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| Williams |
Far and Away: (John Williams) In an age when few
films were shot in the expansive 70mm format, Ron Howard's
Far and
Away was a welcome return to the glorious cinematography of
Hollywood's great epics of yesteryear. When combined with the expansive
score by John Williams, the 1992 film was seen as an engaging and
beautiful visual and aural experience. Unfortunately, audiences also had
to contend with a contrived script and unconvincing performances by
lovebirds Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. It may look and sound great, but
Far and Away doesn't make much practical sense for the era,
moving in predictable narrative directions built seemingly only for
convenient Hollywood endings. The two leads come from different classes
in Ireland but flee together to America out of convenience, meandering
their separate ways once there but reuniting in an unlikely coincidence
to participate as reconciled lovers in the Oklahoma land races of 1893.
They strike luck at a fertile location along a river and all is too
wonderful. None of these problems seemed to have bothered Williams,
whose first collaboration with Howard proved to be among the best that
the director would ever have, even considering the multiple classics
that resulted from Howard's work with James Horner, including
Willow and
Apollo 13. Williams had explored darker
stylistic territory in the late 1980's, writing several inconsistent,
intimate scores that were worlds away from his monumental fantasy and
adventure works earlier in the decade. With 1991's
Hook, however,
came a rediscovery of Williams' more exciting action work, and
Far
and Away similarly rolled to the top of film music's quality charts
the following year. The film provided the composer with an opportunity
to write for several genres at once; the story obviously has a
significant Irish tilt, and Williams embellishes upon the ethnic
elements with substantial beauty of authenticity in that realm.
More intriguingly,
Far and Away also represented
one of the first Western scores in a long time for Williams, whose
endeavors in the genre during 1970's were often more unusual in tone
than the straight forward kind of frontier adventure that you hear in
this film. Finally, this period in Williams' career wasn't complete
without the application of a spirited scherzo to elevate the perceived
classicism of the score in a few parts. The shifting of the narrative
from Ireland to Oklahoma allowed the composer to explore both locales'
themes in expected instrumental colors, and while the score excels in
these stereotypical but beautifully executed expressions, some of the
best moments merge the two styles during their inevitable transition. It
was typical for the composer to collaborate with a soloist or noteworthy
group to perform for his scores in the 1990's, and the idea to approach
The Chieftains came from Howard, who had heard the group perform years
earlier and noted that they were per chance appearing with the Boston
Pops at the time Howard sought to engage Williams for
Far and
Away. Unlike prior and subsequent appearances by the group in film
scores, including James Newton Howard's
The Water Horse,
Williams' incorporation of the group here is both relevant to the topic
of the film and integrated with his orchestral ensemble in the score
proper. That group is also joined by uilleann pipes, pan flutes, and
penny whistle for the more lyrical ethnic passages, sometimes courtesy
of Horner's usual performers, and Williams also taps brief synthesizer
augmentation at times, heard most prominently at the outset of "Leaving
Home." Aside from handling both the ethnic and adventure genres with
outstanding precision,
Far and Away is an overwhelmingly
successful score because of Williams' abnormally keen knack for
generating several enticing themes for various situations in his works.
The work has no less than three major themes and an equal number of
supporting motifs, each majestic in their application to the ensemble
and solo woodwind performances. Some, in fact, could rival the recorder
solos in
Schindler's List.
The first theme in
Far and Away is the most
haunting element of the score; perpetually rising and falling in each of
its parts, Williams' yearning idea for the Irish homeland is truly
beautiful. Offered in "County Galway, June 1892" with grace on penny
whistle and extending to equally elegant performances by pan flutes in
the first moments of both "Leaving Home" and "Joseph's Dream," this
theme receives a few full ensemble performances later on. It's
understandably rare in its appearances as the film's story transforms
into an American one, but it's intoxicating during each usage. The
second theme is an overarching representation of both the love story and
the journey the leading couple takes. It is, in short, the primary idea
for
Far and Away, and its performances span a range from the same
solo ethnicity applied to the Irish theme to magnificent ensemble
explosions that run through the momentous finale of the score. This
primary theme is no less attractive than the Irish one, often following
it on pan flute (in "County Galway, June 1892" and "Leaving Home"), and
extending to further woodwind flourishes in the middle of "The Reunion"
and "End Credits." It proves orchestrally victorious in the last few
cues, as the race for Oklahoma territory proves fruitful for the couple.
The third major theme in
Far and Away is designated specifically
for the racing concept, with a rousing introduction in the middle of
"Joseph's Dream" and slowly building in momentum as the land grab draws
near. As with most of the performances of this brassy, timpani-pounding
adventure identity, the main theme is usually waiting for a boisterous
entry at the end. Interestingly, the theme for "The Land Race" serves
mostly as a transitional marker for other motifs, experiencing its only
other full performances in the "End Credits." Expect to hear a
surprising dose of Horner's
The Rocketeer in this cue. The action
material in the score often meanders in directions of its own, quickly
referencing other ideas. One such reference comes near the start of the
spectacular "The Land Race," a cue that rolls with all the excitement of
Williams' later
Star Wars prequel action cues and remains one of
the most exhilarating single compositions of his career.
The theme referenced near the outset of "The Land Race"
is a more ambitiously ethnic one aimed specifically at The Chieftains
for its major performances. Heard fully in "The Fighting Donellys" and
the beginning of "End Credits," the same wild, Irish spirit is applied
to "Fighting for Dough." Another singular idea that Williams conjures
for
Far and Away is a scherzo heard in "Blowing Off Steam" and in
a quick interlude in the "End Credits;" it's a comical extension of the
almost identical style heard in
Home Alone and
Indiana Jones
and the Last Crusade. An Irish anthem of sorts opens "County Galway,
June 1892" and "The Duel Scene," and a pretty but tortured idea for an
early character's death is explored in "Joe Sr.'s Passing." These and
other lesser motifs loosely waft in and out throughout
Far and
Away, but Williams' nearly constant references to all of the above
major themes and motifs dominate the musical soundscape. Each of the
themes, and especially the first two, is so lyrical that they retain
much of the lovely tonal magic from the previous year's
Hook,
causing an extremely satisfying and sometimes lovely overall atmosphere.
Perhaps the most impressive aspect of
Far and Away is Williams'
ability to state the Irish instrumentation and performance emphasis both
in the proper ethnic context and in such a fashion that these elements
contribute to the score rather than define it. Many Irish-laden scores
tend to irritate listeners, especially in how Horner sometimes slathered
them on an orchestra like a muddy lard. But Williams finds the right
balance here, even going so far as to brilliantly combine The Chieftains
with the orchestra in the "End Credits" suite for a rousing two minutes
that even detractors of the performing group could enjoy. The use of
Enya's "Book of Days" for
Far and Away seemed like a logical
extension of the ethnicity at the time (and the "Far and Away" lyrics
are, of course, appropriate), and few could argue that the song wasn't
among her best during that flourishing era in her career. This
soundtrack's original album contains a version of the song that is
different, its mix superior to that which appeared on her compilation
album, "Shepherd Moons." It hasn't aged as well as Williams' score and
is better placed amongst her own material, but there's a certain amount
of sentimentality that accompanies its soft and progressive tones
here.
As an overall listening experience,
Far and Away
does take a while to gain some steam on album. Aside from the two
lyrical performances of the main themes on pan flutes and a couple of
entries from The Chieftains for fighting scenes, the first half of the
score has some minimalistic meandering of slight thematic exploration in
the kind of percussive way that
Presumed Innocent and
Jurassic
Park also featured. The long "Am I Beautiful?" and "Inside the
Mansion" cues represent an extension of the composer's most quietly
contemplative, percussive and synthetic atmosphere. Only a few eruptions
of dissonance in two middle passages interrupt an otherwise gorgeous
series of thematic expressions. There is also intensity in the action
material that foreshadowed the ambitious tones of
Jurassic Park,
a sound certain to please fans of the composer's scores from the early
1980's as well. In 2020, La-La Land Records expanded the album
presentation to two discs without the Enya song, supplying additional cues
sprinkled throughout and alternate takes or mixes of several major cues at the
end, some offering different opening bars. The long, conversational "The
Barn/Running Away" is a pleasantly ambient addition, "This is My
Destiny" offers short but sentimental renditions of the two main themes,
"Into the Bath" debuts the land race theme with subtle humor, "Banished"
languishes in softly turbulent string and low woodwind shades, and a few
other odds and ends don't add anything substantial to the presentation.
The 28 minutes of alternate versions aren't significantly different from
the other recordings, the slight edits and disparate mixes requiring
acute attention to notice some of the time. The alternate "The Land
Race" is a bit more whimsical in its middle passages, replacing brass
accents with light percussion. The 2020 album is a solid product but not
truly necessary for casual enthusiasts. The sound quality has always
been crisp with this score, the improvement on the La-La Land product
not earth-shattering. (Some of the alternate cues do sound a bit muted,
interestingly.) Regardless of the album,
Far and Away is an often
overlooked and underestimated score. The failure of the film likely
dealt this music a poor hand, though the score stands among the very
best written by any composer in 1992. Anchoring a fruitful period for
the maestro,
Far and Away has always remained an outstanding
pleasure worth regular appreciation, the composer steering away from
this kind of blatant melodic exposition later in the decade.
***** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
| Bias Check: |
For John Williams reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.68
(in 91 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.54
(in 363,716 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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The insert of the 1992 MCA album contains a note from the co-producer and
screenwriter of the film regarding the inspiring location of the production and, to
a lesser extent, the score. That of the 2020 La-La Land album contains extensive
information about the film, score, and album release, including a list of performers.
