Dramatically adventurous music isn’t exactly unprecedented in Burwell’s output (Rob Roy / Conspiracy Theory), but he certainly isn’t whom you’d immediately assume would (or could) score a medieval jousting tale. Frankly, it’s a stunning surprise. The opening track "Nemesis" has a terrific action theme that appears every so often to characterise the film’s knightly hero. This aspect of the score is the surprise, and is welcome every time it’s boldly restated (e.g. "A Lance Without Target").
With the next cue, "Cooked Patents", you’ll begin to see some of the thinking behind Burwell’s attachment. This is a courtroom dance taken over by electric guitar and drums that mix it into something far funkier. Although he’s not been at the forefront of the 90s obsession with lacing contemporary rhythms into every conceivable genre of music, he has been a constant source of interesting rhythms. His general style falls into what I’ve frequently called melancholia. But take something like the decidedly melancholy Fargo, and you’ll immediately be struck by the shifting unpredictable nature of its themes. When you put someone with that natural trait into an experimental environment, what you get is a contemporised musical genre that doesn’t accord in any way to the Hollywood norm.
The love story of the film is given over to sweet and low, most often for solo classical guitar ("Apprenticed", "Guinevere Comes To Lancelot" and "Love Reflects"). There’s also the occasional pleasant prominence on harp ("To Run Or Not To Run"). Aside from the action, what will undoubtedly linger in the mind longest is his take on the source courtroom music. "St. Vitus’ Dance", either as the "Smithy Mix" or the "Grog Mix", is an infectiously upbeat number.
You can bet this’ll lose sales to the rock song album that preceded it. I’m willing to bet that other disc doesn’t have a booklet revealing that its lead artist has no sense of smell though!
Paul Tonks
Conducted by Carter Burwell
