AN AWFULLY BIG ADVENTURE
Rating: 
Original Review: Richard Hartley, a veteran of many British TV series, TV movies and features (including the recent successful series 'The Ambassador') has written a score for Mike Newell's comedy-drama which is both beautiful and enchanting, but which somehow completely fails to leave any lasting impression whatsoever. The score is written almost exclusively for strings, woodwinds and piano, with accompaniment by xylophones, harps and chimes and, from the first bars of the first cue, gives off an air of magic, whimsy and delicacy tinged with a slight hint of sadness.
The film was set in WWII Liverpool and was about the lives of a group of people trying stage a production of Peter Pan at a repertory theatre. This escape from wartime drudgery through performance is captured perfectly in the magical main title, which features a lovely oboe solo and piano played by Hartley himself. For the entire duration of the score, each cue has this kind of far-away, enchanting feeling about it, although Hartley does add a couple of interesting diversions: two cues, 'The Boy King' and 'Lets Hang The Cloth', have a definite Broadway "lets put on a show" sound to them, while 'To A Far Off Land' almost seems to have an Irish influence, with the addition of a prominent flute, and swells to a lovely full-orchestra conclusion (which, surprisingly, sounds a little like James Horner's theme from A Far Off Place).
There is also one song, a performance of the old hymn 'All Through The Night' by an unnamed singer with a wonderfully mellow bass voice. As I mentioned above, though, Hartley's composition seems more often than not to just pass you by - no one theme particularly sticks in your memory after the CDs conclusion, and nothing ever blows you out of your chair. It's all very much easy listening film music, simply gentle and enjoyable.
Track Listing:
- An Awfully Big Adventure - Main Titles (1:41)
- From the Cradle (1:18)
- I Think The World Of You Uncle Vernon (1:03)
- Don't Fuss Bunny (0:50)
- The Boy King (0:38)
- Mister Potter (1:11)
- A Rose Tinted View (1:02)
- To A Far Off Land (2:29)
- Let's Hang The Cloth (0:52)
- If You Like... (1:17)
- Hello Mother (1:31)
- The Crocodile Bites Back (1:22)
- All Through The Night (1:56)
- Back To The Nursery, Mr. Darling (0:54)
- Stella (3:54)
- Captain Hook Has Drowned Himself (1:22)
- Bending Down To Tie My Shoelaces (1:39)
- End Titles (2:28)
- Stella Marris' Piano Version (2:02)
Running Time: 30 minutes 24 seconds
Filmtracks TRXCD-2001 (1994)
Music composed and conducted by Richard Hartley. Orchestrations by Richard Hartley and Kenny Woodman. Recorded and mixed by Phil Chapman. Album produced by Richard Hartley.
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These web pages were designed and maintained by Jonathan Broxton copyright 1998. All opinions and views expressed on these pages are my own and are in no way intended to reflect those of my employer, the Trent Institute for Health Services Research, or those of the University of Sheffield.