It's easy to think of John Williams these days as a composer who can only score big-budget popcorn fare.  Indeed, over the last five years, that's literally all he's done, eschewing all chances at doing movies that might stretch him a little bit.  But there was a time when he would mix up the blockbusters with other, less commercial fare, and just about the last time he did that was with 1997's Rosewood, an outstanding, deeply moving account of racism in the Deep South directed by John Singleton, as a black man is falsely accused of raping a white woman, with the result being that a whole black community is vilified and burned.  (Singleton went from this to 2 Fast 2 Furious?)

Williams's score is his most wild departure in years, probably decades.  Replacing a rejected score by Wynton Marsalis, Williams approached the score with black music firmly in mind, even writing a trio of beautiful original gospel songs, "Look Down, Lord", "Light My Way" and "The Freedom Train".  His score features a smallish orchestra along with prominent parts for guitar and harmonica.  Everything comes together brilliantly in the opening cue, a moving and highly-memorable piece.

The film features scenes of graphic violence and Williams goes about scoring these with furious, fast-paced action music, perhaps the best being the brief "The Hounds of Summer".  More tragic moments in the film never get the typical Williams gloop which would obviously be entirely inappropriate for this subject matter, but instead more introspective (and ultimately far more moving) material that is perfect at creating the right mood and revealing the feelings of the characters - "Trouble in Town" is a prime example.

As great as Williams's work on Harry Potter, Star Wars and the Spielberg movies is, I'd far rather hear him writing more material like Rosewood now he's in the twilight of his career.  It's a much more personal score, and one that surprised me no end since I would never have thought Williams the right composer for this type of film.  But he clearly was.  This is a brilliant score for an even more brilliant film.

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