CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND

JOHN WILLIAMS

Rating:

Original Review: A slow, almost ethereal sound increases in pace, volume and pitch until it explodes into a single bursting note, and so begins Close Encounters of the Third Kind, arguably one of John Williams' best scores. I say this with a little hesitation. Personally, I have never been particularly enamoured with either the score or the film (I was only 2 years of age when it was first released in 1977), but I can certainly relate to both in terms of their importance. However, as a musical experience, Close Encounters is much more a score to be appreciated for its cleverness rather than simply enjoyed as great music. No, Close Encounters is music led much more by its brain than by its heart.

The thing that most soundtrack aficionados cursed, though, was the fact that the score was vastly under-represented on the two soundtracks that already existed - the original 1977 Arista release, and the subsequent Varèse release in 1990. To coincide with the movie's 20th anniversary, Arista felt that the time was right to re-master, re-edit and re-release the score in its full and complete version, unreleased cues and all, and give the drooling public what they had craved for almost two decades. The end result is most definitely worth the wait. Shawn Murphy and Arista have done an absolutely marvellous job of restoring the music and presenting it in its proper chronological order; there are marvellous liner notes by Laurent Bouzereau, which feature an insightful interview with John Williams and plenty of photos (including one of a very youthful looking composer), and the unusual packaging is first rate - much better than the hated 'dinorama' packaging for the recent Lost World release. But what of the music?

Well, the beginning of the score is mainly 'mood music', with lots of dissonant strings, undulating percussion and eerie effects to represent the fear and confusion surrounding the bizarre occurrences and frightening encounters with unknown forces. The first 20 minutes or so are actually rather difficult to sit and listen to but, to be fair to Williams and Spielberg, I can fully understand the conscious decision that was made not to overload the first half of the film with overly melodic music so that, when the full orchestral melodies did begin to appear towards the end of the score, they would have a much greater dramatic and emotional impact. There are a number of highlights, though, such as the classic Williams-style action cue presented in 'Navy Planes', the first, tentative strains of the main theme which make an appearance at the end of 'Encounter at Crescendo Summit', and especially 'Barry's Kidnapping' which, in my opinion, is one of the most terrifying pieces of music Williams has ever written. Williams uses low brasses, a high-pitched wordless choir and frantic strings here to create a feeling of uneasiness that builds over the course of six minutes until the music reaches an amazing, frightening orchestral crescendo.

However, as the film develops, so does the score: there are some interesting, militaristic marches presented in 'The Cover-Up', 'Stars and Trucks' and 'Who Are You People' for the Government agents who block Roy Neary's progress to discover the meaning of his visions; a magical choir is introduced in 'TV Reveals', and 'Roy and Gillian on the Road' and 'Trucking' both feature the clever rapid 'travelling' motif heard in Star Wars (when Luke is driving his landspeeder). However, it is the cue 'Outstretch Hands' which marks the turning point in the music: from here on in, the music is much more melodic, and tends to have a rather awe-inspired, wonder-filled quality as the alien visitors finally present themselves to the disbelieving onlookers.

Two cues really stand out: the first, 'Wild Signals' marks the first appearance of the now legendary five-note motif for the scene where the alien mothership and the humans converse through musical notes. But, rather than being the underscore for the scene, the music in 'Wild Signals' is the scene, and Williams takes experimental musical sounds to new heights here. The first notes are played slowly, tentatively, as if the players were unsure as to what the result of the communication would be, but as the cue develops the music becomes more comedic and more complex, with both human keyboard player and alien mothership playfully challenging each other to perform more and more difficult pieces. The second stand-out, and by far the best track on the album, is 'The Visitors/Bye/End Titles: Special Edition', where the music rises to almost operatic, religious proportions.

Williams really pulls out all the stops here, making full use of the orchestra and choir to pile on the emotions as thickly as possible, even incorporating a rendition of Harline and Washington's "When You Wish Upon A Star" from Pinocchio into the original composition for that touch of Disney magic, to make what is one of the best cues of Williams career, the beauty of which is heightened by the fact that the majority of the preceding music was so drab and dissonant. My advice to soundtrack fans unfamiliar with Close Encounters would be "proceed with caution". This score is quite unlike anything Williams has written, before or since, and therefore may not appeal to fans of his classic scores such as Star Wars, Raiders, ET or, more recently, Jurassic Park. Close Encounters can be disturbing, at times is very uncomfortable but, at other times, simply inspired.

Track Listing: Running Time: 77 minutes 21 seconds

Arista 07882-19004-2 (1977/1998)

Music composed and conducted by John Williams. Orchestrations by Herbert W. Spencer. Contains extracts from "When You Wish Upon A Star" written by Ned Washington and Leigh Harline. Recorded and mixed by John Neal. Edited by Ken Wannberg. Mastered by Patricia Sullivan. Album produced by John Williams. Collectors Edition engineered and produced by Shawn Murphy.


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