Like a Herrmann and Hitchcock or Williams and Speilberg, an Elfman and Burton collaboration is usally an event worth waiting for. While Hitch and Herrmann never settled their differences after Torn Curtain, Burton and Elfman fortunately reformed their stylish partnership and as such Sleepy Hollow gives us one of their most imposing creations. In fact, not since the likes of Batman has Elfman gone quite so over the top with his orchestration and gothic horror. The opening track is certainly a pretty forboding few minutes of music that uses everything in a feisty symphony orchestra, along with a large choir, not to mention the church organ. All that going at once is the kind of thing that will drive your neighbours nuts, but really is hugely impressive.
More typical of his recent output, Elfman has opted for a slightly less thematic approach to his writing. There is a main theme which functions as a somewhat brief, yet flexible motif that is put through plenty of different permutations, although is still fairly recognisable. The film is almost, but not quite, a horror film. There are horrific elements, but it is not scary per se but the music does reflect the more gruesome and frightening aspects of the story. Tracks such as the Introduction, Masabeth's Terrible Death and The Tree of Death all feature fearsome and dynamic writing, which perhaps verges on overkill once too often, but it is usually tuneful and with enough orchestral invention to always keep it just about pallatable.
The moments of respite are especially welcome in a score which so frequently has so much going on. Sweet Dreams is an especially charming interlude which manages to stay away from being macabre for almost all its running time. It is perhaps the most whimsical cue Elfman has written since Edward Scissorhands. More Dreams adds a solo choirboy and then soprano choir into an a more haunting, but equally wonderful cue that is another high point of the score. Of course the main ingredient of a score like this will be the thundering moments and the final third of the album or so is an almost non-stop barrage which the listener will certainly find thrilling to start with, but I suspect a little grating after a while.
I suspect that any Elfmaniac will lap up every minute of this score and it is certainly the kind of score that everyone hopes Elfman will write, but does far less often these days. I must admit that while I enjoyed it immensely, it did get just a bit overwhelming just that bit too often. The very bold orchestration does occasionally smack of really overdoing it somewhat and that can become wearing. The art of making music loud and exciting, is the art of making the loud moments striking by calming interludes. Loudness alone does not engratiate the music on the listener. However, I must admit that Elfman is still capable of writing music that is far more interesting than so many composers these days, indeed, combined with Burton's visuals, the score took on the role of a thundering tone poem to accompany Burton's strange imagery. On disc, a highly recommended score that only loses a star because I think just a little more restraint might have been nice from time to time.
Rating ~ 
Total Time ~ 68:02