Dances With Wolves Soundtrack Review
Composed and Conducted by John Barry
Back in 1990, prior to the release of Costner's now classic opus, the press was having a field day anticipating the failure of his debut project, dubbing it 'Kevin's Gate'. Of course he had the last laugh, riding away with seven Oscars and re-envisioning the Western genre for a whole new audience.
Barry's Oscar-Winning Soundtrack
Dances With Wolves tells the story of a Civil War Lieutenant, John Dunbar (Costner), whose suicide attempt in the midst of battle is mistaken for an act of bravery. He chooses to be posted on the rapidly vanishing American frontier, where he bonds with a Sioux tribe, being assimilated into their culture and falling in love with a white woman, Stands With a Fist (Mary McDonnell) who has grown up in their culture.
However, Dunbar is eventually forced to make an agonising decision when the presence of his former allies and other white settlers is increasingly felt in the Sioux lands. Key as much as anything to Dunbar's engrossing, moving journey is John Barry's lavish score.
Indian Sioux Themes
The most brilliantly effective facet of Barry's approach is to have the central theme, for Dunbar himself, reflect his journey from war-scarred optimist through to his anguished realisation that his adopted family's future existence is on a knife's edge. Beginning as a warm trumpet solo, the theme reveals a whole new side when it's passed over to the string section, becoming more mournful and melancholy.
The score doesn't merely rely on the one theme; far from it. The early highlight of Journey to Fort Sedgwick features Barry's surging strings at their best. Among the half dozen other themes on offer, there's a delightfully playful woodwind representation of Two Socks, the wolf, and a noble theme for the friendship between Dunbar and the Sioux shaman, Kicking Bird (Graham Greene).
The stampeding buffalo that become increasingly integral to the plot get an ascending two note motif on horns, an incredidbly simple device but composed in the indelible romantic Barry tradition. Continuing in the romantic vein is the gorgeous Love Theme for Dunbar and Stands With a Fist, full of longing and desire.
Passing of the Native American Culture
Threatening the largely serene and pastoral elegance of the score are the violent percussive cues representing the violent Pawnee faction that comes to play a larger part towards the climax of the score. Strident snare drum rhythms represent another invading element, that of Dunbar's war colleagues who will decide the ultimate fate of the Sioux.
All the major themes get a rousing wrap-up in Farewell/End Title that also features some truly moving material lamenting the passing of the American frontier. No mere words can do the score justice however: it is a treasure trove of rich, involving melodic music, recalling the heights of Barry's classics The Lion in Winter and Out of Africa. A masterpiece.
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