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A review by JAMES SOUTHALL

Unfortunately not a success at the box office, Martin Campbell's Beyond Borders tells the story of a pair of aid workers who meet each other in various locations over the years, and fall in love.  They're played by Angelina Jolie and Clive Owen, with the former once again attracting rave reviews for her performance.  Campbell previously enticed composer James Horner into writing one of his most dynamic and exciting scores for years with The Mask of Zorro, so it was intriguing to see the pair collaborating again, with many fans hoping that Campbell would again bring the best out of the somewhat eclectic composer.  Following the film's release (and commercial failure), many fans quickly lost interest, which is a great pity: Beyond Borders is the most interesting and moving score Horner has written in a number of years.

It is subtle stuff with a fair amount of work for electronics; in general, there aren't the sweeping themes that Horner fans love; but the music is truly captivating and (note the time and date) highly original, unlike virtually anything to have come from the composer before.  He has split the album into three sections covering the movie's three locations.  It starts in Ethiopia with a beautiful choral theme.  Horner has always enjoyed incorporating ethnic elements into his score and he does it again here, though not to the extent you might expect; in general it's traditional western music, with only a few wind solos and a solo vocalist providing the ethnic slant.  The Ethiopia section is somewhat restrained but features some really lovely passages, especially its fourth part.

The Cambodia section opens with some "dirty" electronics which convey a sense of being lost in an alien environment, before introducing a nice piano theme.  The ten-minute second part is more urban electronics, effectively played off against a (synthesised?) xylophone solo.  It's a frantic mix of disparate elements, a chaotic and somewhat troubling piece, Horner's version of Hans Zimmer's Black Hawk Down if you like.  The orchestra takes a back seat, with the main acoustic component being some of Horner's trademark (and highly-effective) crashing piano solos.  The third part presents a restrained but moving theme for small orchestra, a welcome respite from the chaos of the previous piece, and another top cue.  The fourth and final part is even more subtle, with a solitary wind solo fluttering around soft synthesised accompaniment for a couple of minutes before a piano joins in.

The final section is Chechnya.  It opens with a sakuhachi solo before there is another brief burst of chaotic action music, though it's very different from Cambodia's; a small ensemble of acoustic instruments and choir providing the basis this time.  This too quickly disappears and more electronics take over, this time accompanied by a wonderful string theme.  The second piece introduces for the first time on the album some more traditional Horner action music, with very long string lines (sometimes with imaginative and unexpected harmonies), percussion hits, bells, snare drums and all his usual tricks - nothing too dissimilar to what he has written before, but satisfying nonetheless.  The piece goes on to present a moving and, yes, sweeping theme.  The third part is actually Robert Schumann's "Traumerai" for solo piano, a lovely interlude in the middle of Horner's score, one of the most effective uses of classical music on a film score album in some time.  Things end with yet another new theme, a touching piece for woodwind, piano and percussion.

Beyond Borders has been overshadowed by Horner's scores for Radio, House of Sand and Fog and especially The Missing, which were all released within a couple of weeks of one another.  For my money it is the best of the quartet, the most rewardingly original, captivating and beautiful score Horner has written in almost a decade.  The most surprising - and most impressive - thing is that Horner did not go down the predictable route of washing strings and horns over the romance, he actually delved deeper into the story and wrote for the places, the people and their plight.  Great stuff.

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Tracks

1. Ethiopia i (2:14)
2. Ethiopia ii (6:15)
3. Ethiopia iii (2:13)
4. Ethiopia iv (4:13)
5. Cambodia i (2:41)
6. Cambodia ii (9:56)
7. Cambodia iii (3:26)
8. Cambodia iv (4:51)
9. Chechnya i (6:16)
10. Chechnya ii (4:41)
11. Chechnya iii (2:22)
12. Chechnya iv (6:15)