Saturday, September 29, 2012

SOUNDTRACK REVIEW: Gettysburg by Randy Edelman (Original Release and Deluxe Commemorative Edition Release)


Gettysburg

On July 1, 1963, General Robert E. Lee moved his 70,000-man-strong Army of Northern Virginia into the northern states.  The Army of the Potomac, 80,000-strong, converged with Lee’s army on a small field in the outskirts of Gettysburg to aid General John F. Buford’s cavalry who bravely stopped the approaching southern army from threatening Washington, D.C., thus sparking the largest, bloodiest battle ever fought on American soil.  At a given point, 150,000 men – friends and family – fought one another on the plains and mountains surrounding Gettysburg.  Three days later, more than 50,000 men would lay dead on those fields.

The epic battle of Gettysburg took 15 years for Director Ronald F. Maxwell to bring to the screen.  To score this 4 ½ hour epic, Maxwell hired Randy Edelman.  1993 marked the year for two of Edelman’s most memorable scores: Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story and Gettysburg.  Both film scores have been used in trailers and major sporting events. 

When Randy Edelman visited the set of the film – Gettysburg itself – he realized right away the size of the score the film demanded.  He didn’t have the chance to set out and study the period music but immediately began to write the music for the film.  “Main Titles” is a highlight track of the album because it neatly summarizes the score’s themes.  The main brass theme is introduced by synthesized choir.  The “honor” theme appears right after the main theme followed by mournful string work that underscores much of the rest of the album.  The track comes to a close by introducing yet another theme – a sad horn theme representing the emotional struggle between two brothers in arms against one another.  The track closes with a single military drum drumming away slowly building up anticipation for the rest of the music. 

“Battle of Little Round Top,” “Battle At Devil’s Den,” “The First Battle,” “Charging Up the Hill,” and “March to Mortality” are the emotionally driven battle cues with “Charging Up the Hill” and “March to Mortality” being some of the most tense music written for the film, or any film for that matter.  The most powerful, heart-wrenching song is “Over the Fence” which is the song playing during the Confederate final charge up a ridge to the Union encampment.  The music gets ever so tense towards the finale where the armies go muzzle to muzzle. 

All of the songs mentioned thus far are classic Edelman but the score wouldn’t be a nice representation of the period without period music.  Well, Edelman arranged and composed two wonderful songs that seem to have been pulled right out of the time period: “Fife and Gun” and “Dixie.”  The first song is played by a guitar and horns while the latter is played by a harmonica and guitar. 

The album closes with one of the most beautiful songs ever written by Edelman.  “Reunion and Finale” is really two songs spliced together.  The “Finale” part is actually General Lee meeting with soldiers before the fateful Pickett’s Charge and “Reunion” is the end song before the credits roll.  The song is emotional with sad strings and mournful horns playing over the images of the bloodied fields of Gettysburg.  The song then shifts to a victorious rendition of the Gettysburg theme ending the album on a high note.

This is the first score that kicked off my score collection.  I was unfamiliar with film music until I saw this movie and was immersed in the powerful music.  Sadly, the album only represents about 56 minutes of a 4 ½ hour long movie.  There is a Deluxe Commemorative Edition that includes some 40 minutes more of score with some highlight cues left out from the original release.  This is definitely Randy Edelman’s finest work to date and one of the best scores of the 90s. 

My rating: 5 stars




Gettysburg: Deluxe Commemorative Edition

So popular was Randy Edelman’s music for Gettysburg that it encouraged Milan to release “more music from the film.”  Yes, the More Music From Gettysburg album release contained more music, but it was just the period music from the film and a few what I consider “country” songs.  Milan later went on to re-release the original soundtrack coupled with an informative 24-page book and a second audio disc with about 45 minutes of never-before released music.  Among the new tracks released is “The Gettysburg Address” recited by Jeff Daniels which is also found on the More Music album.

The new music surely is appreciated, yet I can’t help but wonder why Milan didn’t just release a complete score edition or a more expanded score since significant musical cues are still left out of the release.  Still, this Deluxe Commemorative Edition coupled with the More Music album adds up to over 2 hours of music which is better than just the original score release.

The 1st disc is the original soundtrack release. The 2nd disc in this release starts with a beautiful fanfare version of the main theme not included on the first disc in “Gettysburg – Revisited.”  The following tracks are out of chronological order just like the original release.  Three out of the fourteen score tracks on the disc are highlights from the Battle of Little Round Top and Pickett’s Charge.  The best queue left out of the original release is “Armistead Is Hit.”  This tense, 3+ minute song contains the final moments of Pickett’s Charge as General Armistead pierces his hat through with his sword to lead the final charge to the stonewall of the Union encampment.  A trumpet solo plays a mournful, tense fanfare supported by racing string loops with occasional militaristic drums ending the track on a trumpet blare.  The album comes to a close with the aforementioned “The Gettysburg Address.” 

I was fortunate enough to run into this Deluxe Commemorative Edition release but it came at a price.  Since very few copies were made and all of them sold, it’s no wonder this is now a treasured collector’s item with owners of the edition putting a high price tag on it.  (Some copies have sold for over $100.)  If you do run into this edition, get your hands on it.  You’ll be pleased with some of the action cues missing from the original album and the wonderful 24-page booklet providing behind-the-scenes information.  I’m glad Milan provided this expanded edition, but I look forward to the day, if ever, a complete score is released for this film.  Gettysburg remains as one of Edelman’s finest scores of his career. 

My rating: 5 stars

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