Composing Greatness: #10. The Musical or Comedy Scores - "The Preacher's Wife" (1996)

Scene from The Preacher's Wife

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: Hans Zimmer

Entry: The Preacher's Wife (1996)

Collaborators (If Available): N/A

Nomination: Best Original Score (Musical or Comedy)

Did She Win: No

Other Nominees:
-Emma (Rachel Portman)*winner

-The First Wives Club (Marc Shaiman)
-The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Alan Menken & Stephen Schwartz)
-James and the Giant Peach (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: 1

Track List

1. "The Preacher's Wife Suite"

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:

"The Preacher's Wife Suite"

Unfortunately, the whole score for this movie is not widely available. However, the suite does a great job of covering the entire score in a breezy 17-minute run. What's impressive is how lighthearted the whole thing is. The breezy pianos and the harmonious "Halleluiahs" all build to this perfect mix of what a romantic comedy should have. If anything, that makes this seem more slight than it actually is. While this isn't Hans Zimmer's best score, it definitely has a lot to enjoy and manages to capture an impressive range of emotions for a score like this.

Did This Deserve an Oscar Nomination?:
Yes

To be honest, it's not the most impressive score on the list. However, it's far from the worst that could've been nominated. Hans Zimmer does a great job of elevating the cute and sweet melodies into something more artful, complementing the story in such a way that it elevates the story into something more masterful. This is a good example of what one would need if they seek to make a score that would make a comedy movie funnier, more recognizable to audiences looking for a good time. 

Up Next: Original Musical or Comedy Score - Anne Dudley, The Full Monty (1997) 

Best Theme

A ranking of all themes composed by The Best Original Musical or Comedy Score nominees.

1. Randy Newman: "Andy's Birthday" - Toy Story (1995)

2. Marc Shaiman: "Main Titles" - The American President (1995)
3. Alan Menken & Stephen Schwartz: "Pocahontas" - Pocahontas (1995)

4. Randy Newman: "Main Titles" - James and the Giant Peach (1996)

5. Rachel Portman: "Main Titles" - Emma (1996)

6. Alan Menken & Stephen Schwartz": "Humiliation" - The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)

7. Marc Shaiman: "Cynthia" - The First Wives Club (1996)

8. Hans Zimmer: "The Preacher's Wife Suite" - The Preacher's Wife (1996)

9. John Williams: "Sabrina" - "Track 01" (1995)

10. Thomas Newman: "End Titles"- Unstrung Heroes (1995

Best Winner

A ranking of all themes composed by The Best Original Musical or Comedy Score winners.

1. Alan Menken & Stephen Schwartz: "Pocahontas" - Pocahontas (1995)

2. Rachel Portman: "Main Titles" - Emma (1996)