Thursday, February 2, 2023

Avatar

 

Avatar (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Music Composed and Conducted by James Horner

Here at Renovatio Records, we wanted to start 2023 with a bang, so our first release of the year is the score for the blockbuster Avatar by late composer James Horner. Directed by James Cameron and starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Stephen Lang, Michele Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi, and Sigourney Weaver, the 2009 film is an epic science fiction set in the mid-22nd century, when humans are colonizing the habitable moon Pandora in the Alpha Centauri star system with the purpose of mining the mineral unobtanium. Conflict arises when the mining colony threatens the local indigenous tribe of the Na’vi, a race of blue-skinned humanoid creatures who, as expected, do not enjoy having the humans exploiting their beautiful planet. Sam Worthington plays Jake Sully, a disabled corporal sent to Pandora as part of the Avatar Program, which sees humans operating genetically engineered Na’vi bodies remotely with their brains, to infiltrate and interact with the natives of Pandora. While on an expedition in the Pandoran forests, Jake’s avatar is attacked by wildlife and rescued by Neytiri (Saldaña), a female Na’vi who takes him to her clan and teaches him of their customs. Soon, Jake sees himself torn between his military duty and his new found love and respect for the aliens.

Even though the plot is quite simple and modeled after the American interactions with Iraq in the 2000’s, the film is thought-provoking in regards to environmental awareness while also delivering on cinematic action. Drawing concepts from works such as Dances with Wolves, Pocahontas, and even Starship Troopers, the film asks audiences to examine their views and prejudices on deep topics such as colonization, facism, obliteration of native cultures, and exploitation of natural resources. At the time of its release, Avatar quickly became the highest-grossing movie of its time, while also being highly praised for its groundbreaking visual effects, which makes extensive use of motion capture filming techniques –achieved in cooperation with Weta Digital. Furthermore, the film was so successful that Cameron went on to develop four more sequels, the first of which (Avatar: The Way of Water) was recently released in late 2022 and once more broke various box office records.

Also the recipient of much attention was Avatar’s musical score, for which Cameron turned to James Horner. The two had previously collaborated on Aliens (1986), an infamous and unpleasant assignment for Horner, and on Titanic (1997), for which Horner earned an Academy Award. For Avatar, the composer devoted eighteen months of work to develop a sound palette that would represent the Na’vi culture and the visual bioluminescence of Pandora. And it shows, for the result is one of Horner’s most distinguishable scores, not only because of its unique and captivating sounds, but also because it remains a solid representation of Horner’s musical career and contributions to the world of film music. The score works as a sort of "Greatest Hits" compilation; you will hear snippets and nods to several of Horner’s previous scores such as The Four Feathers, Troy, Aliens, Titanic, Mighty Joe Young, Apocalypto, among many others. To get an early idea of what is to come, Horner introduces his effective signature four-note danger motif within the first minute of the first track “You Don’t Dream In Cryo”, a motif that is later used prominently in the second half of the score to accompany the death of nature provoked by the greedy humans. Horner’s detractors may jump on this "recycling" approach, but one cannot deny that the composer kept raising the bar with each new assignment, showcasing his impressive dramatic sense and masterful compositional skills. That being said, Avatar is a richly thematic score. Horner introduces his main theme for Avatar in the latter half of “Jake Enters His Avatar World”, and it consists namely of a series of four chord progressions, which are a stripped variation of Titanic’s love theme. This idea is listened throughout the score, sometimes in the form of humble violin, woodwind and synth performances (“Pure Spirits of the Forest”), and also played by the full ensemble in “Become One Of The People”. It is in this track that Horner fully depicts his intentions with this chord progression, making it part of a larger theme. The progression represents Jake’s growing love for the beauty and nature of Pandora, which is later combined with the discovery theme introduced by a solo boy’s voice in “Become One Of The People”, a montage cue which shows Jake learning of the customs and lives of the Na’vi. The main four-chord idea goes on to eventually cement itself as Avatar’s love theme, as Jake and Neytiri bond and become in love.

There are two more prominent themes in the score, one representing the Na’vi culture, which is very derivative of Horner’s main theme for The Four Feathers. The theme is introduced in full at the beginning of “Becoming One With Neytiri”, and is further explored during the “The Destruction of Hometree”, before becoming the Na’vi’s battle theme in “Gathering All the Na'vi Clans for Battle”, where it generates momentum during the first half and then reaches a full orchestral climax that will sends shivers down your spine. This theme is later used effectively during the battle sequences of the film’s climax, to highlight the heroic yet futile efforts of the Na’vi’s to fight with the technologically advanced humans. The other main idea is an ascension theme that is first heard during “Climbing Up Iknimaya”, on children’s choir and percussion, and then on the glorious “Jake’s First Flight”, with the love theme effectively playing as an interlude. The ascension idea is related to Jake’s assimilation of the Na’vi culture, as he rediscovers his purpose in life. This theme fittingly appears at the end of the film when Jake fully embraces the Na’vi culture and becomes one of them, in mind and in body. These three main identities and the way Horner intertwines them with one another speak of how complex and subtle the composition for Avatar is, narratively accompanying Jake’s journey and quickly captivating the listener, the same way the film visuals captivated the audiences. Horner’s four-chord progression alone is so pleasant and appealing that you cannot help but to wait for it to reappear throughout the score. This once more shows the composer’s talent to capture the essence of a film and its scenes, even when using the same techniques and instruments he resorted to many times in his career.

Things turn sour in “Diplomacy Fails”, when the human’s menacing force starts to become more and more apparent, with brass and militaristic snare taking the lead. By the time we reach “Shutting Down Grace’s Lab”, the aftermath of the human’s greed strikes like an arrow through your chest, with haunting vocalizations accentuated by the four-note danger motif expressing a mournful sense of overwhelming tragedy. After the force generated by “Gathering All the Na'vi Clans for Battle”, we enter into 20 minutes of rousing action music, comprised by “War”, “Quaritch Down” and “Fight To The Death”. The battle music displayed here indeed has themes and motifs battling each other, a clear example being the way in which the Na’vi battle theme establishes itself as a response to the military motif at the 0:50 mark of "War". While the action passages are far overshadowed by the romantic side of the score, they are certainly impressive and rank among the most thoughtful action material Horner has ever written.

The score ends with the pop song “I See You” by Leona Lewis, with the score introduction by Horner, as heard in the film. Though criticized for having too much post-processing, the song actually makes an interesting use of the discovery and love themes, its chorus being the already well-established four-chord progression.

Back in 2009, the score for Avatar received two album presentations by Atlantic Records, one being a regular physical CD release, and the other being a Deluxe digital release with 20 additional minutes of music. Though both releases are quite generous in the amount of music they provide, the first one lacked most of the cues from the climax, and the second one presented the new additions at the end of the album, disrupting the listening experience. This new release by Renovatio Records addresses these issues and provides new unreleased music, as well as film versions of several cues, all presented in chronological order in the form of a 2-CD presentation. The program has namely the film’s first act in CD 1, focusing on Jake’s journey of falling in love with Pandora and Neytiri, while the conflict and action cues are mostly reserved for CD 2. We kindly invite you to revisit Pandora once more with this new album. You will see that there is still plenty to admire.

Track Listing:

CD 01:
1. You Don't Dream In Cryo (6:06)
2. Jake Enters His Avatar World (5:48)
3. Pure Spirits Of The Forest (8:15)
4. The Floating Mountains (3:00)
5. Becoming One Of The People (3:09)
6. Night Iridescence (3:36)
7. Climbing Up Iknimaya (4:04)
8. Jake's First Flight (5:24)
9. Becoming One With Neytiri (4:47)

CD 02:
1. Diplomacy Fails (4:39)
2. The Destruction Of Hometree (6:28)
3. Shutting Down Grace's Lab (2:46)
4. Gathering All The Na'vi Clans For Battle (5:11)
5. War (8:51)
6. Quaritch Down (4:27)
7. Fight To The Death (4:43)
8. A New Beginning (3:25)
9. I See You (Theme From Avatar)* - Performed by Leona Lewis (5:19)
*Includes score introduction by James Horner

Total Running Time: 79:58




Cover Artwork:





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