Composing Greatness: #1. Thomas Newman - "Little Women" (1994)

Welcome to Composing Greatness: a column dedicated to exploring the work of film composers. This will specifically focus on the films that earned them Oscar nominations while exploring what makes it so special. This will be broken down into a look at the overall style, interesting moments within the composition, and what made the score worth nominating in the first place. This will also include various subcategories where I will rank the themes of each film along with any time that the composer actually wins. This is a column meant to explore a side of film that doesn't get enough credit while hopefully introducing audiences to an enriched view of more prolific composers' work. This will only cover scores/songs that are compiled in an easily accessible format (so no extended scores will be considered). Join me every Sunday as I cover these talents that if you don't know by name, you recognize by sound.

Series Composer: Thomas Newman

Entry: Little Women (1994)

Collaborators (If Available): N/A

Nomination: Best Original Score (Musical or Comedy)

Did He Win: No

Other Nominees:
-The Lion King (Hans Zimmer)*winner
-Forrest Gump (Alan Silvestri)
-Interview with the Vampire (Elliot Goldenthal)
-The Shawshank Redemption (Thomas Newman)

Additional Information

This is to help provide perspective of where each composer is in their Oscar-nominated life as it related to the current entry.

Oscar Nomination: 1

Oscar Wins: 0

Track List

1. "Orchard House"
2. "Meg's Hair"
3. "Snowplay"
4. "Scarlet Fever"
5. "Ashes"
6. "Spring"
7. "La Fayette's Welcome"
8. "A Telegram"
9. "Two Couples"
10. "Burdens"
11. "New York"
12. "Harvest Time"
13. "Maria Redowa"
14. "Letter From Jo"
15. "Amy Abroad"
16. "Limes"
17. "Beth's Secret"
18. "For the Beauty of the Earth"
19. "Little Women"
20. "Learning to Forget"
21. "Valley of the Shadow"
22. "Port Royal Gallop"
23. "Domestic Experiences"
24. "The Laurence Boy"
25. "Lovelornity"
26. "Under the Umbrella"

Note: Listen to here.

Exploring the Music

The area of the column where I will explore the music in as much detail as I see fit for each entry.

Theme Exploration:

"Orchard House"

As a whole, this is a solid introduction to the Oscar-nominated work of Thomas Newman. The way that it builds creates an atmosphere that is upbeat and classical, finding a way to draw in the listener's ear as the music becomes joyous. The way that it starts is beautiful enough unto itself, making its orchestra of strings pop with a life that is splendid to listen to. However, Newman is one of the modern greats for his ability to apply horns in the second half while waning through quiet and excitement very naturally. For as much as this score's downfall is brevity, its opening definitely has a lot of strong promise to be a happy and memorable time.

Interesting Standout:

"Snowplay"

While the soundtrack travels back and forth between slow and fast-paced melodies, there's a track early on that still feels different. Thomas Newman's brilliance is his ability to use classical instrumentation in interesting manner, such as making an upbeat and fun track that is built around chimes playing rhythmically through the rest of the instruments. There's a power here that cuts through its short running time and finds a way to be intriguing. Few composers could make chimes this easy to dance to, but Newman has a way that captures the youthful joy and ingenuity necessary to make this track work.

Best Moment:

"New York"

It was hard to pick out a best moment from this soundtrack, and it's not entirely Thomas Newman's fault. If anything, the brevity of the tracks (with most no longer than 90 seconds) keeps the rhythmic structure from going anywhere interesting, even though there's still a lot to love in what's there. It's why this particular track has a lot of strong moments. Much like "Orchard House," the joy is in listening to a skilled composer find the hook of a song and build an atmosphere around it. The way it ebbs and flows is beautiful and shows promise for what the composer will do in his later work. If nothing else, this is one of the few tracks that is both riveting as a quieter track, and one that works in the upbeat sense.

Did This Deserve an Oscar Nomination?:
Yes

As much as scores with brief running times is a peeve of mine, I still think that Thomas Newman brought his A-Game here, and what he's produced is a solid score that makes classical orchestration into something engaging to even the most casual of listeners. The film can practically be pictured in your head as you hear those strings play or the horns blow in a jaunty fashion. Even if half of the tracks are unfortunately short, there's still a lot of interesting moments (yes, plural) in most of them that makes up for it. Much like Rachel Portman, Newman has a way with updating classical sensibilities while having it work as its own piece of music. There's not much else to say other than it's great that Newman started off his Oscar-nominated career with a double nomination, and many would argue that The Shawshank Redemption is the better of the two. But did it deserve to maybe win? The comparisons between both of Newman's '94 nominations will continue next week. 

Up Next: The Shawshank Redemption (1994) for Best Original Score

Best Theme

A ranking of all themes composed by Thomas Newman.
1. "Orchard House" - Little Women (1994)