Boy in the Striped Pajamas Soundtrack Review

Heart-Wrenching, Powerful Score from James Horner

Apr 6, 2009

James Horner's latest score follows many of his established tendencies, but with remarkable grace and emotional power.

James Horner, one of Hollywood’s most successful composers, is well known for his controversial tendency to carry thematic material over from film to film, and the result is that opinions of the man and his music are polarized; perhaps more so than with any other composer.

His latest score, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, does indeed recycle some very specific material from previous Horner scores, but instead of simply rehashing them and pasting them directly into the new work, for Pajamas he fleshes them out and dresses them up in a highly effective new package that glimmers with charm and innocence in its brightest moments, and trembles with terror and heartbreak in its darkest.

Ethereal Atmospheres in Horner's Score

Horner uses an attractively soothing set of orchestral and synthetic sounds to construct his score. As in The Spitfire Grill and, more recently, The New World, Horner give his music an enchantingly ethereal atmosphere, with tingling light percussion, echoing woodwind solos and very light synthesized elements.

The moods thus established are marked by their innocence, faint sense of wonder, and charming delicacy. Heard most winningly in “Exploring the Forest” and “The Wind Blows Gently Through the Garden,” these early cues are emotionally rich, despite their sparse renderings.

Another main ingredient in the score is the piano, which rolls effortlessly through countless, precise explorations of the title theme with classical grace and elegance. Whether it is performing the title theme over a rolling bed of strings (“Train Ride to a New Home”) or providing fragile embellishments (“The Wind Blows Gently Through the Garden”), its distant echoing mix in no way detracts from the instrument’s inherent emotional intimacy. In “Boys Playing Airplanes,” the piano is remarkably energetic and exuberant, and its cheery innocence is an appropriately naïve way to begin the album; for the score takes a markedly darker tone during its second half.

As the story of the film shifts from the innocence and naiveté of its beginnings to the stark horror and heartbreak of its conclusion, so does the music. Beginning in the fifth track of the album, the darker tone of the second half of the score becomes firmly manifest by the seventh track: a sense of gloom and despair begins to permeate each cue. Themes are stated in dour minor keys, at much slower tempi and in lower registers; melodic statements become fewer and more sparsely written.

The tone shifts slowly from this point to one of tension, then to a shocking climax, then finally to a state of profound heartbreak. The final minutes of “Strange New Clothes” are practically shrieking in their intensity, and shockingly dark and dissonant. The ultimate cue, “Remembrance, Remembrance,” restates the title theme, this time on solo piano, in a pointedly slower, less enthusiastic manner than the opening track.

Reused Material from Previous Horner Scores

Long-time listeners of Horner’s music will note that the title theme is a very close quote of Horner’s earlier theme from Swing Kids, although slightly more elaborate and tastefully applied here. Horner’s very distinctive four-note motif for danger or evil also makes an unabashed appearance, and it will likely be the greatest cause for frustration for those annoyed with Horner’s habit of recycling his own music.

Detractors will cry foul once again, but those who are willing to explore the score with an open mind will find it moving and emotionally arresting, so profoundly does Horner’s music expound on the film’s core themes of beauty and innocence lost.

Summary

Beginning with lush and exuberant themes of wonder and innocence, and gradually twisting them into horrific, devastating sequences of heartbreak and trauma, Horner’s score, despite its obvious adherence to his own personal habits and tendencies, is a powerful and gripping musical depiction of the horror of the holocaust, as viewed through the eyes of a child.

The album is available only as a digital download, from iTunes and AmazonMP3. Recommended.

The copyright of the article Boy in the Striped Pajamas Soundtrack Review in Classical Music is owned by David Abraham Dueck. Permission to republish Boy in the Striped Pajamas Soundtrack Review in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.