In its intimate exploration of emotional and thematic avenues, Sommersby rivals Edward Scissorhands in power and needs to take its rightful place atop the list of Elfman's career achievements. Critics of the score in 1993 claimed that Sommersby strayed too far from Elfman's sphere of stylistic comfort, offering a work that was simply too out of character for the composer to qualify as perhaps his best effort. Many years later, though, Elfman's music for Sommersby remains as his most uniquely dramatic score and overshadows all of his subsequent efforts in its genuine sensitivity and tragic heart. Thematically rich from start to end, Sommersby is strikingly appropriate for the Virginia landscape, as well as the personal drama contained within. A dynamic string section performs with historic sensibility and remarkable harmony, chopping with power and dignity (in Batman style) in "Going to Nashville" and thereafter. The brass, while occasionally performing one of Elfman's themes, is utilized in a similar fashion to John Barry's Westerns, serving as a bold counterpoint enhancement to the strings (with several such lovely contributions throughout "Return Montage"). Solo trumpet performances contribute occasional nobility to the equation. An acoustic guitar, fiddle, and harmonica offer spectacular accompaniment for the more hopeful, early scenes of farming and community cohesion; some of this rhythmic writing in particular would show up again to a lesser extent in Black Beauty, but it would largely remain strikingly singular to Sommersby in Elfman's first twenty years of film scoring. The ethnic woodwind contributions to these sections, including the beginning of "End Credits," further exhibit a character of period style that Elfman fans would have difficulty finding again.

Thematically, Elfman's use of the title theme, heard immediately at the outset of the film, is extensive. It anchors all of the score's major dramatic cues, though an intelligent rotation of performing instruments keeps the idea enticingly fresh. A secondary theme for the concept of rebirth accompanies the new lives for both the title character and the people of the town. First making an impact in "Return Montage," chronologically in terms of the story, the theme is the basis of the memorable "At Work" before Elfman dispatches it in a heartbreaking performance (simultaneous with the primary theme, which becomes one romance for the two leads) at the start of "Death." A few secondary phrases are attached to the statements of the primary theme, used as bridges to connect scenes and break up the harmonic resonance of the score's main identity. Many of these slight interludes are presented in the softer sequences of the score, those minimalistic guitar or woodwind cues that require close attention to appreciate their detail. The overall stylistic impression given by Sommersby, of course, is one of brooding darkness. While beautiful in their instrumentation and performances, the themes are often anchored by an overbearing bass (whether by orchestration or added into the mixing of the score in post-production) that causes them to rumble their way across your stereo. This domineering bass region sometimes makes enjoyment of the score on album difficult, but it sets the intended mood well. When fans of Danny Elfman's early works lament the loss of the composer's dramatic flair, Sommersby best sums up the sound that disappeared from his career over the next decade. It does not adhere to the composer's fairy tale styles of the era, but as Elfman's most deadly serious dramatic effort, one that can bring forth tears if you're not prepared, it's a hidden gem that no true fan of the composer should be without.  *****   @Amazon.com: CD or Download