Search - Iva Davies, Christopher Gordon, Richard Tognetti :: Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

The classical duets and sailor songs work well without the f

Lawrance M. Bernabo | The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota | 05/24/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I really mean it as a compliment when I say that the score for "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World" suffers a bit when you are listening to it divorced from the film. It would be the same thing as saying that Jack Aubrey is not quite the man ashore that he is when he is afloat on H.M.S. "Surprise," so fans of Patrick O'Brian's seafaring yarns of the British Navy during the Napoleonic era will understand my point. It is not surprising that in the search for authenticity, which was one of the hallmark of the Aubry-Maturin series, that director Peter Weir went in a different direction from the stirring music associated with movies where Errol Flynn was sailing the seven seas. After all, a score was needed for this film that would compliment those moments when the crew would break into song or the captain and his particular friend would retire to play a duet for violin and cello. Violinist Richard Tognetti plays the violin and taught actor Russell Crowe how to play as well. The other main contributors to the soundtrack are composers Iva Davies ("The Ghost of Time") and Christopher Gordon ("Moulin Rouge"), but Weir also selected several classical and traditional folk pieces to appear in the film as well. If you were expecting a bold brassy score for "Master and Commander" then you will be disappointed, but you would have known better if you ever read the books.



With two composers and the other two types of music thrown into the mix, this soundtrack does not offer anything close to a cohesive whole, and you preference is probably going to be for the fiddle and drum songs of the sailors on deck (e.g., the medley of "O'Sullivan's March, Cuckold Comes Out of the Amery, Mother Hen, Mary Scott, Nancy Dawson") and the duets played in the captain's quarters (e.g., Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 3 "Straussburg" K.215, 3rd Movement). The main plot of the film involves a chase between "Surprise" and a French raider, but there are also sections of dramatic tedium, for which the classical music plays nicely. The music for the battles seem almost out of place given what we have become accustomed to in the rest of the film.



What stands out in the battle sequences is Mike Fisher on his Taiko drums, who provides the driving power of the scenes, matching the action on screen below the decks as the guns are being run out and fired. The emphasis is more on rhythm than anything else, which is why what works on screen is not as interesting when listening to the CD. Of the three composers the string work by Tognetti stands out the most, even as it distances itself from what is written by Davies and Gordon. The soundtrack is pretty much divided evenly between the original and classical/traditional works, and with a total playing time of barely over a half-hour you have to be disappointed on that score as well. An appropriate reaction would be to just go back and watch the film or to track down complete recordings of the classical pieces by Mozart, Bach, Ralph Vaughn Williams, Arcangelo Corelli, and Luigi Boccherini, or even some of the traditional sailor songs."

Good incidental music but not great listening music - except

Craig MACKINNON | Thunder Bay, Ontario Canada | 11/08/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The soundtrack for Master and Commander contains two distinct types of music. First there is the incidental music for the film. These pieces are heavy on the bass side of the orchestra and are often emphasized with bass drums and tympani. This music is very effective and appropriate for the scenes in the film, and I commend the composers for making a soundtrack that so seemlessly and effortlessly invokes the moods and excitement of the visuals. Unfortunately, these pieces are quite moody and slow moving - great as incidental music but not so interesting to listen to as straight orchestral music.



The second type of music is much more enjoyable to listen to. Those that have seen the film know there are several scenes in which people are playing music - for example, Aubrey and Maturin in the captain's cabin performing a cello-violin duet, or the sailors on deck playing sea shanties on tin whistles. The pieces chosen for the film range from Bach to traditional folk music, and are a welcome addition to the soundtrack. The performances are very good (including a cello solo by Yo Yo Ma), and the recording quality is excellent. Deserving special mention is the Boccherini piece (La Musica Notturna Delle Strada di Madrid), which serves as a second unofficial theme song for the movie. The piece itself is presented in its entirety, and there is a callback to the piece in the incidental music as well, which is a welcome ray of levity in an otherwise oppressive piece.



People purchasing this disc run the real risk of being disappointed - the incidental music works so well in the context of the film that you are likely to think (as I did) that the music is itself worth listening to alone. Unfortunately, I don't find this is the case, but the classical music that is included makes this a soundtrack worth having, especially for the Boccherini piece."