasion; however, a composer is still needed for this sort
of film. Whether his/her music actually makes it onto the
soundtrack is another story. In the case of DARIO MARIANELLI and THE
SOLOIST, we have something unique; a much different experience than his
elegant, original works of the past, but ultimately, no less enthralling.
What is so different about THE SOLOIST? Well, upon first listen, you, like
me, might find the score a rather bland concoction of slices of Beethoven.
With successive listens; however, Marianelli's work becomes an delicately
detailed work which finds its foundations in the works of Ludwig von
Beethoven. This particular story almost made it impossible to go any other
direction, but from that foundation, DARIO MARIANELLI builds something
especially engaging. Taking portions of some of these great works, Marianelli crafts a musical personality for the film and its central
character, Nathaniel Ayers (Jamie Foxx). He gives Ayers a representative
theme crafted from Beethoven's String Quartet No. 14, Op. 131, Mvmt. i. On
Decca's soundtrack, we first hear this in "Paper Mache World" (3) as a
curious, solo vocal begins the piece before moving into string
accompaniment. This idea returns often but in various permutations: an
accordion duet in "Accordion's Interlude" (10) and lead by cello,
augmented by male vocals, in "The Voices Within" (12). Careful inspection
will find this idea also hiding amidst some of the darker moments of the
film like "Falling Apart" (7).
Moving beyond Ayer's theme, DARIO MARIANELLI employs several other powerful, Beethoven compositions.
After the Ayers theme, the next most prominent feature is found in "Crazy
About Beethoven" (2) and "Four Billion Years" (8) where Marianelli carefully arranged portions of Beethoven's Symphony No. 3 (Eroica). In
"Pershing Square" (1) we find a slightly-off kilter, violin performance of
String Quartet No. 15, Op. 132, Mvmt. iii. and a tranquil performance
again in "A City Symphony" (4). The sublime "Sister" (13) is a segment of
Beethoven's Triple Concerto, Op. 56, Mvmt. ii. Sonata for Cello & Piano,
Op. 102, No. 1, Mvmt. i is found in the later half of "This is My
Apartment" (5). After the a quick Bach-diversion found in "Cello Lesson" (14) (ie. Bach´s
Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, I. Prelude), the soundtrack and film
concludes with the ultimately satisfying Symphony No. 9, Op. 123, Mvmt.
iii. It's one thing to simply employ the existing works of Beethoven
as film score, but quite another to adapt and arrange them so that they
provide a new voice for a very specific character. It has to be
close to classical-sacrilege, but Marianelli has pulled it off...and
managed to, I'm sure, keep Mr. Beethoven quite stationary on his back.
DARIO MARIANELLI musically mimics what the film does so well visually. He
and Joe Wright, help us to enter Nathaniel Ayer's ironic world of
conflict, confusion, yet of beauty and harmony as well. From Joe Wright,
we hear the voices in his head and see the colors of music in his minds
eye. From Marianelli, we hear the real world performance of Nathaniel's
violin or cello, frought with imperfections. At the same time, we
also hear the magnificent
symphonic pieces from Beethoven as Nathaniel hears them in his own heart
and mind. Again, Marianelli brings in real-world sound design into one of
his tracks, "A City Symphony," as he did in ATONEMENT. This time we hear
the sounds of, what Nathaniel would call "life's symphony" instead of the centerpoint of the 2008 Oscar winner, the rhythmic typewriter.
It's inclusion is another mark for his creativity and composing
intelligence, which continues to help separate his works from so many
others. I'd have to guess that
adapting of the works of Beethoven was much tougher than writing all
original music for the film. I'm certain that had DARIO MARIANELLI chosen
to go that route, we would have heard solid effort in its own right, but
what he has done for THE SOLOIST is, while not as immediately engaging as
some of his other works,
even more clever. Unfortunately, given the amount of pre-existing music
utilized, I doubt it will qualify for an Oscar nomination. Be that as it may, Marianelli's
work for THE SOLOIST is deserving of more than a few listens and plenty
of recognition.
