Will he continue what he started with TWILIGHT? Will he take into account the amazing work his successors Alexandre Desplat and Howard Shore achieved with NEW MOON and ECLIPSE respectively? Or will he evolve into a new beast entirely?
While we unfortunately have to wait until December 13 to enjoy his full score in the comfort of our own homes (thanks to either some strange marketing ploy by Atlantic Records to take advantage of the impending holiday season or a serious flub of production since the film hits theaters November 18), we are fortunately treated to a 6-minute glimpse of Burwell’s handiwork on the closing track of the BREAKING DAWN: Part 1 original soundtrack with “Love Death Birth.”
Arranged as a three-movement suite, “Love Death Birth” is a cascading aural autobiographical sketch of Bella’s growth through the series. It is at once a coming-of-age modal poem and a resolution that anchors the past while reaching toward the future.
Piano and gentle strings are the mainstay instruments through the track, though others make guest appearances, which speaks not only to the genius of Burwell’s minimalism but also confirms that the roots of the original TWILIGHT score are ever-present (without the ominous weightiness that consumed tracks like “Humans Are Predators Too,” “The Skin of a Killer” and “Nomads”). It is simple, concise, and deeply romantic.
The first part, which we will call “Love,” kicks off with a mournful, hesitant piano lick that becomes enveloped with strings, as though fearing what would happen if/when Bella plunged full-bore into the pool of love. The tumult of passion, frustration, and animalistic passion is heightened by the addition of percussion, and low-end, Zimmer-ish strings, as she becomes awash in the good, bad and ugly associated with the diamond-like facets of love. However, the storm soon settles into a soothing, warm embrace of piano and violins.
The passage sways into the “Death” segment with the mild pop piano sensibility previously associated with “Take My Hand” from the end credits of the 1984 sci-fi film DUNE (but only for a few seconds). As the acoustic guitar accompaniment arouses an earthen communion with nature, it quickly becomes apparent that “Death” in this sense is not closure, finality, or something to be dreaded.
Rather, it is a transition, or metamorphosis from one state of being to another; representing the choices Bella has made in life and coming to terms with her own “spirit path,” so to speak. It is a celebration of finding one’s self and knowing that, although change can cause a bit of pain, one must continue to look forward and never dwell in the past.
“Birth” arrives with the familiar descending piano riff previously indicative of “Bella’s Lullaby,” as heard throughout the first TWILIGHT score. The cue begins gently and yet with an air of uncertainty (accentuated by nomadic chimes), questioning whether or not she has made the right choices, though it is now too late to change them. It is a dark means of introducing a piece called “Birth,” but like “Death,” there are several ways to view the term.
“Birth” can be the concrete introduction of new life, or it can imply the ownership of a “new skin” or a new direction/outlook on life. The piano mingles with the strings as the track progresses, indicating an emerging strength of character, resolving that Bella is a better person for having made those decisions. She has learned from her mistakes and grown out of pain and holds her head high as the music whispers to a close with a sustained, single-note, sublime fearlessness, edging toward the unknown future.
The magic of this track is that it can be interpreted to signify the journey of any of the primary characters, as well as any of us. Burwell wields an uncanny knack of tapping into the human condition and transforming our desires and pain into sound. That is what makes the man so relevant to this film series and to the world of movie music in general.
--team-twilight.com
~Robstenfan
0 comments:
Post a Comment