uy Gross's name will be familiar to fans of the SCI FI Channel's popular program Farscape, which aired its final episode in 2003. Gross did the music for the series using primarily samplers and synthesizers, but for the show's triumphant return in miniseries format after its four-year network run he opted for the Sydney (Australia) Symphony and the 40-piece Cantillation choir. This broader palette has allowed him to go further with the music than he previously was able to.
The four-hour miniseries is a continuation of the Farscape series, which was widely regarded as being generally well written, with action-filled episodes, good acting and genuinely alien-looking aliens from the renowned Henson workshops. Farscape further set itself apart from most televised SF by virtue of its underlying story arc, dazzling visual effects and willingness to take chances. Not many other SF shows would be able to pull off an animated episode. It always seemed better than a typical genre zap-'em-up, and the music on this CD is better than the typical zap-'em-up's score.
The disc opens with "Peacekeeper Ambush," an atmospheric fanfare with the Cantillation voices nicely deployed. The short second piece, "The Battle Continues," is on the whole reminiscent of some of Danny Elfman's work, given over as it is to flowing strings, a crescendo of cymbals and some martial drums, all very appropriate for a battle sequence. On "The Eidolons," one of the better pieces on the CD, the choir are at their sweetest and most ethereal, underscoring the strings in the opening bars. "Moya Attacked" starts off allegro, with a harp put to good use emphasizing some of the passages. It's the set's first relatively long piece, over six minutes. There is some imaginative use of the choir in the slower sections and a nice call and response between the tympani and cellos at about the four-minute mark. If the whole set had only been up to this cut!
Good—but just not memorable
It may seem a little unfair to carp, but when one thinks back on truly outstanding SF film scores, some really stand out. Consider Forbidden Planet, a genuine landmark in electronica and movie scores in general. Or the remarkable selection of music in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Or the outstanding work of John Williams—Star Wars, E.T., Jaws, et al. Consider Brad Fiedel's work in the first two movies of the Terminator franchise, and Jerry Goldsmith's magnificent Alien. These offerings stick in the mind due more to the almost empathic sensitivity of the composers to the tone of the scenes they are scoring than to the actual music itself. That is to say, what they are doing is somehow right for what's happening on screen.
Now, it isn't that Guy Gross's choice of themes is in any sense of the word wrong. It is simply that they seem to be a bit uninspired and even a tad obvious in places, even to the use of an occasional (almost tentative) discord. The portentous use of strings ... the occasional layering on of the Cantillation voices (which are a bit underused); it's all been done, as Barenaked Ladies would have it. So much of the score is written in minor keys that when Gross goes major—as in "We Have a Son," for example—the listener really sits up and takes notice. It's almost too obvious to use a major key there, as well as in "This Is Your Playground," the disc's end piece. Nowhere is there a musical passage nearly as compelling as the cellos in Jaws that warn of the shark's impending appearance. That little passage has become as well known as the opening of Beethoven's Fifth, arguable the most famous four chords in all of music.
It is possible that Gross himself sensed this. In the liner notes for the CD, he says, "I never intended for listening without the images ..." But shouldn't one strive for more than that? Again, consider the Star Wars score—as evocative as it is, it works quite well on its own, retaining enough power to recall specific images from the film. Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars lacks that power.
