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“Harry Gregson-Williams’ score for KINGDOM OF
HEAVEN is not a
re-tooling of Hans
Zimmer’s “Gladiator”.
“Kingdom” is something much more ambiguous and subtle.”
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Gregson-Williams’
Hidden “Kingdom”
Review by Steve
Townsley
In the early summer of
2005, the truth is
that most moviegoers
(myself included) were
chomping at the bit
for galaxies far, far
away and cities of sin
than to have an
overwhelming response
to Ridley Scott’s
medieval/middle-east
epic, “Kingdom of
Heaven”. Sure, we’d
had our fill of
Orlando Bloom swinging
swords, and huge scale
battle sequences—“Lord
of the Rings” saw to
that. Sure, having
reached a saturation
point with news of the
day, most of us felt
that we didn’t need to
go sit through a
history lesson about
war in Israel. Though
when the summer
craziness died down,
and the realm of DVD
got around to
presenting the film,
perhaps more than a
few viewers realized
that this one got
under their cinematic
radar.
Most film-music
listeners would have
pounced on the cues
that director Ridley
Scott “cannibalized”
from “Hannibal” and
“The 13th Warrior”.
The usage was
curiously
appropriate--and some
generous might say
that the use of
Goldsmith’s “Valhalla”
music from “13th
Warrior” was a fitting
tribute to the late
composer, with Scott
and Goldsmith having
been
collaborators-at-odds
in the past. These
cues, however, did not
make it on to the
“Kingdom of Heaven”
CD, their presence
already being better
represented on other
albums.
Harry Gregson-Williams’
score for “Kingdom of
Heaven” is not a
re-tooling of Hans
Zimmer’s “Gladiator”.
“Kingdom” is something
much more ambiguous
and subtle. The track,
“A New World” has a
mystic pensiveness
with choir and strings
that are neither
hopeful nor
condemning. The
melodies that Gregson-Williams
uses here are, like
Orlando Bloom’s knight
protagonist, trying to
find loyalties and
homes. “Ibelin” is a
warm and inviting cue
with middle eastern
orchestrations—there
is a happiness in this
cue that is difficult
to find in the score,
as the score is deftly
layered with rhythms
that are more
troubling and
foreboding. The theme
here is reprised in
the closing track
“Light of Life”, with
vocals by Natacha
Atlas.
Track 9, “The King” is
likewise, begins with
a haunting female
vocal, to represent
King Baldwin, a dying
leper, whose spirit
overcomes his
wraith-like physical
limitations. The voice
gives way to the
orchestra, which
builds in power to
symbolize this balance
between the physical
and spiritual. Rather
than celbratory, the
cue “Coronation” is
mournful, as the score
balances death and
life and death again.
In this cue, Gregson-Williams
hints melodically at
the cue “Vide Cor Meum”,
composed by Patrick
Cassidy for the film
“Hannibal”, but does
not copy it directly.
Furiously, “Wall
Breached” opens with a
rattling percussion
that assaults the
listener, but then
eases briefly with
choral overtaking the
assault. “Saladin” is
a noble theme composed
for a complex and
debated figure of
history. Appropriate
to the film, Gregson-Williams
ends the score portion
of the album with a
prayer hymn, “Path to
Heaven”.
Giving credence to the
adage that a work of
art is never finished,
only abandoned,
director Ridley Scott
recently released a
“director’s cut” of
“Kingdom of Heaven”,
featuring an extended
version of the film
with a David Lean-like
musical prologue and
intermission—this full
epic presentation most
likely being what
Scott had in mind all
along, but that most
modern audiences would
not have the patience
for such a
presentation. Hearing Gregson-Williams’
music presented as
intended may be the
best way to appreciate
the complex talent at
work here, though
regardless, “Kingdom
of Heaven” is indeed a
underrated jewel of a
score.
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Track Listing and Ratings |
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Track |
Track Title |
Track Time |
Rating |
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1 |
Burning the Past |
2:48 |
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2 |
Crusaders |
1:41 |
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3 |
Swordplay |
2:01 |
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4 |
A
New
World |
4:21 |
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5 |
To
Jerusalem |
1:38 |
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| 6 |
Sibylla |
1:49 |
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| 7 |
Ibelin |
2:05 |
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| 8 |
Rise a Knight |
2:43 |
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| 9 |
The King |
5:45 |
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| 10 |
The Battle of Kerak |
5:36 |
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| 11 |
Terms |
4:29 |
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| 12 |
Better Man |
3:29 |
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| 13 |
Coronation |
3:03 |
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| 14 |
An Understanding |
4:13 |
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| 15 |
Wall Breached |
3:43 |
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| 16 |
The Pilgrim Road |
4:07 |
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| 17 |
Saladin |
4:44 |
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| 18 |
Path to Heaven |
1:38 |
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| 19 |
Light of Life (Ibelin Reprise) |
2:10 |
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| |
Total Runnning Time |
62:03 |
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from Amazon.com
