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A review by JAMES SOUTHALL

Thomas Newman's remarkable knack for scoring the most critically acclaimed movies shows no signs of abaiting; but another quality that has shone through in his recent work is his incredible range as a composer.  Few film composers could comfortably move from Road to Perdition to Finding Nemo to Angels in America without resorting to a generic approach to at least one of the projects; but "generic" is an adjective that should never be found in a description of anything that Newman has written.  Each score is so distinctively his, yet each fits its own film like a glove and at the same time has something new of its own to offer.

Angels in America is a two-part HBO miniseries, but one look at the credits and you realise that this is a television project with money to burn: directed by Mike Nichols and starring no less than Al Pacino and Meryl Streep (not to mention the lovely Mary-Louise Parker, the thinking man's crumpet), it's an adaptation of Tony Kushner's play about a group of gay men going through the early onslaught of AIDS during the 1980s.  The budget was a truly staggering $60m.

Newman's score is nothing short of outstanding; it may be the best he has ever written.  It encompasses everything that is so good about his music: his incredible invention, his gift for melody, his unusual instrumental ensembles, his beautiful writing for woodwind; all there, in spades.  The main title theme - the second cue - simply soars, with a heavenly choir accompanying the string orchestra.  There's a hint of How to Make an American Quilt in the beautiful oboe theme in "Ellis Island", a memorable and particularly fine piece.  The spooky "Acolyte of the Flux" is another outstanding piece, a weird collection of wonderful noises underpinned by another fine theme.  "Bayeux Tapestry" is a touching string theme that highlights Armin Steiner's outstanding orchestral engineering - Newman's scores always seem to be recorded better than most, fully showcasing the remarkably crisp and pure orchestrations. 

"Spotty Monster" is a slight change of pace, one of those wonderful, quirky little pieces Newman writes for electric string instruments that's almost enough to make you want to get up and dance around the room.  In fact, the music gets so good, that by the time you get to the 16th track, "The Infinite Descent", it's easy to have forgotten that the score opened with a choir; therefore its sudden reappearance, singing a majestic, soaring hymnal chorus, is like a jolt - a very welcome one though!  Newman doesn't write for choir nearly enough (this may be the first time since Oscar and Lucinda) - when he does, the results are just a joy to behold.  The choir is present in virtually every track for the second half of the album.

"Broom of Truth" introduces yet another great theme, a melancholy, profoundly moving piece for orchestra and solo choirboy.  This is incredible music.  The startling, piercing blast of brass dissonance and choir of "Submit!" somehow seems like a cross between Newman and Elliot Goldenthal; you'll never have heard anything like it from the composer before.  "Plasma Orgasmata" (I love these titles) begins as a strained, anguished piece for strings which conveys desperation, anger and hope in one go, before it soars up to the skies with some of the most heavenly choral writing in a film score since Jerry Goldsmith's "The Second Coming" in The Final Conflict.  If I could only take one track from a 2003 film score to a desert island - it would be "Plasma Orgasmata" without any doubt.  Newman introduces a touch of homliness - and brings things down to earth - with a beautiful theme for solo violin in "The Mormons".  There is more striking choral music in "More Life", but this time it is a slightly disjointed, never-quite-harmonic theme.  "Black Angel" is a stunning track, a highly-descriptive piece that shudders along with enormous energy and power.  It's the sort of music that would terrify your neighbours if you put it on loud enough.  The perfect antidote comes in the next cue, "Garden of the Soul", when Newman reintroduces the soaring majesty and searing beauty of his big choral theme.  "Heaven" offers a shimmering, slightly mysterious take on heaven, with more imaginative choral writing.  "The Great Work Begins" is a reflective, moving end title piece which soars up like Meet Joe Black at its conclusion; it's yet another highlight of an album which is crammed full of them.  Newman follows it up with the brief "Tropopause", in which a wordless soprano intones the score's main theme; the beauty is breathless, Newman's achievement impossible to overstate.

Throughout Angels in America, it is clear that this is a remarkable piece of music.  It takes a few listens to unravel the most remarkable thing of all about it - there are 28 pieces on the album by Newman, and each one is completely unique; almost every one is based around its own theme; and any of those themes would be quite at home in most scores.  Newman offers so much invention here, so many wonderful melodies, such fine arrangements for orchestra and choir.  This is the most remarkable film music album in some time; and certainly the most outstanding album of 2003.  Treat yourself; Newman's never written better.

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Tracks

1. Threshold of Revolution (:56)
2. Angels in America (2:17)
3. Lesionnaire (:40)
4. Ellis Island (2:05)
5. Acolyte of the Flux (1:15)
6. Umdankbar Kind (1:24)
7. The Ramble (1:07)
8. Ozone (:58)
9. Pill Poppers (1:17)
10. Quartet (6:43)
11. Solitude Duke Ellington (3:10)
12. Bayeux Tapestry (1:49)
13. Spotty Monster (:48)
14. Mauve Antarctica (4:47)
15. Her Fabulous Incipience (1:06)
16. The Infinite Descent (:54)
17. A Closer Walk With Thee George Lewis (2:54)
18. Broom of Truth (2:50)
19. Submit! (1:15)
20. Plasma Orgasmata (2:57)
21. Delicate Particle Logic (1:57)
22. The Mormons (1:51)
23. Prophet Birds (2:42)
24. More Life (2:10)
25. Black Angel (4:10)
26. Garden of the Soul (4:03)
27. Heaven (2:00)
28. Bethesda Fountain (1:17)
29. The Great Work Begins (3:57)
30. Tropopause (2:55)
31. I'm His Child Zella Jackson-Price (3:36)