War Horse (10th Anniversary Edition)

The plot points in director Steven Spielberg's 2011 film adaptation of the children's novel War Horse (which is separate from the stage adaptation that won the 2011 Tony Award for best play) are traced in the background score composed, as usual for a Spielberg project, by veteran John Williams. Williams' early cues, starting with "Dartmoor, 1912," have a warm Celtic feel, the full symphony orchestra playing a theme that recalls folk tunes like "Danny Boy" and "Greensleeves." The warmth continues with "Bringing Joey Home, and Bonding," the second part of which employs a playful bassoon theme. But the bucolic mood gradually darkens in this story of a boy and his horse that takes a turn in a track called "Ruined Crop, and Going to War." After Joey, the horse, is sent off to World War I, Williams' music naturally takes on tension-filled and action-defining sections, particularly in "The Charge and Capture." After something of a respite in "Joey's New Friends," the height of violence seems to be reached in "No Man's Land," a thrilling performance. Thereafter, Williams slowly returns to the Celtic tones from the outset, finally restoring the main theme for the closer, "The Homecoming." This is certainly not one of Williams' light adventure scores a la Star Wars or Raiders of the Lost Ark, nor horror music such as Jaws. Rather, it contains both homey and disturbing parts, within the overall context of an old-fashioned orchestral movie soundtrack. ~ William Ruhlmann

優しさと躍動感、そしてメロディに溢れるオーケストラ・スコア。

『戦火の馬』(2011)
サウンドトラック

音楽 ジョン・ウィリアムス
監督 スティーヴン・スピルバーグ
主演 ジェレミー・アーヴィン、ピーター・マラン、エミリー・ワトソン、デヴィッド・シューリス

ヒット舞台劇をスピルバーグが壮大なスケールで映画化。第一次大戦で、戦力として駆け抜けた一頭の馬の辿った運命をひとりの男との友情を軸に描く。もちろん、音楽はジョン・ウィリアムス。『プライベート・ライアン』的な凄みも持ち合わせる本作だが、ファミリー・ピクチャー的意味合いも強いためか、豊潤なオーケストラ・スコアは、悲しみを湛えることをほとんどせず、ひたすらに大らかで、勇壮で、優しく時に躍動感をあふれさせながら展開。そして、あまりにも細部にわたって、メロディアス。「馬ものにハズレなし」の鉄則に今回も当てはまる、心地よく聴けるオーケストラ・スコア。 (C)馬場敏裕