by Swashbuckler on 11/10/2001
favorite track: 18
 
The Duellists is a quiet, hypnotic score that made an indelible impression on all those that saw the film. Howard Blake reacted to director Ridley Scott's stunning imagery with a poetic, lyrical yet monothematic score.

The main theme, first heard on oboe in "The Duellists," is heard in various guises throughout the score. If one is drawn into the intensity of this initial cue, one may be surprised by the flippant "Mme deLeon's Salon," which immediately follows, presenting the theme in a period arrangement.

This is the how the score proceeds, surprise after surprise, meaning that although all 33 minutes of The Duellists is based on the same material, there is enough variation to make it interesting. The harshness of "Russian Winter" is immediately contrasted with the beauty of "The Chateau."

Tension, as heard in "Cavalry Duel," "The Challenge," and "Final Duel in the Woods," is represented by more modernistic flirtations with tonality. The voluminous "Russian Winter," however, remains the centerpiece of these tracks, over six minutes of nail-biting unease.

The climax of the score is also a culmination. "The Lonely Walker" allows the main theme to play itself out without interruption (view the film and observe how the music and images interact in this scene for an amazing experience), and the "End Credits" is the "Duellists" theme unchained, performed by the entire orchestra in it's lushest and most full arrangement; according to Blake, he was told to out-Wagner Wagner here, and the orchestra is like an ocean of sound, with tides, waves, eddies and flows.

The thing about The Duellists that seems to be its defining characteristic is its dignity. The score is an extremely stimulating one, one which grows with each listen.

A very different, very good recording of a suite from this score was heard on Silva's Mark of Zorro compilation.

By contrast, The Riddle of the Sands is a much more conventional score, but Blake's dramatic sensibilities created an engaging action score that works well as a companion piece to The Duellists.

The title track establishes the main thematic material of the film; mysteriouso textures from the strings are complimented by a haunting choir. Brass then takes over for the choir, which gives the score a more Teutonic sound which will figure importantly in later cues.

"Sailing" is a delightful cue in which a repeated string figure with oboe atop opens out first into a brass and strings expression of euphoria, then later into dark brass, now quoting the main theme in a most threatening manner.

"Into the Fog" is a calm before a storm, as the climactic tracks feature a tense train sequence and the galvanizing "Rehearsal for Invasion" and the bombastic "Sink the Dulcibella!"

The tone of The Riddle of the Sands is more operatic than that of The Duellists, perhaps making it more accessible, despite the fact that the The Duellists is the more well-known film. In fact, there is a very old fashioned Steineresque quality to The Riddle of the Sands that makes it very attractive.

The sound on the disc is quite clear, although the stereo soundfield is not very organic. The sound on The Duellists is slightly better than that of The Riddle of the Sands, probably because the former score was recorded with instrumental combinations of various size, rarely the entire orchestra.

The album artwork is excellent, with reproductions of various different poster art for both films, good notes by Christopher Landry, lauds by Ridley Scott and Michael York, and Christopher Geer's lyrics to the choral piece "Geheimnis des Sandes" in both German and English.

This is a CD not to be missed. The music and presentation are both first-rate.