The stridency of the main theme
then gives way to the more cerebral underscore which in many
instances is strongly influenced by plain song and thus makes the
music more applicable to the period than in similar historical
epics of the day. Chinon is a beautiful and rhapsodic soprano
chorus passage and ranks as one of the most ethereal pieces of
music that Barry has ever written. Barry's own style and the
plainsong elements blend remarkably well and his more traditional
trumpet writing appear in Eleanor's Arrival. Barry's use of choir
in his career has generally been quite sparing and I would
suggest that this is the only Barry score where the choir appears
in every track. There are two stand alone, choir only plainsongs,
tracks 3 and 9 which sound fairly authentic and were used as
source music in the film. They fit well into the style of the
proper underscore, but the rather emotionless hymnal, plainsong
elements mean that they don't add greatly to the dramatic
tapestry of the score. The final cue almost outdoes the opening
in sheer scale and power and brings a generally quite low key
score to a thunderous climax that really is most impressive. The trouble with giving a
definitive rating to a score like this is that as a matter of
personal taste, I am not entirely enamoured with the plainsong
elements. That type of writing, while appropriate, simply does
not appeal to me at all. The dramatic underscore proper is always
fairly brooding, full of tension and incident with the occasional
explosion of choir and brass heavy orchestra such as in To Rome.
Indeed the opening track and final three cues alone are worth the
price of the disc. However, the two stand alone plainsongs and
the similar wordless material elsewhere don't appeal to me
greatly and perhaps comprise obligatory (for reasons of time and
place) rather than crucial elements. I am in no doubt that John Barry
thoroughly deserved his Academy Award for this work, but as an
album it is one where one moment I feel it is one of the best
albums I own and then I want to skip a dramatically benign choral
interlude. On the more positive side, the performance and sound
quality are spectacular. Even though it was a late 60's film, the
fidelity is remarkable, generally free from much background hiss
but still crystal clear to hear every detail of the inner
orchestrations. It is definitely an album worth persisting with
as it has some of Barry's finest moments within, but should you
enjoy cerebral and hymnal choral music then you'll find the
entire score a treat, but the casual fan is likely to find it a
fraction more hit and miss. Rating ~ While this is an unusual entry in
the Barry canon in many ways, one of his best. Although the main
theme is almost certainly the most famous component of the score,
it is only suggested occasionally throughout the remainder. It is
certainly one of my favourite Barry cues, starting with a
strident, interval laden brass theme and a pounding percussion
background. The basic rhythm is then used and adapted into the
central choral section which has some almost jazz-like offbeat
brass hits and the final touch of a string descant that really
ups the drama value and makes the entire thing sound rather
menacing. While I can't imagine anyone other than Jerry Goldsmth
scoring the Omen, this kind of title cue would
certainly not have been out of place. Indeed the penultimate cue
builds to a hugely terrifying climax as the orchestra and choir
play off each other in one of the most frenzied moments I've
heard from Barry.
