The Rise Of Alexandre Desplat

My journey with Alexandre Desplat and his lovely music has been an enthralling one. The French maestro had scored several theatrical and cinematic features in his country before rising to prominence in Hollywood with his Golden Globe-winning score to The Queen in 2006. However, I was acquainted to him after he was nominated for the 2009 Academy Awards for his sublime score to The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button. This particular score did not leave much of an initial impression upon me, but there were moments of genuine beauty in the tracks like Sunrise On Lake Ponchartrain. After repeated visits, my appreciation for this score has greatly increased now. It made me check out more of his numerous works, many of which quickly became my favourites.

His theme music for the second entry in the Twilight saga, New Moon, is simply otherworldly in its charm. His scores for The Ghost Writer and The King’s Speech received enthusiastic acclaim from critics. He provided two dynamite scores for the Wizarding World’s final stand against Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters in the two-part finale of Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows. He continues to write a surprising number of calculated and impeccable scores for films every year, and is already being considered a strong competitor in the upcoming awards season for his edgy, impactful score for Ben Affleck’s Argo. However, for me and many other fans, the standout highlight from coming from Alexandre this year has been the one for the recently released DreamWorks animated film, Rise Of The Guardians. This delightful announcement had been made back in February, and highly anticipated by all his fans since. Apart from the official soundtrack release, the complete score has been made available for preview on a promotional DreamWorks website.

The score is a grand orchestral adventure brimming with lively orchestrations, bold themes and an omnipresent aura of adventure and fantasy. Fanfare Of The Elves is one of the most addictive pieces I’ve heard of late, which is already earning my “repeat” button numerous pushes. Lively winter/festival-favoured tracks like Snowballs, Easter and Sleigh Launch are complemented by burly action material in Chasing The Nightmares, Sandy Fights and Pitch At The North Pole (which features a frantic string ostinato similar to the one in Broomsticks And Fire in the final Potter film) among others. Jack’s bond with the Guardians and kids is portrayed by gentle symphonic score at apt places between the bombastic material. There are many more themes that’ll likely be better understood after watching the film. For my money, this is one of the absolute best scores of 2012 and a real treat. Here’s hoping that maestro Desplat finally receives his long-awaited Oscar for his delightful works this year.

On Thematic Scoring

While sharing musical themes associated with villains in a group of fellow film music fans earlier today, I put forward the piece Grond – The Hammer Of The Underworld from Howard Shore’s magnificent score for Return Of The King. It isn’t one of the most well-known tracks from the set, but happens to be a personal favourite of mine owing to the tremendous power and remarkable thematic core it retains for duration of a little over two minutes. Right after a fearsome amalgamation of the Gondor and Sauron themes in vicious struggle, obviously representing the clash between their representatives, the latter joins forces with the Uruk-hai 5-beat pattern as the orc armies of Sauron and Saruman crash the sinister battering ram, Grond, into the gates of Minas Tirith. Low brass and high strings hold on a single, tense note as Gandalf addresses the terrified but resolute soldiers behind the city walls as they stand their ground, watching the terrifying spectacle of the battering ram’s snarling wolf-head poking in through the ever-expanding hole in the gate.

“You are the soldiers of Gondor. No matter what comes through that gate, you will stand your ground!”

Horns and trumpets blare in unison as Grond is slowly withdrawn only to be smashed a fourth time into the gates, breaking them open this time. Two pairs of vicious trolls barge into the city, followed by the rest of the enemy’s forces and start brutally laying waste to Gondor’s ranks. A single, desperate rendition of Gondor’s theme sounds on low horns as they futilely launch a volley of arrows at the relentlessly attacking orcs, but is left incomplete and overcome by the diabolical Sauron’s theme as their foes press deeper and deeper into Minas Tirith.

Of course, these are just my views. For the real picture, I suggest reading Doug Adam’s amazing annotated scores for these films. Nobody could understand or analyze them better.

For me, such thematic complexity and buildup is what separates a great score from a serviceable one. John Williams is especially famous for working around with themes, motifs and leitmotifs in truly unique ways. Hans Zimmer took the noble theme for Mufasa and turned it into a no-holds-barred battle anthem as Simba battles his father’s killer atop the Pride Rock in The Lion King. Michael Giacchino turned the cute, swingin’ version of Muntz’ theme (Up) in Up With The Titles into a ferocious, villainous version in battle with Ellie’s theme during the latter half of the score. More recently, I loved how Alexandre Desplat rearranged John Williams’ classic Hedwig’s theme for the final film in the Harry Potter series. A bold, elongated version on trombone plays over a dramatic string ostinato as Harry confronts Lord Voldemort atop a tower – I could barely recognize it until it was pointed out by someone else.

There are several more examples for the same, and I think each of them is something truly worth appreciation. This precision and care in thematic scoring never ceases to fascinate and enthrall me, and is something that ought to be greatly encouraged and promoted in order to improve the quality of both film and music, in my opinion.