John Scott: Shooting Party, The (1985) / Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

ABOUT THE SCORE: Composer John Scott is well-associated with adventurous action scores and documentary music, though a sophisticated and refined English style is unquestionably a part of his musical vocabulary. For 1985's "The Shooting Party" Scott was able to tap into this rich musical heritage and delivered a sublime, sophisticated work whose character is redolent with the chivalrous noblemen and misty fox hunts the film's pre-WWI story entails, with a slight hint of malice bubbling beneath the surface. The result is an extremely fine score that ranks among the composer's personal favorite achievements. After bustling call-and-response brass intone the morning hunt at the onset, Scott introduced his main theme just past the 1:00 mark on oboe beneath pizzicato strings and gently-tapped snare accompaniment. The plaintive motif is developed on soft brass and more dramatically on high strings, with an ever-more-insistent Bolero-like tapping on the snare. This theme's stately manner is contrasted by an underlying sense of inexorable forthcoming tragedy as the polite society depicted in the film is to have their lives forever changed by the advent of the Great War. This theme will reappear often, usually with a darker air about it. 4:55 introduces an absolutely lovely reverie for flute and wandering harp, recapitulated thereafter on celli. 9:05 develops yet another stately idea of a more positive character again voiced by oboe and strings, while 10:22 sees another like idea explored on regal soft brass and strings - a delectable melody rich with British musical aristocracy that effortless transports the listener to this early 20th century way of life. Scott's endless melodic inspiration yields at 15:44 yet another winning romantic theme as refined as anything the canonical classical music world of the late 19th century gave us. Of course this is a film where nobility becomes threatened and the hapless future of such a life style is called into question, and stormier material eventually avails itself later, only for the title theme to nervously, if resolutely, reinstate itself once more in the end. Gorgeously recorded in sumptuous sound by John Richards at CTS Studios, the Royal Philharmonic give an extremely fine reading of Scott's music. Along with "England Made Me" and later efforts like "The Scarlet Tunic" and "Mill on the Floss", this work ably demonstrates the composer's ability to capture subtle brushstrokes of human drama with as much ease and craft as his more extroverted, adventurous crowd-pleasers. Brilliant as usual.