Composing Greatness: #3. Thomas Newman - "Unstrung Heroes" (1995)

Scene from Unstrung Heroes

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: The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

Collaborators (If Available): N/A

Nomination: Best Original Score (Musical or Comedy)

Did He Win: No

Other Nominees:
-Pocahontas (Alan Menken, Stephen Schwartz)*winner
-The American President (Marc Shaiman)
-Sabrina (John Williams)
-Toy Story (Randy 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: 3

Oscar Wins: 0

Track List

1. "End Credits (Link)

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:

"End Credits"

It seems to be a small snafu that happens for every major column, but the availability of Thomas Newman's score for Unstrung Heroes appears to be missing. I tried to take an extra week to track something that could be easily accessed, but didn't find anything. With that said, it's a bit disappointing because this does sound like the type of Newman that could've been fun to witness. It features a lot of the upbeat chimes and melodies that will become more associated with his next Oscar-nominated score, American Beauty, though this one is more jubilant and fun in some respects. There's not a lot that I can say about this film based on four minutes of music, but it definitely has a lot of promise for a bigger and more accomplished score that's hiding. If anyone knows where to find the complete score in a place that audiences can listen, please tell me and I'll redo this entry.

Up Next: American Beauty (1999) for Best Original Score

Best Theme

A ranking of all themes composed by Thomas Newman.
1. "Orchard House" - Little Women (1994)
2. "Shawshank Prison (Stoic Theme)" - The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
3. "End Titles" - Unstrung Heroes (1995)