I frequently compile lists of film composers who should be working a lot more than they are.  (I know, I know - I need to get a life.  It's just the sort of thing I do!)  I always include Bruce Broughton and Joel McNeely and Basil Poledouris.  Usually a couple of others.  I always forget Bill Conti.  It seems that everyone else does, too.  Maybe he's forgotten himself.  His crotchety attitude in interviews and almost Leonard Rosenman level of self-regard doesn't really endear him on a personal level, but he has written some wonderful film music over the years, including one of the most famous themes a film has ever had (Rocky) and an Oscar win for The Right Stuff.  Aside from John McTiernan's surprisingly good Thomas Crown Affair remake though, we've barely heard from Conti in a long time.  His score for that movie was fresh and invigorating, showing he's still got what it takes, so his absence from the film music scene is frustrating.

He has always been able to write really good, full-bodied orchestral music in the grand tradition of past masters.  He seems absolutely ideally suited for The Adventures of Huck Finn, Stephen Sommers's 1993 adaptation of Mark Twain's classic (yes, that Stephen Sommers!) and so it proved to be.  His music brims with enthusiasm and life, evoking fond memories of Copland, Moross (who scored a previous version of the same story) and Bernstein (that's Bernstein West, of course), a lovely score which paints a picture of an outdoor American adventure just perfectly.  Conti begins by offering an extended treatment of his delightful main theme, a wonderful creation which bounces with a spirit of adventure.  This is followed by the bucolic, lovely "Missy Finn Goes Shoppin'" which again is a treat.  Conti continues to present theme after theme in the cues which follow, varying from uptempo drama ("We're Still Friends") to the poignant, extremely moving "Billy Gets Killed" (a bit of a spoiler there, sorry about that).

Action music of a particularly dark hue comes in "The Barge", featuring some strident, aggressive brass writing.  Of course, things all get resolved in the end with another extended version of the main theme in "All's Well".  It really is a wonderful score, one which attracted little attention at the time and attracts even less now, but one which deserves a place in the collection of any fan of large scale orchestral film music.  It's wonderful stuff.