Rating: 6.4
Gettysburg is a movie which is so basic in its construction, so predictable in its execution, and yet, somehow, so moving. There is nothing new here, but all the re-used movie-making techniques have been used to the films advantage to create a powerful civil war movie. The acting and photography is quite good, and the music certainly gives it all an emotional push.
This seems to be the sole purpose of the music. To add that slight heart tug with a nicely crafted melody played on a guitar, or to add a little adrenaline for the charges. Unfortunately, not much more. Interestingly, the soundtrack for this film seems to have quite a large following of fans, and I am afraid they might not appreciate this review. I think that the popularity of this soundtrack demonstrates the stranglehold that melodies have on the movie music industry. After all, it is much easier to listen to the melody when you don't have all that annoying counterpoint distracting you from the real reason for the music, which is the melody, right? Unfortunately, this is what the public seems to think, and not only that, they want overly simplistic diatonic melodies for which there is no need to listen through more than once, because you already know pretty well what is coming on the first go-'round.
OK, perhaps that is a little harsh, and no, I have no problem with diatonic melodies. Actually, this rant has nothing to do with the review. The melodies are simple, yet good, and sometimes the hardest music to write is the most simple. It is just that in the realm of tug-your-heart melodies, there seems to be little to no imagination in much of film music. The reason Beethoven stands out in history is not because he could write music just like Mozart, but because he could build on a foundation already laid, and yet use new techniques to achieve his aim. But I am getting way off-subject, and it is unfair to compare anyone to Beethoven. I do not really blame Randy Edelman for his style in this film, as he is just following the path to what sells, and can sound quite good in the background. I don't want this review to sound too negative about the music, because sometimes Edelman really hits a stride, and, especially in the movie, it can create quite an effect. There is no doubt that Edelman is a fine writer of melodies, and I salute him as such. But very little imagination is used with his harmonies. The use of quite homophonic writing in this score is unrelenting, and the otherwise very good melodies suffer from it. Just a little more use of counterpoint in the underlying instruments would make the solemn, understandably homophonic, moments much more powerful and moving. Orchestration- wise, this music does nothing new, and nothing really great. The snare, as would be expected, is used frequently to give it the army feel, and the guitar is used quite nicely to create an unrefined, very approachable effect. These are both effective, and the guitar especially adds a nice touch. Besides this, nothing is done above average orchestration-wise.
A somewhat lacking element in this music is the development of themes. There are certainly themes. Used, recycled, and used again. But not very much is done to develop them, besides the quiet or bold settings. But, despite these issues compositionally with the music, there is no doubt that it works well in the movie. The melodies really are wonderful, and the usage in the movie is quite good as well. The album does have some stand-out tracks, including 'Main Title', 'Fife and Gun', 'Battle at Devil's Den', and 'March to Mortality'. 'Fife and Gun' is the one really creative track on the album, with a sprightly theme played on the flute overtop of a finger-picked rhythm on an acoustic guitar, and low harmonies, which all add together to create a very surreal moment in the film.
Undoubtedly, there are times when this music soars. Unfortunately, it really is hard to appreciate them with the recording techniques used. I understand that they were probably on a tight budget, and recorded sometime around '93, but the movie was too well done in other areas to let the music fail so completely in this area. Never once do the strings really sound good except perhaps when they are far enough in the background of what is happening musically not to be too noticeable. I am not aware of whether they used synths to duplicate some orchestral instruments, but it certainly sounds like it. If synths were used, which I must assume from the quality, that might explain the block-writing employed with much of the harmonies, as anything more complicated would have only exposed the synth usage more. Perhaps it was the recording, perhaps the synth usage; either way, the outcome is not acceptable. This, added to the overly homophonic writing, makes it all sound too 'thick'. The mixing really is not much better.
Over-all, the melody writing is first-class in it's style, the harmony works, but is nothing special, and the recording is just plain bad. I listen to it every once in a while, and enjoy it. But all enjoyment of the music must fight its way through the recorded sound, which is an uphill battle in this case.
-Colin Thomson
Track Listing:
Main Title
Men Of Honor
Battle Of Little Round Top
Fife And Gun
General Lee At Twilight
The First Battle
Dawn
From History To Legend
Over The Fence
We Are The Flank
Charging Up The Hill
Dixie
General Lee's Solitude
Battle At Devil's Den
Killer Angel
March To Mortality (Pickett's Charge)
Kathleen Mavourneen
Reunion And Finale
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