The bulk of The Horse Whisperer falls fairly squarely into the category of fairly "normal" Newman scores, with little in the way of outlandish instrumentation (even though a fair few unorthodox instruments are listed in the packaging) and some very tuneful moments. Angus opens the album strongly with acoustic guitar and a mid-west, folksy fiddle tune that bounces along engagingly. The guitar backed material is reprised on a couple of occasions, notably Hereford Cross where some resonant horn chords intrude from time to time, matching the folksy with broader ideas for the expansive and stunningly beautiful Montana countryside. The score's centrepiece, however, is the lively, but more sombre The Rhythm of the Horse, which features the score's most prominent theme, where Newman mixes the guitar with the rest of the orchestra to memorable effect and the material is reprised for the End Title.
There are other short motifs that recur throughout, notably a subtle Copland inspired idea introduced in Double Divide, but a lot of the rest is eerie sustained notes, either on high strings or synthetic tones. Despite being very atmospheric, they do tend to get a little dull after a while and become the score's weak spots. Newman adds one of his trademark piano solos to some of the tracks, but even these are a little unexciting. I've rarely felt a Thomas Newman album was too long, but in this case, The Horse Whisperer is outstays its welcome by a good quarter of an hour. Most of the sustained, but musically uninteresting tracks could have been dropped and the whole thing would be that bit more appealing. However, as it stands, an album worth acquiring for the scattering of fine moments, many of which are as memorable and as good as anything else by Newman.
Rating ~ 
Total Time ~ 57:54