Soundtrack Review: The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009)

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Movie Soundtrack Review: This is a review of the motion picture score The Twilight Saga: New Moon by Alexandre Desplat.

“I’ve listened to the score a few times now and I am very impressed with how well Desplat nailed it, because nailed it he did.”

Have you fallen for the hype yet? The next movie in the Twilight saga: New Moon, is about to hit the big screen and you can almost feel the teenage hormones. Teenage hormones aside, I saw the first movie with my wife last year and Carter Burwell’s score was interesting. In particular, his theme ‘Bella’s Lullaby’ is a gorgeous piece of music. Other than that, it felt a bit bland, but was perfect for the movie. The mood was perfectly created with a dark, brooding and minimalistic score. This year, they got a new director, Chris Weitz who previously worked with Desplat on his last film, The Golden Compass. I was never a big fan of The Golden Compass. The movie was a bit boring and I felt the same way about the score.

The original soundtrack for New Moon was released a while ago, you know the one with various artists and such. Well, I was just interested in the final track on that album, a score cue called ‘The Meadow’, composed by Alexandre Desplat. I listened to it once, perhaps while I was doing something else and got distracted. Suffice it to say, I didn’t feel an immediate pull to it. I thought about Burwell’s delicious theme ‘Bella’s Lullaby’ and remarked to myself how this was not at all on that level. Admittedly, my initial reaction wrong, really wrong. The amazing piano theme is an extremely lush melody with sad undertones that made me curious as hell to what the full score would sound like.

Track List

01. New Moon (*****)
02. Bella Dreams (***)
03. Romeo & Juliet (****)
04. Volturi Waltz (****)
05. Blood Sample (****)
06. Edward Leaves (*****)
07. Werewolves (***)
08. I Need You (****)
09. Break Up (*****)
10. Memories Of Edward (****)
11. Wolves vs. Vampire (***)
12. Victoria (****)
13. Almost A Kiss (****)
14. Adrenaline (****)
15. Dreamcatcher (*****)
16. To Volterra (****)
17. You’re Alive (*****)
18. The Volturi (****)
19. The Cullens (*****)
20. Marry Me, Bella (*****)
21. Full Moon (*****)

The Best Cue Is Not Here

It arrived this morning and I have been listening to it a few times now. What I don’t understand is why they left the best cue off the score. ‘The Meadow’ is not there, so I have to manually put it there because I feel it should be part of that score. Not to worry though, because even though I believe ‘The Meadow’ to be the best cue, there are plenty more to cheer about. For example, the first cue ‘New Moon’ is like a more orchestral version of ‘The Meadow’ and I am glad that Desplat uses his theme in a lot of other cues as well.

I am also very impressed by the length of the score. It is 1 hour and 12 minutes long and contains 21 cues. Two of the cues are around 9 minutes and I do love long cues. So what about the rest of the score? I can immediately feel that it’s different from the first Twilight movie. Desplat said in an interview that he has never heard Burwell’s score and never seen the first movie because he  didn’t want to get tainted by it. He wanted to create his own thing and the producers never asked him to retain the themes from the first movie. Fair enough! Some fans might be upset about it, but not me. I thought the first score was appropriate for the movie, but less exciting when heard on it’s own. I was excited to see what Desplat could do, and he did very well.

Alexandre Desplat has written 6 or 7 scores this year and I started to feel that overall, his work felt a bit mundane,  everything very samey and without excitement or energy. Not so with New Moon. It has bundles of energy as though Desplat howled at the moon while writing this. He must have been very inspired by the movie itself and individual scenes, because I can imagine that this is exactly what it feels like in Bella and Edward’s world.

Mis-Titled?

When I read the titles and listen to the music I don’t immediately remember them in the movie itself, but it’s just a perfect fit in most cases. In the movie, you only hear the theme in many variations and you know what, it never gets old. I disagree with those who say that the movie ruined the music from Alexandre Desplat. I’ve read some reviews that say that the directing of the movie ruined a fine performance from Desplat. Well that’s just a bunch of crap if you ask me. I thought that Desplat’s music, even if it is just one theme was a great “actor” in the movie itself. What is a bit strange though, is that the two love stories (Bella/Jacob & Bella/Edward) had the same theme. It would be more interesting if they had a theme to themselves, a theme for lycans and vampires.

Th beautifully scored ‘Edward Leaves’ is the main theme brilliantly worked in for that same moment in the movie. It’s a toned down main theme variation with the seriousness of the situation. The Twilight Saga: New Moon is about Bella’s sadness and her loss, and nothing says that better than the beautiful and sad main theme. Of particular beauty is ‘Dreamcatcher’,  a cue for Bella and Jacob, but I didn’t hear it clearly in the movie. I am thinking of a scene where they sat in the car together, but I’m not 100% sure. I do remember the little flute sequence in there that was used more than once. A second theme if you will, and a beautiful one at that, but I don’t think about Bella and Jacob’s friendship/love when I listen to that cue.
Conclusion

Bravo Mr. Desplat. This is a very good score to a not so good movie. The movie itself is about sadness, and there was little in the way of action which suits Desplat perfectly. I’ve listened to the score a few times now and I am very impressed with how well Desplat nailed it, because nailed it he did. If you like  ‘The Meadow’, then you will really like the score. There’s a lot of repetition here to be fair, but Desplat has done a good job varying the theme into small sub-themes along the way. I think this is Alexandre Desplat’s best ever score (yes even better than Benjamin Button) and it would be sad if he was overlooked at the awards next year.

What did you think about the score? Let me know in the comments section below!

Listen to The Twilight Saga: New Moon by Alexandre Desplat below:

Find more videos like this on Soundtrack Fans

Other articles of interest:

• Soundtrack Review: Amelia (2009)
• Soundtrack Review: Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (2009)
• Soundtrack Review: Agora (2009)
• Soundtrack Review: Sherlock Holmes (2009)
• Soundtrack Review: A Christmas Carol (2009)

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