The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe

Harry Gregson-Williams

Rating: 5.7


After the huge success of The Lord Of The Rings movies, many films were made obviously trying to mimic them, hoping to gain the same sort of success. This is to be expected, because the easiest route to money is the safest, and risk is inherent in originality. Many thought that The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe would be just another attempt to replicate the Lord Of The Rings. It seems, however, that Andrew Adamson is a better director than that, and this franchise is turning out to be very much its own type of movie. Instead of the gritty realism of Lord Of The Rings, we have the somewhat child-like fantasy of, well, a children's series. Adamson realized that The Chronicles Of Narnia were written as children's books, and treated the first of them appropriately. The whole feel of the film is fantasy, and I think it succeeds because of it.

Any and all reviews of The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe's music seem to compare it with The Lord Of The Rings, and the amazing depth found in those scores. I really think this sort of comparison is pointless. The movies are so completely different, that Howard Shore's music for The Lord Of The Rings would have been completely out of place in this movie. When Harry Gregson-Williams was chosen to score the film, many thought all hopes of a good soundtrack gone. Gregson-Williams is one of the many composers to come out of Remote Control Productions, formerly Media Ventures, which is headed by Hans Zimmer, and which, some think, has produced some of the worst film music ever. Many of those who had worried over the choice of Gregson-Williams felt their fears confirmed when they heard the soundtrack for The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe.

The album starts out with a modern sounding, rhythm oriented piece called The Blitz, 1940, which underscores the bombing at the beginning of the movie. It employs some modern techniques, such as strange percussion, semi-randomly inserted into a framework of driving rhythm in the bass string choir, melody in the upper-register strings, as well as brass coming in to help out frequently. For what it is, I think it fits quite well. The album then moves on to Evacuating London, which begins with strings and oboe alternately playing. As the piece moves forward, the piano enters with the melody and arrpegiated chords, while the strings play the more homophonic fluid harmonies. From there, it changes, rather suddenly, to a very modern sounding piece, with background percussion fluttering non-stop, and a woman's voice singing sounds, without words. This track really is creative, and I must say Gregson-Williams has created quite an interesting piece of music on this track, and it works well. Many would strongly disagree, pointing out that it has nothing in common with the time period. It is true, the second part has a distinctively 21st century sound to it, yet this whole score cares nothing for history, from beginning to end, and I do not think it suffers for it. This is a fantasy story, and the music should be treated as such.

Up until now, I have been defending the under-dog album, because I think it really has some potential, and some very good moments, and has been ridiculed far too much. But, I must say, as a whole, the good moments are far between. A Narnian Lullaby is a wonderful bit of music, but is ridiculously short. From there the album meanders through many tracks, some with nice moments, but nothing very memorable until The Stone Table. This piece is appropriately eerie, with harsh percussion dominating the writing. The Battle is the most famous of the tracks, and really deserves the attention it gets. Employing a refreshingly balanced mix of choral and orchestral textures, Gregson-Williams uses all the means at his disposal. The percussion is largely modern, as is the choral writing. But, as I continue to point out, this is a fantasy, and the modern touches work quite well to create a magical, somewhat removed from medieval reality, product. Some say that the recording of this piece falls flat, but I strongly disagree. The writing, while not especially original, works well, and the recording quality is not below average.

The four songs at the end really were not needed. All they do is move the mood from the fantasy feel which the album has acquired, and place it firmly into the modern pop setting. I do enjoy Wunderkind a little, but I do not think any of them fit the album very well. This album is not groundbreaking, nor is it even interesting for its entirety. But it deserves more credit than it often gets from the musical elite. It is not because Gregson-Williams didn't know that syncopation and the use of the synth are modern techniques, but because he chose to use them anyway. I think it was a good choice.

-Colin Thomson


Track List:

The Blitz, 1940
Evacuating London
The Wardrobe
Lucy Meets Mr. Tumnus
A Narnian Lullaby
The White Witch
From Western Woods To Beaversdam
Father Christmas
To Aslan's Camp
Knighting Peter
The Stone Table
The Battle
Only The Beginning Of The Adventure
Can't Take It In
Wunderkind
Winter Light
Where