In Pride and Prejudice and Atonement (which won him an Oscar award in 2008), Dario Marianelli revealed his unmistakable skill in writing music of a superbly elegant, classical nature (which surfaced again in his adaptations of existing classical pieces in The Soloist). When reflecting on the stately beauty of those scores, it is all too easy to forget the brutal scores he penned for the films The Brothers Grimm and V for Vendetta, two of the most enticing, savagely intelligent action scores of recent times.
In his latest score Marianelli manages to reconcile both his refined classicism and thunderous adventure material, while adding a striking layer of ancient ethnic sounds to the equation. The result is a remarkably compelling, three-dimensional work, rich, rewarding and moving.
Middle Eastern Elements in Agora
The score begins with an element unique thus far in Marianelli's career, and which is used extensively in Agora: wailing female vocals and duduk, used to evoke the exotic and ancient locale of the story. Ethnic wailing in film scores is getting to be somewhat of a cliché, but in this score they maintain an integrity and authenticity which is not only inoffensive but attractive and compelling.
Orchestra and Choir
This score is completely orchestral and choral in construction (outside of the ethnic elements), with a great deal of truly impressive passages to be found: “What Do the Skies See” is a breathtaking powerhouse of symphonic might, with as stunning a set of orchestrations as one is likely to hear all year; the practically liturgical chants by the choir are accompanied by immensely satisfying rhythms by brass and percussion. This almost overbearingly powerful style is revisited in “As Christian As You Are,” with equally fine results.
That cue is followed by an ethereal passage for strings and choir, “Aristarchus the Visionary,” which beckons the listener with a distant, subdued sense of awe, before the awesome duo of “The Library Falls” and “Two Hundred Thousand Books” overwhelms the listener with the perfect musical equivalent of raging flames; catastrophic amounts of orchestral, ethnic and choral elements warring against one another; a flood of chaotic yet harmonic ingredients which complement each other perfectly in their disparity.
Classical and Ethnic Tones in Marianelli's Score
Although occasionally displaying the fluid romanticism of Pride and Prejudice and Atonement, the tone of Agora is decidedly more ancient, with deep interludes for bass strings providing a medieval sound (as in the opening of “The Skies Do Not Fall”), which, when combined with the rich ethnic elements, is similar in concept to the music of Canadian film composer Mychael Danna, although Marianelli's distinctly classical style gives the music a more modern edge.
A uniquely beautiful combination of the score's various tones (minus the choir) can be heard in the undulating “The Rule of the Parabolani,” surely one of the most technically interesting and hypnotically lovely cues in Marianelli's career.
Conclusion
Each cue in Agora is very strong, with perhaps the only weak moments being those passages given over to solo, extended ethnic wailing: yet when that tortured female voice is gradually supported by full strings and chorus (or combated against by massive chorus and brass), the effect is truly intoxicating, and results in some of the finest film music to be heard all year.
No amount of words will effectively convey striking beauty and emotional resonance to be heard in Marianelli's Agora: the immense choral grandeur, the swooning classical passion, and the raw ethnicity on display in this score are combined with consummate skill and very satisfying clarity. This is a score of very unexpected and superlative quality, and it is not to be missed by. Heartily recommended!
As an imported product, the score is difficult to acquire but can be purchased through Screen Archives Entertainment.
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