Basil Poledouris's lucky break as a film composer came because his old college buddy John Milius gave him a shot at Big Wednesday.  Milius had already made a name for himself by directing Dillinger and The Wind and the Lion and writing parts of Dirty Harry, Jaws and Apocalypse Now.  All credit, therefore, to him for employing Poledouris who had written a handful of scores beforehand, but none for films that anyone actually saw.  A popular coming-of-age drama featuring three close friends who love surfing, Big Wednesday was semi-autobiographical for the director and remains popular today.

One of its most popular elements has always been its music.  While it seems pretty inconceivable today that a film like this would receive anything other than a collage of popular songs, it benefited from being released just after Star Wars when orchestral music was suddenly in vogue again.  Poledouris's score is a real treat, his first major effort and very much a sign of the great music that was to come, though this remains one of his very finest.  It is largely melancholic, an emotion-laden accompaniment to the glorious cinematography and sentimental story (let's face it, Milius's movies aren't the most subtle in the world).

Things are bolstered together by a great main theme, which is heard countless times through the score, but never outstays its welcome.  Cues such as "Bear's Wedding", "Aloha, Jack" and "Cemetery" are really surprisingly moving, a wonderful showcase for the emotional side of Poledouris's writing.  There are also some more inspirational, "big" cues of music, such as the "Passing of the Years" tracks (four of them in total) and especially "Big Wednesday Montage", which features so many Poledouris trademarks his fans will likely be in raptures.  These can be seen almost as hymns to surfing and, while I've never participated in that pursuit myself, they can still bring out goosebumps.  More dramatic and anguished music occasionally appears, particularly in "Matt Mourning and Ominosity", a thunderous piece of action music.  If only I knew what "ominosity" meant.

The CD is lovingly presented by Film Score Monthly and available in their Silver Age Classics series.  Liner notes are extensive and, while their claim that it's one of the finest symphonic scores of the 1970s may be overstretching things a bit (it wasn't a decade bereft of high-quality film music), it's certainly an inspiring and lovingly-crafted work, one which will appeal to fans of warm Americana, and of course Poledouris fans, who will surely savour one of his very best scores.