Munich [Soundtrack]

I've often thought that John Williams' scores perfectly reflect Steven Spielberg's films.

If Spielberg delivers a great film, Williams delivers a great score (Jaws, Raiders, ET, Schindler); if the film's unmemorable, the score is unmemorable, but still worth a look (Always, Hook); ditto underrated but entertaining (Catch Me If You Can), operating on auto-pilot (Temple of Doom, Last Crusade), hugely popular (Jurassic Park) or dull but worthy (Amistad).

Once again, this is the case with Munich: the film and music alike are at once moving, compelling, dark and complex.

The stand-out tracks are:
Hatikvah (The Hope) -- lush strings drawl out an aching theme of deep sadness; wind instruments join in to flesh out this beautiful, elegant Israeli melody.

Remember Munich -- female vocals over strings. This track packs an emotional punch, with the voice almost wailing with anguish.

Avner's Theme -- the main leitmotif of the film, repeated in several places throughout the film. Here it is elegantly picked out on solo classical guitar. A stately melody with a a hint of dissonance in the repeated two-chord refrain, that reflects the moral confusion of the film's protagonist.

Avner and Daphna -- an oboe high and clear intones the same melody from 'Remember Munich' which develops middle-eastern nuances, before full strings take over along more dynamic and complex lines.

End Credits -- a knockout reprise of the Avner theme. A doleful solo cello leads into a short version of the theme for full strings and then a heart-breaking rendition for solo piano, before the strings return to join the piano. Simply beautiful, the music delivers the equivalent of an emotional body-blow.

There is also a minimalist recurring cue with a repeated steady and implacable beat implying much: the tension of impending tragedy, the inevitability of escalating violent reprisals and the pulsing of blood as passions flare and reason diminishes.

This is not quite John Williams at the top of his game, but it's not far off it. Like the film, the music is the work of a true talent delivering a vital and daring piece of art.

Sometimes lush and emotional, at other times spare and tormented, this is Willimas at his very best. Stand-out tracks include 'Munich 1972' and 'Remember Munich' where the soaring worldless soprano is reminiscent of Lisa Gerrard, 'Hatikvah (The Hope)' where the composer reworks the Israeli national anthem, 'Encounter in London & Bomb Malfunctions' where orchestral strings shift uneasily above an insistent electrical pulse, and 'Avner's Theme' which features the work's leitmotif repeated throughout, a haunting, simple melody. Throughout Williams refences Middle Eastern music, but never slips into pastiche and his trademark soaring orchestrations are never sentimental, backed as they are by other spare, sometimes arhythmic and almost atonal cues. The soundtrack is as dark and complex as the film itself, and ultimately just as rewarding.

Nominated for an Oscar and undoubtedly among Williams's best work, functioning as a the accompaniment to a singular film and worthy of consideration as a stand-alone piece.

I don't really know what to say apart from Munich is a incredibly moving piece of work by John Williams and that you will not regret buying it. There have been only a few soundtracks that have personally moved me and this is definitely one of them.

I look forward to listening to the next John Williams soundtrack.