Hooray, whoopee, phwee! Sorry, not a very dignified way to start an in depth critical analysis, but never mind. I have now decided on a new favourite James Horner score and this is most certainly it! Krull is quite unlike other many other Horner scores. Sure, there are elements that are reused from other things and things that are reused from this, but the combination of all the disparate parts is truly a Horner one off. It starts off with a deep, sustained note, a boys choir then intones a mysterious choral overlay. It has some very clever intervals to make it sound otherworldly and so sets the tone for the film perfectly. Then brass fanfares start up and build until they are almost impossibly grand, with the rest of the orchestra backing the horns and trumpets to make the fanfares even more exciting. The main theme then starts up, a very long melody and possibly the longest lined melody Horner has every created. More than anything, this is an original theme and not bludgeoned from anything else (such as in Willow). The main theme appears many times in the score, most notably in Riding the Fire Mares, which starts off with a pounding bass line on which the theme is overlaid along with fanfares similar to those at the opening. This is an energetic cue that is fairly relentless in it's speed and virtuosity. It contains very complex brass leaps and although the LSO sometimes fluffs the odd note, the whole thing is carried along on pure energy. Due to the arrangement of the score in order, compared to the Short Version, the next track, Battle on the Parapets follows on. This has similar pounding bass and bouncing brass and so you get over seven minutes of rip roaring action.
Other action moments include the Slayer's Attack, Battle in the Swamp as well as the two tracks following Battle on the Parapets. These have their fair share of horrific moments, which cascading synth figures and groaning choir and great dissonant orchestral crashes. Moments of beauty occur in The Widow's Web and The Widow's Lullaby, where swirling appergios appear. However, both these cues contain a number of more horrific moments as evidently the Widow (a giant spider) attacks the heroes. The love theme is fairly decent and fits in well with the rest of the score, although it is probably the only weak link for me. It is a travesty that this score is so difficult to find these days, even the shorter version is hard to come by, however, you should beg, borrow or steal a copy at least once, just to hear it through.
Rating ~ 