# Music from the film Witness



## adg21 (Jun 15, 2011)

I saw this film the other day...what a sound...


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## José Herring (Jun 15, 2011)

It was ground breaking in its day. All performed in real time with synths and conducted by the composer as if he was conducting an orchestra. The score held up for many years. Then he was hired to do the film White Squall because the director wanted that sound, only by then it was considered dated and the score was thrown out and replaced by Jeff Rona's score. Shame, I like Jeff's stuff but it's not like that score for White Squall was all that memorable. Not like this score was/is.


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## snowleopard (Jun 17, 2011)

I remember well when this film came out, and when Jarre started using synths in several scores. Witness was really the first, using top LA session syntheists like Michael Boddicker, Ian Underwood, etc. with an armada of synths from CS-80's to DX7's to Jupiters and OB's to Prophets to the Synclavier. The score for Witness both garnered great interest, and plenty of criticism simply for his use of synths, something that he faced through the rest of his career, and even to this day from some. But it was lushly beautiful, like rarely heard from synthesizers in the day, and in the end he received an Oscar nomination for Witness, and it remains one of his most popular and well known scores. 

At the encouragement of Peter Weir on Witness, Jarre used synths and mostly electronic scores very well in several other films, and good electronic/acoustic arrangements that were original, a little bold, and arresting. He wouldn't use synths the way Goldsmith did, to augment orchestras or ensembles, or the way Zimmer does to imitate other instruments, but in their own ensemble. The only other score I can think of previous to this done in such a manner was Carmine Coppola's score to Apocalypse Now. 

The electronic, or electronic/acoustic ensemble scores include: Fatal Attraction, The Year of Living Dangerously, Enemy Mine, After Dark My Sweet, Firefox, Dreamscape, No Way Out, Gorillas in the Mist, Dead Poets Society, The Mosquito Coast and Jacob's Ladder. I own them all (if available), but Witness remains my favorite. 

Interestingly enough, the track posted, Building the Barn, is arguably the most memorable to many. Jarre later performed it with an orchestra, and of course the track holds up either way, the mark of a great composer.


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## noiseboyuk (Jun 18, 2011)

I remember being aware of the synths when I first watched it in the cinema, and liking it. What was so interesting was that you'd think they'd go the way of, say, James Newton Howard's excellent Village score - beautiful simple solo violin etc to reflect the simple existence of the characters in the film. Witness was a technology-driven score to accompany people who have no technology! But somehow it worked. Have to say listening to the above I'd prefer this with an orchestra, but I do remember much of the score being very effective with electronics.

I've always wondered if Jarre's decision to go electronic after scoring such classics as Arabia was influenced by his own son. I know they were estranged and I've never read anything to suggest it was true, but it was such an unusual move for a veteran and his son is such a pioneer that one can't help but speculate.


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## José Herring (Jun 18, 2011)

Jarre was very familiar with electronics and it could be that his son was influenced by him. I recall him saying that he got his start accompanying theater pieces with composer/conductor Pierre Boulez. They had only the budget for 2 players so he and Boulez recorded a lot to tape and mangled the tape during the performances. They were heavily influenced by the electro-acoustic movement coming from France during that time period. 

It's funny how a composer gets pegged for what he did that first got him famous, but imo Jarre was always more inclined towards electronics than he was towards orchestral scores. Kind of like John Williams is known as having that "John Williams" sound of the 70's and 80's but rarely does he even write like that anymore. So one wonders if that typical "john Williams" sound was just the phase the got him noticed. Just as I wonder if Jarre was always an electronic composer at heart that just got his first break doing orchestral scores.

I remember talking to somebody about actor Tom Hanks. I mentioned that for a funny comedian type guy he surely turned into a fine dramatic actor. And, the response from the guy I was talking to was that, "maybe he's a dramatic actor that can do comedy". Got me thinking hard for sure.


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## lux (Jun 18, 2011)

very nice, i had almost forgot this. Interesting reading from you guys' posts too.


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## spectrum (Jun 18, 2011)

Yep....love that score....especially the ambient stuff.

Not a lot of people realize that Nyle Steiner is a hugely important part of that score and all the Jarre electronic scores mentioned. (and the Apocalypse Now score as well) 

He's the inventor of the EVI and the principal soloist in all those films.

Super nice man, true eccentric genius labcoat dude and a wonderful musician. He should be much better known than he is!


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## snowleopard (Jun 18, 2011)

Yes, Nyle Steiner's work on all these scores is exceptional. The flute-like theme on Dead Poet's Society is very nice. Strange Voyage from Apocalypse Now is especially superb as well. 

Here's the list of Jarre's "Electronic Ensemble" from Witness: Michael Boddicker, Randy Kerber, Stewart Levin, Michael Menton, Chris Page, Pete Robinson, Clark Spangler, Nyle Steiner, Ian Underwood. 

Spencer Lee was apparently the primary musician along with Maurice for Year of Living Dangerously for that film's "Electronic Realization" (I love that phrase), though much of the score is acoustic as well. Interestingly enough, the music for the trailer of the film was Vangelis L'Enfent, which generated as much interest for that one cut as Jarre's score. 

On Mosquito Coast Jarre added Michael Fisher, Ralph Grierson, Judd Miller to some of the others from above. Weir says with this film Jarre composed much music before the film was complete, and then that source music was re-worked for the final score. 

Jacob's Ladder added Rick Marvin to the ensemble. Plus choir, violin, piano and Shakuhachi. This is a really nice, almost forgotten score.


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## SvK (Jun 18, 2011)

loved Witness score

anyone remember Mark Isham's work on "Mrs Soffel" ?

SvK


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## snowleopard (Jun 18, 2011)

Nice reminder from that same era. Though I still like his work to this day, I really admired many of Isham's early scores as well. 

Mrs. Soffel, Never Cry Wolf and Times of Harvey Milk are all on the Film Music CD. Really nice mix of Pianos, subtle Prophet-5, some percussion, Mark's Trumpet and a few other instruments. 

The Hitcher and Beast are both more direct, but very deft as well. 

My favorite score of his though is still The Moderns. A very sophisticated and exquisite work. *(No real synths, just wanted to mention because of the topic.) 

I'm a big fan of many of the 80's electronic scores from many composers. While more than a few don't hold up, or are simply weak, it was a time of great adventure, boldness and some experimenting, that thinking really extended beyond just electronics though, as many of you know. It was an adventurous time, more than we seem to see and hear today, to my ears anyway.


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## David Story (Jun 18, 2011)

snowleopard @ Sat Jun 18 said:


> I'm a big fan of many of the 80's electronic scores from many composers. While more than a few don't hold up, or are simply weak, it was a time of great adventure, boldness and some experimenting, that thinking really extended beyond just electronics though, as many of you know. It was an adventurous time, more than we seem to see and hear today, to my ears anyway.



Love the Witness score, as Guy mentions, the pairing of low tech and high tech worked great. Similar to Never Cry Wolf.

The composers I know from that era, including Mark, are all struggling to keep live music in their work. 

The spirit of adventure didn't last, but the idea of replacing artists with computers did.


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## snowleopard (Jun 18, 2011)

Good post, David. 

Craig Safan from that era used to improvise or "play live", for film scores. It was, he said, a key to expressing himself. While Craig was fairly successful at the time, I have to wonder if he too fell victim to what you say, which is why he seems to have essentially retired to theater and occasional doc work it seems.


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## lux (Jun 18, 2011)

snowleopard @ Sat Jun 18 said:


> I'm a big fan of many of the 80's electronic scores from many composers. While more than a few don't hold up, or are simply weak, it was a time of great adventure, boldness and some experimenting, that thinking really extended beyond just electronics though, as many of you know. It was an adventurous time, more than we seem to see and hear today, to my ears anyway.



Absolutely.


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