Alex Wurman was given the underwhelming task of scoring March of the Penguins, the surprise hit of the summer which will go on to gross more than $50m at box office in the US alone. I say underwhelming in its most positive sense, as a way of summarizing a score that is simply subtle and gentle the whole way through. This is Wurman’s way of representing the innocence and beauty of the world’s most loved creatures – Penguins (and Morgan Freeman).
What Wurman tells us with this score is that if something’s beautiful or innocent you have to resort to using flutes and the piccolo. How original. Although, however unoriginal Wurman is in instrumental selection he makes up for with simplistic but superb melody.
Flutes and piccolos are accompanied by ever so slight piano works, cello, percussion and synthesisers. Yes I did say synthesisers. Think Mark Isham, think “Crash”. In fact a pattern arising in 2005 is the rise of a range of solid synthesised film compositions and this is one of them. However, the synthesised works are not Wurman’s strong point, in-fact if they stand by themselves they sound simply like copies of Isham or even Cliff Martinez’s “Solaris” (2002) score. It’s only when Wurman allows the innocence of the piano, flute and piccolo to sway in and out of cues as easy and as unobtrusively as the wind, that we truly can immerse ourselves in a beauty of music that is more than a match for the spectacular visuals. As a stand alone album of music, this is the kind you put on to lay down and simply drift away.
Focusing on the last four tracks: “First Steps” is the first time synthesis is laid almost totally aside to allow flute and piccolo, the oboe and not forgetting the good old glockenspiel to represent a new-born penguin. And you can visualize that. The sign of a good film soundtrack is when you correctly visualize what is going on, on-screen, without having to see the film. “The Dangers Remain” is also the first time bass seems to kick in, representing the “deep voice”, the anger. “Reunited” is almost simply a piano piece. The final piece “Going home for the first time” recalls the subtle theme of the film, re-introducing most of the instruments used earlier in the soundtrack and rounding off with a still subtle, but larger orchestra sound before bringing it back down to the pivotal instrument of the soundtrack, the flute which gets its own solo, as we leave the penguins and Morgan Freeman’s phenomenal voice in its most beautiful. Throughout the whole soundtrack you get a feeling that Wurman has a real command for music and in how it relates to the screen.
What’s more fascinating for the listener who purchases this soundtrack… isn’t there something very jazzy about the score? I could be wrong, but I think at the most subtle level of a majority of tracks there is a very soft cymbal that helps create the rhythm of each track. This is something you typically only hear in jazz.
Wurman’s power is not with his synthesised works, as many composers in the past have relied on and failed, but in the way he merges that with what would seem so totally unoriginal choices of instruments. This in eventuality helps creates something a little bit different and just a little bit original, which makes a change. A change that would be a good accompaniment to anyone’s soundtrack collection. It’s beautiful.