WONDERS OF THE UNIVERSE – Sheridan Tongue

Original Review by Alan Rogers

Carl Sagan’s influential early 1980s documentary series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage is one that I remember watching avidly. I particularly remember the use of Vangelis’ music as the title theme – I even bought the vinyl record that the BBC released as a single. From a score perspective this show used a wide variety of musical styles as underscore. The music of Vangelis played side-by-side with the music of classical music greats such as Mozart, Bach, Vivaldi and Holst and more contemporary composers such as Alan Hovhaness. An eclectic mix indeed. Jump forward in time roughly thirty years and we come to Wonders of The Universe, a four-part TV series hosted by physicist Brian Cox. Each of the four episodes focuses on a specific “wonder” with the goal of explaining and understanding questions such as “Why are we here?” and “Where do we come from?”

Sheridan Tongue’s specially-composed music for Wonders of The Universe mirrors the music used in Cosmos in that, on the evidence of the soundtrack release of the music used in BBC documentary series, it comprises of a series of music tracks that do not share a common denominator other than they all appear on this soundtrack. This does mean though that there is bound to be something here for most peoples’ musical taste. Tongue’s classical training and experience with cutting edge technology are brought together to produce a score that is firmly based in contemporary electric guitar and drum combinations (e.g., “Wonders of The Solar System” and “Mini Solar System” could easily be B-side instrumental tracks). (Perhaps I have just found an aspect of the music that links them together?) Each track spends a couple of minutes repeating and exploring the musical ideas contained within them. Listening to them away from the visuals, there’s very little connection to anything akin to an emotional response – but instilling emotion into the visuals, it can be argued, is not the job of music used in a documentary. However, the use of low register solo strings does tend to give some tracks a hint of calmness (“Connected”), sadness (“A Star Must Die” and “Death of A Planet”) and tenderness (“Death of A Planet”). A bed of electronic “twinklings” and ostinato flute effects are suggestive of a “Symphony of Light”. 

Ten Tracks Today – A Film Score Monthly Special #1 – 12th September 2011

After reading an article posted by Lukas Kendall at FSM (The End of FSM: Countdown to 250 CDs) where he details his decision to halt the FSM CD label, I have gathered together all my favourite cues from my FSM releases into one playlist (amounting to almost 19.5 hours of music) and I plan to play a selection of tracks over the next few months as a thanks to Lukas and his team for their great efforts over the years. It will also serve as a reminder to me – in these days where lovers of film music can be inundated by new music – just how much excellent music there is not just today (which is debatable) but also in years/decades past.

01 – The Hanging – 100 Rifles – Jerry Goldsmith

FSM has given us some great early Goldsmith to enjoy. I love the building suspense of this track with the martial rhythm of the snare drum (that keeps on relentlessly right until the end of the track) and the percussion along with the brass. The latter half is payback: great Goldsmithian brass.

02 – The Search Party – Prophecy – Leonard Rosenman

I think that anyone releasing a Leonard Rosenman score is taking a commercial risk: his style is definitely not to everyone’s taste. But every film music collection should contain at least one title of his. Not particularly melodic, it’s very effective at conveying a sense of panic.

03 – Jeremy’s Theme – Superman IV: The Quest For Peace – Alexander Courage

A nice lighthearted track after the Rosenman. This fourth instalment of the Superman films could arguably be part of FSM’s greatest achievement: the release of the Superman boxed set. This cue is a bit too sugary sweet for 100% enjoyment.

Ten Tracks Today – 12th September 2011

01 – Finale – The Fog – John Carpenter

I tend not to hear much love for this Carpenter score, but I find the mix of the piano motif of this score and the synth accompaniment to be the perfect representation of both the malignant peril of the town’s population and the sadness of the inhabitants of the fog and the murkiness of the fog itself. Creepy and eerie, it’s a great example of Carpenter’s grasp of what’s needed for an effective score.

02 – 30,000 Square Miles – Coronado – Ralf Wienrich

There’s some great action scoring in this orchestral score. This particular track, however, is low-key with lots of plucked strings – including some humorous rhythms in these pizzicato strings (that are supported by light-hearted woodwinds). The latter moments of the track gives up hints of a brass fanfare for the action to follow.

03 – Bertzea – Bertzea – Pascal Gaigne

This 5-minute track comes across essentially a study for acoustic guitar, wordless male voice and an unusual percussion instrument that sounds like a number of wooden blocks or poles. Bertzea appears to be a short French film set in remote mountains and the music seems to be ideal for what seems like such a remotely set film.