The Gospel of John

As noted by Mr Southall at Moviewave, Miklos Rozsa often spent months researching period music for his Biblical epics and then wrote music that sounded pretty much like all his other scores. In fairness to Rozsa, notation from music of that era hasn't survived well and so portraying the Romans in Ben-Hur, for example, is more calculated guess work than anything else. Of course, modern versions of ancient local instruments can be added for dash of local flavour. In all the hype and controversy surrounding Mel Gibson's Passion - the full blood and guts 'this is as it was' retelling - The Gospel of John is a more subdued and objective look at the life of Christ. It doesn't hype Him as an especially great orator or a show off, performing miracles as proof of his divine status, but God as a man, trying to teach those around him and making the ultimate sacrifice for the benefit of all mankind.
Jeff Danna does not immediately spring to mind as a composer who is ideally suited to composing music for a film of such gravitas, but his star is certainly on the rise and for my money, starting to eclipse is better known brother. The opening couple of tracks are not especially promising, although I suppose that depends on your taste for non-western instruments and harmonic language. However, as the notes by music supervisor Stephen Cera mention, a great deal of effort was expended in finding instruments for both the time and place. Perhaps the most important and powerful instrument is the voice of French singer Esther Lamandier who specialises in singing ancient Hebrew chants. Unpromising though this may sound, her voice is a powerful presence, notably in the soaring Mary Washes Jesus' Feet or the intimate beauty of The Prayer, which is hard to forget. The reprise of material from The Prayer for the finale, Follow Me, is a strikingly powerful conclusion. However, her contributions to the darker passages are equally important, notably in Pilate's Dilemma.

Although the region specific instruments are an essential addition, the power of a full symphony orchestra is not easily eclipsed. Therefore, when The Philharmonic Orchestra make its presence felt in The Road Through Samaria, Danna's music moves from the parochial to the intensely dramatic and pushes the right buttons to allow the music to soar. At the other end of the scale, the flighty, but angst ridden, Pilate's Dilemma (before Lamandier's vocals are introduced) invokes a striking level of conflict and drama. The final tracks are a mixture of turbulence, as evidenced in the The Betrayal and Jesus at the Temple, and hope in Cast Your Nets and Follow Me. Some of the more brazen moments sound more like they've escaped from an action film and the bluster is just a little too much, but these are generally brief and dramatic outbursts that make their point with concision and energy. They are carefully balanced by the greater quantity of gentle material which is where the score's power resides. Danna's finest work to date.