Carter Burwell is a wonderfully talented composer whose music has yet to find a place in mainstream consciousness. His most fruitful and famous collaborations have been with the Coen Brothers, but elsewhere, his music, while normally of high quality, goes largely unnoticed even by many film score collectors.
Carter Burwell: Underrated Composer
Both epic works such as his score to The Alamo and broodingly classical masterpieces like In Bruges have been inexplicably passed over, while ironically one of his weakest scores (for 2008's Twilight) has become one of his most famous and beloved.
Burwell's talent becomes strangely more apparent when he writes music of a smaller and more intimate scale: In Bruges remains one of his most fascinating compositions due to its reliance on a tiny chamber ensemble to perform the surprisingly complex music, even for action set-pieces.
Small-Scale, Atmospheric Fantasy Score by Burwell
Where the Wild Things Are follows this template in very satisfying fashion, although he adds some colorful surprises to the instrumental mix to give it the necessary fantasy atmosphere. The score relies mainly upon piano, one or two guitars and a tiny string section as the bulk of the ensemble, although an occasional appearance by light, tingling metallic percussion ("Training") and fluttering woodwinds do increase the depth of the group somewhat.
Thematic development does not appear to be Burwell's priority in this score: rather, the atmosphere generated by his music is the primary factor and the score's greatest continuity, with bleak but soothing progressions performed at a leisurely pace by the sparse ensemble.
Wild Excitement in Where the Wild Things Are
Moments of excitement do pop up, however; most notably in the entertainingly savage "Dirt Clod Fight", but also in "Max Joins": Burwell lets his guitars and acoustic percussion take center stage in a wild display of nearly juvenile glee, and the shouting children's vocals in "Dirt Clod Fight" provide a winking connection between Burwell's score and the dominating songs in the film, performed by Karen O and The Kids (which have been published on a seperate album).
Summary
The score as a whole is very brief at just over twenty-five minutes long, but this is to be expected given the prominence of the film's songs as the primary musical identity of the story. Burwell's score is not to be overlooked, however: the cues "This is Your World" and "We Love You So" are among the loveliest, most unassuming pieces that Burwell has composed in recent years, and each cue is marked by that peculiar clarity and intimate sense of heart which Burwell is so skilled at creating with his small ensembles.
A truly satisfying and well-rounded musical souvenir of the film would involve both the film's songs and Burwell's score, but on its own, the score does not disappoint those familiar with Burwell's work. In no way is it stunning or surprising, or even very memorable in its somber, plodding melodicism: but it is a quiet, comforting, warm and subtle score to a fine fantasy film, and will be much enjoyed by those who seek it out. Recommended.
Carter Burwell's score for Where The Wild Things Are can be purchased downloaded online at AmazonMP3, or the iTunes store.
David Abraham Dueck - I live in MN and do not surf or collect Hello Kitty paraphernalia. I instead play ice hockey, write articles for my blog, read tons of ...
