Ship shape

'Amistad' soundtrack boasts beautiful, melodic score

Recently, ship movies have been dropping anchor in theaters everywhere.

And with the release of Titanic and Amistad, classical music movie scores have also made an impact in the entertainment industry. Composer James Horner's Titanic soundtrack is near the top of the charts, powered by both the film's popularity and Celine Dion's chart-topping single "My Heart Will Go On."

Though the soundtrack album from Amistad does not have a chartbusting single to bring it as wide a listening audience as Titanic, it does deserve recognition as a fine piece of musical mastery by soundtrack guru John Williams.

One of the most famous movie music composers of our time, Williams has had a distinguished career spanning nearly four decades.

His original soundtrack scores have ranged from the lively sci-fi score from the famous Star Wars trilogy to the somber tones of Steven Spielberg's Holocaust drama Schindler's List.

Williams again demonstrates his knack for creating inspiring and unforgettable music with Amistad, his latest Spielberg collaboration. The score to the historical slave drama is the last of four large pieces that Williams wrote during 1997, including the soundtracks for Rosewood, Seven Years in Tibet and The Lost World: Jurassic Park.

With Amistad, Williams incorporates ethnic rhythms, melodies and instruments to invent a very beautiful and lucid piece of music. Centered on the song "Dry Your Tears, Afrika," the recording moves from African vocals and a triumphant sound to much darker, more classical-sounding pieces such as "July 4, 1839."

As one would expect from a soundtrack, the music follows the path of the movie. For the movie scenes set in Africa, Williams invents the lively tracks "Sierra Leone, 1839 and the Capture of Cinque" and "Crossing the Atlantic."

As the film's storyline sails into America, Williams adds more trumpet and French horn solos to create more of early-American tone, as evidenced in "The Long Road to Justice."

This record is not a stereotypical soundtrack. It is lively, full, and as Williams has shown time and again, is worth listening to without seeing the movie at the same time. It definitely demonstrates Williams' genius in letting the listener interpret the music instead of making them hear what he wants to show.