A major feature of films and television releases in the first half of 2019 has been the outstanding technical work in the background scores and music that has elevated the visuals to goosebumps-inducing levels.
Where acting and cinematography fall short in conveying abstract sentiments, cleverly crafted scores work wonders, stimulating feelings of joy, trepidation, or melancholy. It is truly fascinating how scores are utilised for a holistic and absolute experience for viewers.
After crossing the half-year mark, we look back at some of the outstanding musical work in film and on television this year that have helped showcase star-studded casts, brilliant screenplays and visual effects.
How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
Academy Award-nominated John Powell brings back the fondest of memories from the three-part animation film series. The blaring operatic brass section takes us back to the exhilarating first test drive (on the dragon), and fragments of the romantic viola and the battle-ready bagpipes are interspersed throughout the album. The tracks Armada Battle and As Long as He’s Safe are the front-runners in this stunning set of compositions and provide a fitting, albeit emotional, conclusion to the trilogy.
How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World | Photo Credit: DreamWorks
Five Feet Apart
Composers Brian Tyler and Breton Vivian put together a delicate blend of the acoustic guitar with a simple-yet-powerful piano melody. The title track Five Feet Apart has managed to simultaneously bring smiles to faces and tears to eyes. This heart-rending score is a tribute to love and the frailty of life.
Five Feet Apart | Photo Credit: Alfonso Bresciani
Game of Thrones, Season 8
Ramin Djawadi returns for the eighth and final season in HBO’s Game of Thrones. The score shifts the dynamics each season, with this season getting darker and more morose. This is a change from the more aggressive approach in earlier seasons. The track, A Night of The Seven Kingdoms follows the season’s first, and arguably only poignant moment, and in a sense is the calm before the storm. The later The Night King encapsulates a feeling of utmost dread and impending doom. This score touches more sensitive notes in comparison to the rest, and is a powerful finish to the series.
Game of Thrones | Photo Credit: HBO
Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame
The Marvel Cinematic Universe came to an extraordinary close with Endgame and one can't help but be in admiration of Alan Silvestri’s composition of epic proportions. The heroic blast of the trumpets from the all-too-familiar Avengers theme (featured in the track Portals) was all that was required for the audience to explode in delight, only to be cut short by the tear-jerking track The Real Hero shortly after. The entire album is an ode to the characters, leading up to the grandest fan moments in the franchise’s history.
Avengers: Endgame | Photo Credit: Marvel
Godzilla: King of the Monsters
Bear McCreary’s rendition of Akira Ifukube’s original composition for Gojira (1954) is absolutely breathtaking. The monster’s traditional leitmotif has been adapted into a full-scale operatic string section and makes use of ritualistic chanting to signify the god-like presence of the Titans. Rebirth and Battle in Boston are the highlights of the album and are larger than life.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters | Photo Credit: Legendary
Chernobyl
Icelandic composer Hildur Guðnadóttir’s score is the key to the unsettling atmosphere of HBO’s Chernobyl. The high-pitched instrumental shrieks, coupled with a foreboding monotone, fluctuate on a scale that ranges from disturbing to borderline terrifying. The track Bridge of Death is hauntingly beautiful, even given its macabre context. The score relentlessly perturbs and leaves one mystified, not unlike the miniseries itself.
Chernobyl | Photo Credit: HBO
X-Men: Dark Phoenix
Phoenix or not, Hans Zimmer’s riveting composition for the final chapter in the X-Men saga is definitely a dark horse. The only saving grace in an otherwise bland film was this gripping score with a quintessentially Zimmerian percussive orchestra. Zimmer has often employed a string quartet in high tempos as a percussive section in itself – this being exemplified in the track Gap. The score is exhilarating and manages to keep one on edge even throughout the dullest of films.
X Men: Dark Phoenix | Photo Credit: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.
Toy Story 4
Randy Newman has struck gold for the fourth time, returning for what is probably final part in the Toy Story series. One would think the score would have gotten repetitive by this point; however, Newman delivers fresh and innovative compositions, all the while having strong roots in the past. Parting Gifts & New Horizons proves to be especially beautiful and emotional, as we bid adieu to the beloved set of toys we’ve known for years.
Toy Story 4 | Photo Credit: Pixar
Stranger Things 3
The last couple of days in June saw the return of composers Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein for the third installment in the Stranger Things series. With each passing season, the duo pull off wonders with their retro-80s style, synth-pop soundtrack. With the onset of the ‘mall culture’ in the mid-80s, tracks such as Starcourt wonderfully condense the concept of the commercial lifestyle into a single track. The album also observes recurring motifs from previous seasons which, as always, leave us nostalgic and longing for more.