Gorky Park had a lot going for it: a high-calibre director in Michael Apted, good cast including William Hurt, Lee Marvin and Brian Dennehy, based on an acclaimed novel (by Martin Cruz Smith), a screenplay by no less a figure than Dennis Potter and music by the hottest young composer of the day - James Horner.  The movie concerned a Russian police officer's pursuit of the perpetrator of a triple-murder, a pursuit which highlighted corruption at the highest levels of authority in Moscow.  Horner's career was only just getting going, but he'd already had various hits, including Star Trek II, 48 Hours, Brainstorm and The Dresser and was one of the most in-demand composers in Hollywood despite being only 30.

It's a somewhat unusual (but very good) film and called for an unusual score combining classical and modern elements, a challenge Horner overcame rather better than most of the far more experienced composers working at the time would have done.  The Main Title piece which opens the disc has some unmistakable Horner suspense music overlaying quotes from works by the great Russian composers (a move that is of course entirely appropriate for this movie).  After that is a mixture of various styles that gel together surprisingly well.  The action music is mostly accompanied by synthesised percussion, which does sound a little dated twenty years on, but that doesn't particularly hamper one's enjoyment.  Of particular note are "Chase Through the Park" and "Irina's Chase", whose rhythmic constructions are not unlike the action music of Horner's then-idol, Jerry Goldsmith.

Along with the action music are a couple of suspense cues - rather more interesting than suspense cues usually are - and some slightly more romantic material, particularly the beautiful "Irina's Theme", featuring cimbalom, and the opening of "Releasing the Sabres", a lovely, jaunty little piece that's wonderfully evocative of animals being set free onto snow-covered landscapes - which is exactly what happens in the film.

This is an impressive early score by a composer who was arguably going through his best period at the time.  It marked one of Varese Sarabande's first CD releases and can be rather hard to find now, but it's worth pursuing for everyone who likes James Horner's style of the early 1980s.  It's not big orchestral music like some of his scores, but it's taut and exciting and certainly highly recommended.

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