In writing for the silver screen, the successful composer must in some way evoke the director's vision of the story, the plot twists and the internal motivations that drive its characters and situations. Thus we have Bernhard Hermann's edgy, post-modern responses to Hitchcock's complex psychological situations, Nina Rota's puckish, circus-like counterpoint to Fellini's ambiguous allegories, and John Williams' sweeping, larger-than-life fanfares for the saturday afternoon escapades of George Lucas and Steven Speilberg's mythical heroes.
There is something of a sepia tint to all Horner's music in LEGENDS OF THE FALL, as if one were leafing through the worn and crumbling pages of an ancient photo album, in search of roots and ancestors. But with the sweeping theme of "The Ludlows," Horner manages to suggest the family's origins in Cornwall, England through a folkish theme whose sing-singy contour must go back several centuries--thus setting the stage for a brooding tale of family conflict.
"To The Boys," with the distant thunder of drums and the noble cry of brass manages to convey both the bond of fellowship and the gruesome sundering of sudden loss. "Alfred Moves To Helena" suggests the scope and breadth of life in post-Civil War Montana, even as "Farewell/Descent Into Madness" hints at the vastness and loneliness of the endless frontier. Especially moving are the passages of "Revenge," as past and present co-mingle in a surreal, dreamy blur of bass drums, metallic percussion, fiddle, shakuhachi and ominous siren cries.