Film Scores: Les Misérables (Arthur Honegger)

Honegger's 1934 score to Les Misérables reveals his genius as one of the great composers for the cinema. The film requires a huge range of color and expression, from the epic to the intimate, from city to country, from revolutionary violence to serenity and redemption, and Honegger captures it all while still, somehow, remaining recognizably himself. In short: a masterwork. Musical Examples courtesy of Naxos Records