Unexpectedly Subtle, But Unexpectedly Effective
5
By tballan
When James Horner's House of Sand and Fog score was released, it was widely thought to be unusually subtle compared with most of Horner's similar work. Yet, this score makes House of Sand and Fog seem explosively dramatic. And, this is most certainly not a bad thing. Though much of film music in the realm of personal drama is becoming more and more restrained these days, it is rarely done with the attention to detail that is necessary for it to be effective. But, James Horner has again and again demonstrated that he understands that, whatever the size of an artist's palette, the same attention to detail is necessary for the end result to be of any worth. Not that a score of a tiny scope is necessarily more effective than one of a grand nature, but The Life Before Her Eyes delivers an experience of a deeply gripping nature that it is only able to because of its artistic quality and limited scope.
The only non-synthesized instrument used in this score is the piano, which James Horner actually performs on. And, the most prominent synthesized sounds only include strings and solo female voice. In addition to this limited range of sound types, the volume and tempo are also restrained, as would be expected. The relatively small range of possible sounds that this setup allows is necessary to help embody the deep inward reflection of the film's main character, Diana. Yet, the composer's arrangement of these sounds is what makes this score what it is, obviously. It is unrelentingly sad, but drenched in a faint but still perceptible hope. It is delicate and fragile, yet persistent and haunting. Do not expect any exciting thrills from this score, obviously, but, if you allow yourself to wind down completely, you will hopefully find some thrills of a different nature.
