Movie Music UK Awards 2013

SCORE OF THE YEAR

ROMEO AND JULIET, music by Abel Korzeniowski
ESCAPE FROM TOMORROW, music by Abel Korzeniowski
THE WIND RISES, music by Joe Hisaishi
THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG, music by Howard Shore
EVIL DEAD, music by Roque Baños

Of every score released this year, none impressed me more than Romeo and Juliet by Abel Korzeniowski. It’s the ultimate portrayal of romantic love: passionate, longing, and beautiful, and musically-speaking it ticks all the boxes, by being multi-thematic, structurally interesting, and wonderfully performed by a full orchestra. Korzeniowski’s stellar year continued with his lush, sweeping, ironic score for the unusual fantasy Escape from Tomorrow, where his music helped the film satirize the conventions of Disneyland, and convey the hallucinations of a man slowly losing his mind in the theme park. Japanese composer Joe Hisaishi gave his final collaboration with director Hayao Miyazaki, The Wind Rises, a trio of gorgeous themes, including one rooted in the sunny music of the Mediterranean for the man who designed a fighter plane for the Japanese in World War II. Howard Shore returned to Middle Earth for the second Hobbit movie, The Desolation of Smaug, and further enhanced his reputation with a dark, complicated score featuring a multiplicity of themes, enormous action music, and gorgeous orchestral textures. And speaking of dark, complicated score, none was darker that Roque Baños’s Evil Dead, a roaring, thunderous musical celebration of horror featuring the year’s standout instrumental choice – the air raid siren!

The five other scores rounding out my Top 10 are: THE BOOK THIEF by John Williams, COPPERHEAD by Laurent Eyquem, STAR TREK: INTO DARKNESS, music by Michael Giacchino, INSTRUCTIONS NOT INCLUDED by Carlo Siliotto, and COLETTE by Atli Örvarsson.

COMPOSER OF THE YEAR

ABEL KORZENIOWSKI
JOE HISAISHI
BRIAN TYLER
ROQUE BAÑOS
HOWARDSHORE

With the two best scores of 2013 under his belt, clearly the composer of the year is Abel Korzeniowski, whose work on Romeo and Juliet and Escape from Tomorrow blew me away with with their beauty and intelligence. Joe Hisaishi not only wrote the best animation score of 2013, but also contributed exceptional music for an environmental drama (Miracle Apples), a TV documentary about undersea life (NHK Special: Giant Deep Sea Creatures), amongst several other efforts. Although none of his scores made my Top Fives, Brian Tyler had an exceptional year in terms of he breadth of the music he wrote, ranging from super heroes in Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World to thrillers in Now You See Me, sentimental dramas in Standing Up, video games with Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, and excellent work on television for the hit supernatural show Sleepy Hollow. Roque Baños has a banner year in 2013, writing one of the best horror scores in years with Evil Dead and continuing his gradual move into the Hollywood mainstream with his score for Spike Lee’s Oldboy, as well as some excellent work in Spain. Finally, Howard Shore made a triumphant fifth trip to Middle Earth in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – another one of the scores of the year – but continued to explore his more personal, independent side with scores like the French drama Jimmy P.

Five other composers who had outstanding years are JOHN WILLIAMS, ATLI ÖRVARSSON, BARTOSZ CHAJDECKI, HANS ZIMMER and FERNANDO VELÁZQUEZ.

NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR

LAURENT EYQUEM
STEVEN PRICE
DOMINIC LEWIS
RYAN AMON
PHILIPP F. KÖLMEL

By far the most exciting new composer to emerge into the mainstream in 2013 is the Los Angeles-based French composer Laurent Eyquem, who left many – including me – stunned with his work on the dramas Copperhead and Winnie Mandela, which contained more beautiful, rich orchestral music over their two hours as many others compose in a career. The second biggest new arrival, for me, is Englishman Steve Price who was nominated for a Golden Globe and an Oscar for his groundbreaking score for the hit sci-fi drama Gravity, and also found time to contribute a score to Simon Pegg’s sci-fi comedy The World’s End. Dominic Lewis spent several years working for John Powell and Hans Zimmer, writing additional music on several hit scores, prior to making his solo debut with the Thanksgiving-themed animated movie Free Birds. Ryan Amon had the best story of any new composer in 2013, being plucked from Youtube obscurity and thrust into the $200 million limelight by director Neill Blomkamp for Elysium, and it will be interesting to see where he goes from here. Finally, German composer Philipp F. Kölmel came out of nowhere and wrote the best action/adventure/thriller score for the German time-travel movie Rubinrot.

Five other composers who had breakthrough years are SARAH CLASS, RAHMAN ALTIN, MAURIZIO MALAGNINI, JÓHANN JÓHANSSON and ALEX EBERT.

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

“Let It Go” from FROZEN, written by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, performed by Idina Menzel
“Ordinary Love” from MANDELA: LONG WALK TO FREEDOM, written by Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen, performed by U2
“Doby” from ANCHORMAN 2: THE LEGEND CONTINUES, written by Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, Andrew Feltenstein and John Nau, performed by Will Ferrell as Ron Burgundy
“Alone Yet Not Alone” from ALONE YET NOT ALONE, written by Bruce Broughton and Dennis Spiegel, performed by Joni Eareckson Tada
“The Courage to Believe” from FREE CHINA – THE COURAGE TO BELIEVE, written by Kean Wong, Michael Perlman and Tony Chen, performed by Q’orianka

Songs often get overlooked by film score fans as taking away from the score of a film, but there are still some gems to be found. The best of 2013 for me was the power ballad “Let It Go” from trhe Disney animated film Frozen, written by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, and performed by Idina Menzel. It’s a typical Disney showstopper, with a soaring and memorable chorus, and a contemporary Broadway feel that is impossible to ignore. Second – and this year’s likely Oscar winner – is “Ordinary Love” from Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, written and performed by U2. A wonderful, humanist celebration of the life and work of the great South African leader, it has everything that is great about the legendary Irish ban’s music, as well as a prescient topical appeal. Comedy songs are difficult to pitch correctly, but “Doby” from Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, written by Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, Andrew Feltenstein and John Nau, and performed in-character by Will Ferrell as Ron Burgundy, gets the perfect balance between excellent music and hilarious lyrics, as Ferrell’s comic creation sings a love ballad to a shark he adopted. “Alone Yet Not Alone” from the faith-based drama Alone Yet Not Alone, written by Bruce Broughton and Dennis Spiegel and performed by quadriplegic singer Joni Eareckson Tada, got some negative press following its out-of-left-field Oscar nomination and insinuations of underhandedness on the part of former Academy governor Bruce Broughton, but people are overlooking the fact that it’s a genuinely lovely song, with heartfelt lyrics, and a simple, delicate thematic core. My own out-of-left-field choice is “The Courage to Believe” from Free China – The Courage to Believe, written by Kean Wong, Michael Perlman and Tony Chen, and performed by actress Q’orianka (who some might remember as Colin Farrell’s love interest in The New World, or as Princess Kaiulani). The song is a gorgeous ballad with a significant Chinese influence, written for a documentary film about Falun Gong, a new spiritualist religious movement which is being systematically destroyed by the Chinese government.

Five other songs worth noting in this category are: “Try” from HOW SWEET IT IS, written by Matt Dahan, performed by Erich Bergen and Victoria Summer; “Bleed for Love” from WINNIE MANDELA, written by Diane Warren, performed by Jennifer Hudson; “I See Fire” from THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG, written and performed by Ed Sheeran; “Here It Comes” from TRANCE, written and performed by Emeli Sande and Rick Smith; and “Oblivion” from OBLIVION, written by Anthony Gonzalez, Joseph Trapanese and Susanne Sundfør, performed by M83 feat. Susanne Sundfør.

BEST SCORE – DRAMA

ROMEO AND JULIET, music by Abel Korzeniowski
THE BOOK THIEF, music by John Williams
COPPERHEAD, music by Laurent Eyquem
COLETTE, music by Atli Örvarsson
BACZYŃSKI, music by Bartosz Chajdecki

As the best overall score of the year, Abel Korzeniowski’s beautiful work on ROMEO AND JULIET is obviously the best in its genre, but the Drama category was strong on 2013. John Williams wrote a delicate, touching score for the WWII drama THE BOOK THIEF, and breakout composer Laurent Eyquem wrote an equally beautiful score for the Civil War drama COPPERHEAD, while Icelandic composer Atli Örvarsson also dropped into the world of Nazis with his stunning concentration camp score COLETTE. The one below-the-radar work is BACZYŃSKI by Polish composer Bartosz Chajdecki, who wrote a gorgeous cell-based score for the film about the life of Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński, one of Poland’s most celebrated poets and war heroes.

Five other scores worth noting in this category are: O TEMPO E O VENTO by Alexandre Guerra, PHILOMENA by Alexandre Desplat, STANDING UP by Brian Tyler, SUMMER IN FEBRUARY by Benjamin Wallfisch, and SAVING MR. BANKS by Thomas Newman.

BEST SCORE – COMEDY

INSTRUCTIONS NOT INCLUDED, music by Carlo Siliotto
QUAI D’ORSAY, music by Philippe Sarde
LAS BRUJAS DE ZUGARRAMURDI, music by Joan Valent
THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY, music by Theodore Shapiro
AMBASSADA, music by Bartosz Chajdecki

The best comedy scores always treat their subjects seriously, and this year’s best – INSTRUCTIONS NOT INCLUDED by Carlo Siliotto – does just that, enveloping this Mexican film about a father-and-daughter relationship in a sheen of beauty and sentiment, filled with sweeping themes and high emotion. Philippe Sarde’s QUAI D’ORSAY is very different, a witty and sly satire set in the highest reaches of the French government, with all the shenanigans and spiky double-crossing that implies. Spanish composer Joan Valent write a huge Gothic horror score for the werewolf comedy LAS BRUJAS DE ZUGARRAMURDI, once again defying the conventions of the genre and underpinning the laughs with a sense of serious dread and oppression. Theodore Shapiro’s pretty score for THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY follows Ben Stiller’s globetrotting adventures with a sense of life and joie de vivre, as well as adding some exciting action into the mix. Bartosz Chajdecki is here again too, this time contributing a genre-bending score for the Polish time travel comedy AMBASSADA, which flits from conteportary jazz to large scale action and sci-fi music with consummate ease.

Five other scores worth noting in this category are: THIS IS THE END by Henry Jackman, ANCHORMAN 2: THE LEGEND CONTINUES by Andrew Feltenstein and John Nau, HOW TO FIGHT IN SIX INCH HEELS by Christopher Wong, LA GRAN FAMILIA ESPAÑOLA by Josh Rouse, and VENUS IN FUR by Alexandre Desplat.

BEST SCORE – ANIMATION

THE WIND RISES, music by Joe Hisaishi
FROZEN, music by Christophe Beck
METEGOL, music by Emilio Kauderer
FREE BIRDS, music by Dominic Lewis
SOLAN OG LUDVIG – JUL I FLÅKLYPA, music by Knut Avenstroup Haugen

As one of the best five scores of 2013, Joe Hisaishi’s beautiful score for Hayao Miyazaki’s THE WIND RISES wins its genre too, but there is still plenty of excellent music to be heard elsewhere in the world of animation. Christophe Beck wrote one of the most expressive and exciting scores of his career for the Disney animation FROZEN, mixing a large orchestra with traditional Nordic instruments to capture the film’s wintry flavor. METEGOL is a an Argentinean animated film about soccer, which boasts a wonderful and unexpectedly sweeping and majestic score from composer Emilio Kauderer, while FREE BIRDS allows former John Powell collaborator Dominic Lewis to score a story about time traveling turkeys with a wide and varied score that crosses multiple genres and styles. Last but not least is Norwegian composer Knut Avenstroup Haugen, still best known for his enormous Conan video game scores, who shows another side to his talent and brings a touch of Christmas cheer and magic to the music of SOLAN OG LUDVIG – JUL I FLÅKLYPA.

Five other scores worth noting in this category are: JUSTIN AND THE KNIGHTS OF VALOUR by Ilan Eshkeri, EPIC by Danny Elfman, PLANES by Mark Mancina, THE CROODS by Alan Silvestri, and MA MAMAN EST EN AMÉRIQUE, ELLE A RENCONTRÉ BUFFALO BILL by Fabrice Aboulker.

BEST SCORE – ACTION/ADVENTURE/THRILLER

RUBINROT, music by Philipp F. Kölmel
GRAND PIANO, music by Victor Reyes
STALINGRAD, music by Angelo Badalamenti
NIGHT TRAIN TO LISBON, music by Annette Focks
THE LONE RANGER, music by Hans Zimmer

German composer Philipp F. Kölmel wrote a spectacular, full-orchestral epic for the children’s adventure film RUBINROT, announcing himself as a new talent to watch in future. His work just beat out the amazing thriller score GRAND PIANO by Victor Reyes, a brilliant amalgam of Morricone-style suspense blended with a specially-composed new classical piano concerto, performed on screen by the pianist who will be shot by a sniper if he stops playing. Angelo Badalementi’s STALINGRAD is a sweeping full-orchestral epic of the highest order, a fitting tribute to accompany this Russian film about the siege with almost destroyed the city during World War II. German composer Annette Focks brought a touch of class and more than a splash of Portuguese fado passion to the thriller NIGHT TRAIN TO LISBON, and of course Hans Zimmer made the enormous box office flop THE LONE RANGER much more palatable with his superb western score, which includes a knockout performance of Rossini’s William Tell Overture arranged by Zimmer and Geoff Zanelli, which is one of the musical moments of the year.

Five other scores worth noting in this category are: IRON MAN 3 by Brian Tyler, A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD by Marco Beltrami, GÅTEN RAGNAROK by Magnus Beite, PASSION by Pino Donaggio, and 47 RONIN by Ilan Eshkeri.

BEST SCORE – FANTASY/SCIENCE FICTION/HORROR

ESCAPE FROM TOMORROW, music by Abel Korzeniowski
THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG, music by HowardShore
EVIL DEAD, music by Roque Baños
STAR TREK: INTO DARKNESS, music by Michael Giacchino
LOS ÚLTIMOS DÍAS, music by Fernando Velázquez

The three best fantasy/sci-fi/horror scores of the year are all included as the five Scores of the Year, with Abel Korzeniowski’s lush, sweeping, ironic score for the unusual fantasy ESCAPE FROM TOMORROW just beating out Howard Shore’s magnificent THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG and Roque Baños’s relentless and creative horror work EVIL DEAD. Michael Giacchino returned to Starfleet with STAR TREK: INTO DARKNESS, and gave Captain James T. Kirk and his Enterprising crew an excellent, enjoyable sci-fi outing. More elegant is Spanish composer Fernando Velázquez’s score LOS ÚLTIMOS DÍAS (THE LAST DAYS) for a horror film about agoraphobia, scored with darkly beautiful string writing and more contemporary, but very effective horror scoring.

Five other scores worth noting in this category are: THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS: CITY OF BONES by Atli Örvarsson, RIDDLE by Scott Glasgow, OZ, THE GREAT AND POWERFUL by Danny Elfman, THOR: THE DARK WORLD by Brian Tyler, and JACK THE GIANT SLAYER by John Ottman.

BEST SCORE – DOCUMENTARY

AFRICA, music by Sarah Class
TIM’S VERMEER, music by Conrad Pope
DIE NORDSEE: UNSER MEER, music by Oliver Heuss
NHK SPECIAL – GIANT DEEP SEA CREATURES, music by Joe Hisaishi
SPACE SHUTTLE COLUMBIA: MISSION OF HOPE, music by Blake Neely

Nature documentaries often elicit great scores, especially those created by the wonderful BBC Natural History Unit, and the best of 2013 is AFRICA by newcomer Sarah Class; her sweeping, elegant, effortlessly beautiful orchestra music captures the essence of the flora and fauna of the savannah, and marks her as a composer to watch. Conrad Pope’s score for the art documentary TIM’S VERMEER, directed by Teller from Penn & Teller, sees the master orchestrator taking a leaf out of Alexandre Desplat’s book, with gorgeous themes and balletic, waltz-like rhythms. Nature re-appears in two foreign documentaries looking at life under the water: Oliver Heuss’s DIE NORDSEE: UNSER MEER and Joe Hisaishi’s NHK SPECIAL – GIANT DEEP SEA CREATURES, while Blake Neely’s score for the PBS documentary SPACE SHUTTLE COLUMBIA: MISSION OF HOPE takes us on a journey of heroism and sacrifice for America’s astronauts. All three scores use large-scale, strong-themed, musically expressive and instrumentally diverse orchestral performances to tell their stories.

Five other scores worth noting in this category are: THE RIGHT TO LOVE: AN AMERICAN FAMILY by Edwin Wendler, WILD ARABIA by Barnaby Taylor, GALAPAGOS 3D Joel Douek, Elik Álvarez and Freddy Sheinfeld, OUR QUEEN by Miguel d’Oliveira, and GUADALQUIVIR by Pablo Martin Caminero.

BEST SCORE – TELEVISION

ISABEL, music by Federico Jusid
EL TIEMPO ENTRE COSTURAS, music by César Benito
LEGENDS OF CHIMA, music by Anthony Lledo
THE PARADISE, music by Maurizio Malagnini
CZAS HONORU, music by Bartosz Chajdecki

Television music is undergoing and renaissance at the moment, with some of the best scores each year being written for TV projects around the world. For the second year in a row, Argentinean composer Federico Jusid knocked my socks off with his score for Season 2 of the Spanish-Catalan series Isabel, about the life of Queen Isabella I of Castile. An enormous and powerful central theme, moments for choir and plainsong, and vividly beautiful instrumental touches anchor the score, which is some of the best TV music I have heard in years. Another Spanish production, EL TIEMPO ENTRE COSTURAS, features music by César Benito, who provides music of lushness, beauty and emotional power for this series about forbidden love set during the Spanish Civil War. Danish composer Anthony Lledo went all-out with his music for the animated TV series for children, LEGENDS OF CHIMA, scoring the adventures of a series of Lego ninja animals with rich, expressive, fully-orchestral action-adventure music that is astonishingly good, and belies its roots. Italian composer Maurizio Malagnini provided more elegance and emotion to Season 2 of the British TV series THE PARADISE, about the lives and loves of the people who work, shop and trade, in and around the first English department store. Finally, we return to Poland, and Bartosz Chajdecki, whose music for the sixth season of the smash hit TV series CZAS HONORU (A TIME OF HONOR) , which follows the fortunes of a group of resistance fighters in Nazi-occupied Warsaw. Chajdecki’s music captures the relationships of the protagonists and the dangerous situations they find themselves with earnest, beautiful themes and powerful action music.

Five other scores worth noting in this category are: GAME OF THRONES by Ramin Djawadi, DOCTOR WHO by Murray Gold, KUNG FU PANDA: LEGENDS OF AWESOMENESS by Jeremy Zuckerman and Benjamin Wynn, SLEEPY HOLLOW by Brian Tyler and Robert Lydecker, and GRAN RESERVA: EL ORIGEN by Federico Jusid.

BEST SCORE – GAME

REMEMBER ME, music by Olivier Deriviére
COMPANY OF HEROES 2, music by Cris Velasco
DEAD SPACE 3, music by James Hannigan and Jason Graves
PUPPETEER, music by Patrick Doyle
STAR TREK: THE GAME, music by Chad Seiter

The world of video games continues to impress with its musical output, and the best this year by far was Olivier Deriviére’s fantastic score for the mind and reality-bending REMEMBER ME, which took a thunderous orchestral action score and weaved it around manipulated and spliced electronic effects in a wholly unique and astonishingly brilliant ways, revolutionizing the sound in a way we haven’t seen since The Matrix. Cris Velasco channeled the late, great Basil Poledouris with his score for the World War II action game COMPANY OF HEROES 2, a straightforward but absolutely magnificent action-adventure score full of bold Slavic themes and proud choral outbursts. DEAD SPACE 3, with music by James Hannigan and Jason Graves, takes the darkness and solitude of the deepest reaches of the cosmos, and funnels it through the Alien-style sound palette of Goldsmith, Horner and Goldenthal, resulting in a pulse-pounding work of great depth. Patrick Doyle’s first game score, PUPPETEER, is a playful adventure score full of lightness and movement, endless catchy themes, and Chad Seiter’s epic score for the STAR TREK video game takes the genesis of Michael Giacchino’s film scores and runs with it in interesting new directions, resulting in a score which many consider to be equal – or better – that it’s big screen cousin.

Five other scores worth noting in this category are: RAYMAN LEGENDS by Christophe Héral and Billy Martin, ASSASSIN’S CREED IV: BLACK FLAG by Brian Tyler, BIOSHOCK INFINITE by Garry Schyman, THE LAST OF US by Gustavo Santaolalla, and ALIENS: COLONIAL MARINES by Kevin Riepl.

IN MEMORIAM