Music Composed by Elliot Goldenthal
Following a stream of film scoring masterpieces that began with 1992's ALIEN3 and continued with such varied projects as DEMOLITION MAN, COBB, and INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE, Elliot Goldenthal received an even more daunting commission from director Joel Schumacher, who approached him to fill the rather large shoes of Danny Elfman's two prior BATMAN scores, the former a compositionally simple, yet utterly exhilarating action opus, and the latter a masterpiece of subtlety and tragedy. Goldenthal, easily the most formidable player in the otherwise dismal world of young film composers, produced an eclectic, yet exceptional score for BATMAN FOREVER, containing both infinite listening satisfaction and astounding musical depth. Compositionally, the score measures up to be a masterstroke, with Goldenthal presenting a seamless amalgam of brilliant Wagnerian pastiche, riotous jazz, and stimulating modernism. Yet astoundingly, all of this revolves around a single four-note motif that provides the foundation for at least five different themes, ranging from Batman's kinetic fanfare to neurotic, film-noirish cacophony to underscore Jim Carrey's antics.
Originally, director Schumacher petitioned Goldenthal to reuse Elfman's simple action theme from the previous two outings, but the steadfast composer convinced Schumacher that the dark, Gothic tones would clash horribly with both the new, capricious vision of Gotham City and Goldenthal's unique brand of music. Luckily, the director remitted, and the composer thus penned this pinnacle of modern film scoring. In terms of orchestration, he noted that complex late 20th century techniques would most likely soar over the heads of a fickle public, so the most innovative approaches were limited to a combination of a typical Romantic orchestral complement and a host of retro jazz instruments, including the unearthly tones of a small choir, a nostalgic 1960's Moog synthesizer, and the ever-trustworthy theremin, Hollywood's traditional harbinger of the unknown, sampled most notably on the album in "Nygma Variations." Though Goldenthal prefers to work without a separate orchestrator, most of his film projects have required him to seek the assistance of veteran orchestrator Robert Elhai, with BATMAN FOREVER employing a team of several additional professionals due to the limited time to prepare the music for recording.
BATMAN FOREVER's complete score runs in excess of 130 minutes, with several sections omitted from the film. In condensing the mammoth work to 45 minutes for Atlantic's rather generous release (following the cost of the song compilation, they had originally tried to force Goldenthal into a 30-minute album), the composer retains most of the highlights of the score, and the album plays as a magnificent listening experience. The timid need not apply, since Goldenthal actually crafts FOREVER as a hilarious parody of traditional comic-book film scoring stipulations (witness the uproarious cue titles), underscoring not necessarily the actions on screen, but rather his OPINIONS of the actions. Since much of the film revolves around a laughable script and anachronistic, surreal set designs, Goldenthal's music retains a certain bizarre splendor whose purposefully over-the-top, satirical action cues and seemingly incongruous subtle commentaries on the dire state of summer blockbusters present a perverse, yet ingenious and compelling cinema of ironies. Thus, opinions of this score have remained sharply divided ever since its 1995 premiere, and most proponents of Elfman's BATMAN scores have turned their heads in disgust, while collectors of Goldenthal, fans of the satirical, and adventurous collectors willing to overlook the commentary and simply indulge in a collection of electrifying action cues have responded in the affirmative. In any case BATMAN FOREVER's score sealed Elliot Goldenthal's place in the film music pantheon as the most innovative and fresh voice in modern film scoring.
Track by Track Analysis
1. Main Titles / Fanfare (1:50)
Goldenthal's score begins with an ominous descent into darkness with quiet,
unstable scales in the celli and contrabasses, coupled with a rather routine
descending motif for the black tone colors of the woodwinds, echoing Elfman's
approach to the first film. However, the first glimpses of Goldenthal's
Batman theme soon appear in a massive string orchestration, surging violently
between the deceptively simple undulations of the melody. This continues
to build, leading to a thematic horn fanfare that presents an interesting foil
to the main four-note motif that hovers throughout every theme of the
score. Finally, the composer unleashes the full fury of his fanfare with a
breathtaking brass presentation, climaxing in the fateful introduction of the
score's main four-note motif that also serves as the last four notes of Batman's
theme. As if to herald this important development in the score, Goldenthal
accompanies this motif with pipe organ and raucous French horn trills that peal from the utmost
registers of the instruments' tone colors. The second part of the cue
showcases a series of clanging percussion sound effects, leading to a gargantuan
brass fanfare with subtle echoes of the main motif. In the end
Goldenthal's Wagnerian Batman theme eclipses Elfman's rather tepid lift from
Herrmann's Journey to the Center of the Earth in orchestrational ferocity,
addictiveness of melody line, and skill of composition.
2. Perpetuum Mobile (:54)
Segueing into a completely altered tone of music, "Perpetuum Mobile"
briefly introduces Goldenthal's main action motif, a hilarious lampoon of the
over-the-top villain scoring found in the original BATMAN television
series. Adding to this parody, the composer includes a nostalgic 1960's
synth walking bass-line, as well as insane outbursts of diminished chords from
the brass and frantic violin glissandi. Yet even in the midst of this
satire, the composer adds thematic complexity by deriving the refrain of this
theme from his four note motif.
3. The Perils of Gotham (3:01)
Another of Goldenthal's virtuoso action cues, this crescendoing monstrosity
introduces and develops several important motifs. Beginning with celestial
arpeggios from the strings and piano, Goldenthal soon interpolates Batman's
theme in a series of wild, impressionistic brass fanfares. Soon, however,
the tone becomes sinister with the introduction of an embryonic version of the
Peril Motif, which this cue reveals to be a variation on the dark bassoon motif
that opened the album. Accompanying this is an early permutation of
Two-Face's theme, the first of the villains' thematic material. Although
the fact only becomes apparent after repeated listenings, Goldenthal ingeniously
bases this theme again on the four note theme, now mutated into nearly a waltz. The rest of the cue houses frenetic variations on the diabolical
Peril Motif, blending it with an offshoot of the 5/8 ostinato from the first
movement of Holst's THE PLANETS. At the track's climax, Goldenthal
unleashes a seething orchestral paroxysm that blends this motif with fortissimo
double-tongued trumpet flutterings, insane woodwind shrieks, and his favorite
20th-century tone color - pitch bending horns. The music finally subsides
with an ominous recapitulation of Batman's theme in strings.
4. Chase Noir (1:45)
The first of Goldenthal's shadowy love music, this introduces a seductive tango
for Nicole Kidman's character following a sleazy muted jazz trumpet
introduction. Continuing the score's ingenuity, this theme finds its roots
in Batman's theme, and consequently the four-note main motif as well. In
terms of orchestration, this obsessive dance is performed on piano, with an
evocative Mahlerian violin counterpoint. With a reprise of the uncertain
trumpet introduction, the music finally fades into blackness.
5. Fledermausmarschmusik (1:15)
As hinted by its hilarious German title (Bat March Music), this cue presents a
straightforward march of Batman's theme with a fortissimo introduction.
The cue opens with a pulsing Wagnerian ostinato for strings, utilizing all of
the master's timeless clichés such as diminished chords and rapid, operatic
descending violin scales. At the climax, Batman's fanfare suddenly
appears, now mutated into its native march form with pounding snare drum,
brilliant brass fanfares, and wild horn and woodwind flourishes. The final
few seconds serve as an introduction to the next cue with a brief introduction
of the Riddler's theme, which is the first straightforward interpolation of the
four-note motif in the album.
6. Nygma Variations (An Ode to Science) (6:02)
Comprised of several cues, this demented fantasia presents a series of
variations on the Riddler's thematic material, each becoming progressively more
disturbing. Goldenthal composed two extremely simple motivic calling cards
for the character - the descending four-note motif that became the main theme of
the score, used in every character theme, as well as a two-note recoiling
chromatic brass figure. A pulsing, capricious low brass and string
ostinato forms the opening, on top of which Goldenthal places vague versions of
the character's motif for violin, synth, and piano, which segue into the next
cue, a slow, lackadaisical version of the motif for theremin and violin.
Suddenly, however, a cue of wacky action music highlighting a demented Russian
rhythm seizes the orchestra, containing insane riffs of the four-note theme for jazzy brass and
saxophones, climaxing in the recoiling second theme. Next, an
impressionistic variation of the theme begins in meandering bassoons and bass
clarinets, with the melody played on pizzicato strings, promptly eclipsed by a
huge brass trill that foreshadows some of the jazz music from Titus. This
next cue plays almost like a frantic concerto for synthesized organ,
highlighting both themes, including an absolutely manic trilled version of the
four-note motif. Following this is a disturbing atonal violin concerto of
the motif, interpolating the tango for Nicole Kidman's character against an
unstable synthesizer bed, with the violin soon unleashing all manner of atonal
pizzicato effects. Another impressionistic orchestral caprice on the theme
follows, tossing the theme into the music at the most unexpected intervals, such
as sudden bursts of impromptu brass fanfares and woodwind shrieks, climaxing in
an ingenious homage to Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. As this bassoon and
violin duet (ingeniously interpolating the four-note motif) continues to
crescendo violently, Goldenthal finally unleashes the finale of the cue - easily
the most frenzied music of the score. It begins with rapid arpeggios in
pipe organ, as well as grandiose brass fanfares. Finally, the four-note
motif enters in all its glory, presented by theremin, roaring solo soprano,
organ, baritone saxophone, and percussion, with the arpeggios continued
violently by saxophones and strings. Thus, this centerpiece of the score
contains Goldenthal's most manic material, mutating two seemingly simple motivs
into a compositionally complex monstrosity that will easily disturb as many
people as it will thrill.
7. Victory (2:37)
Returning to a more conventional atmosphere, "Victory" showcases more
of the composer's massive Wagnerian brass writing, beginning with an
appropriately apocalyptic arrangement of Two-Face's calamitous theme and
the subsequent Peril Motif. Containing a more tragic atmosphere than any
of the previous tracks, "Victory" promptly introduces Batman's
fanfare, only to be buried in a maelstrom of crashing string scales and brass
glissandi. The bleak trumpet fanfare presented here will eventually serve
as the climax of Goldenthal's action writing, receiving its final statement in
track 17. A world-breaking dissonant brass tone cluster promptly engulfs
the orchestra, and the composer develops it for a seemingly eternal 20 seconds,
although Batman's fanfare finally surfaces from the darkness. After a
perilous series of brass and pipe organ diminished chords (the traditional
Wagnerian harbinger of terror), Goldenthal introduces his Victory motif -
a seemingly simple, yet exciting and moving descending brass arpeggio that
serves as a brilliant parody of Richard Strauss' opening to Also Sprach
Zarathustra, which will eventually close the album.
8. Descent (1:07)
The first half of this cue begins with a pulsating march rhythm for percussion
and pitch-bending horns that Goldenthal soon covers in busy electronics that
serve as an exhilarating surge of alternate tone color, surrounding a majestic
proclamation of Batman's fanfare for a brass chorale. After a brief return
to the march rhythm, Goldenthal's orchestral time bomb suddenly detonates with
an extravagant straightforward variant of the fanfare with its native brass
flourishes and glissandi.
9. The Pull of Regret (2:50)
The first in a short suite of Goldenthal's morose, tragic music from the score,
this opens with a new, four-note development of the Peril Motif that will come
to fruition throughout the catastrophic final cues of the score. The
composer forms the majority of this cue from a series of sustained string lines
against a bed of exotic, menacing synthesizers. In the final section of
the piece, the orchestra becomes tonally unstable, venturing back to the
dynamically tranquil but compositionally terrifying atonal pastorale of parts of
Alien3 with screeching string clusters in the instruments' highest registers and
ominously meandering melodies in flutes, clarinets, and bassoons. A
desolate effect for a small choir eventually becomes the foundation of a noble
recapitulation of Batman's fanfare, again foreshadowing the finale of the
score. As if to signify the cue's portentous nature, Goldenthal ends the
cue with subtle hints of devilish tritones in harp.
10. Mouth to Mouth Nocturne (2:14)
The most uneasy of BATMAN FOREVER's love music, "Mouth to Mouth
Nocturne" features a hopelessly tragic Mahlerian string theme that features
unstable turns on the harmonic minor scale, as well as the most subtle thematic
device of the score - Goldenthal includes the Riddler's four-note motif in the
refrain of the theme. In the remainder of the cue, Goldenthal melds the threatening
orchestral atmosphere with interpolations of Batman's fanfare.
11. Gotham City Boogie (2:02)
Reprising the sarcastic, entertaining action theme of Perpetuum Mobile, "Gotham
City Boogie" expands the orchestration to a larger orchestral complement,
adds a collection of dense, complex, uneasy orchestration, and ends the riotous
proceedings with a welcome fortissimo interpolation of the Batman theme amidst
the chaos of ferocious string glissandi and brass outbursts. Near the
coda, the orchestra seemingly ends abruptly with a chaotic, dissonant brass
plunge, finally resolved with a series of violent, outrageous trumpet trills at
the top of the instruments' registers - a fitting end to the wild orchestral
orgy of excess.
12. Under the Top (5:42)
The brutal turning point of BATMAN FOREVER's score, this torrential symphony of
psychic horror melds most of the themes heard thus far into a livid tumult of
death and depravity, focusing heavily on the newly-reformed four-note Peril
Motif. Surprisingly, the cue begins with a Stravinskyesque exciting
festival tone, including large pounding bass drums and a capricious,
glissandoing horn fanfare. Although the festival atmosphere continues
briefly with busy, lilting string figures, Goldenthal soon interpolates Batman's
theme in a mystical arrangement, as well as hints of the dark "Mouth to
Mouth Nocturne." After a nearly religious theme for violins that
conjures images of Medieval nobility, the horns unleash an unstable victory
fanfare, soon engulfed by roaring low brass and a sickening circus organ.
As this symbol of dementia and slaughter continues its unstoppable chords, a
chopping, murderous variant of Two-Face's theme suddenly bursts forth from a
string quartet, and Goldenthal presents the theme in several different
arrangements, usually with whooping horns accompanied by manic glissandi from
the organ. As this inexorable harbinger of death reaches its climax, the
orchestra finally releases the newly reformed Peril Motif in a lengthy
arrangement for screaming brass chorales and unimaginably tragic strings.
Finally, the cellos present a deathly coda with hints of the motif and the
"Mouth to Mouth Nocturne."
13. Mr. E's Dance Card (Rhumba, Foxtrot, Waltz, & Tango) (3:21)
One of the most entertaining tracks, this presents a stimulating danse macabre
on the Riddler's four-note motif. Beginning with a scandalous rhumba
for saxophones and castanets that ironically (and ingeniously) presents The
Riddler's theme in an abridged three-note form that plays as a subtle homage to
Jerry Goldsmith's IN LIKE FLINT score, the orchestra next segues into an agitated
foxtrot, again cunningly based upon the main theme, including the Russian
rhythm that becomes most noticeable in the character's action music. The
final two dances serve as exotic concertos for violin, beginning with a
sarcastic "tear-inducing" waltz, and segueing into a seductive, bizarre
tango incorporating the obsessive love theme, which in turn includes both
Batman's theme and the four-note motif. The most surreal passage on the
album, the passionate tango subsides into dark rumblings from the contrabasses,
tubas, and trombones.
14. Two-Face Three Step (2:20)
Continuing the sardonic dance motif, Goldenthal now presents Two-Face's theme in
a grandiose, morbid waltz. Beginning with horrific brass fanfares and a
reprise of the ostinato from Holst's Mars, as well as a subtle inclusion of the
main four-note motif, the rhythm finally quiets into a formal waltz featuring a
pronounced mixed-meter tuba line (perhaps a nod to the finale of THE RITE OF
SPRING?), violin solos, incongruous triangle tones, and a joyful ascending
motif. One of the most entertaining facets of this cue is its rhythm -
although the composer pens the piece as a straightforward waltz, he constantly
alters the time signature, adding or subtracting a beat seemingly at random,
possibly to underscore the unstable nature of the film. The theme's
inclusion of the four-note motif becomes extremely noticeable in several
sections of the gruesome waltz.
15. Chase Blanc (1:23)
The final remnants of Goldenthal's love music, this begins with a large brass
fanfare of Batman's theme, soon engulfed by dark strains from the deepest
registers of the strings and brass.
16. Spank Me! Overture (2:46)
One of the score's largest action spectacles, this dark overture opens with a
shrieking brass presentation of the Peril Motif, soon dissolving into a
pulse-pounding action cue. The Riddler's comedy music from Enigma
Variations returns, including the recoiling two-note refrain, huge Russian
rhythms, glissandoing saxophones, and whooping orchestral interpolations of the
four-note motif. Soon, this manic interplay dissolves into a desperate
action music passage incorporating the Peril Motif, as well as a final,
passionate presentation of Two-Face's theme, now including pitchbending
horns. An intense snare drum cadence serves as the cue's finale.
17. Holy Rusted Metal (1:51)
The climax of BATMAN FOREVER, "Rusted Metal" begins with frenzied
double-tongued flutterings for trumpet and a dismal display of the Peril Motif,
and finally introduces a climactic fanfare of Batman's theme following an outcry
of random, cacophonous horns. Now, however, Goldenthal supplants the
fanfare with a seemingly new leitmotif intoned by the brass - an arching,
splendor-laden fanfare that finds its foundation in a short section of track
seven. A majestic proclamation of Batman's fanfare serves as the track's
postlude, incorporating the howling pitchbending horns in an arrangement
foreshadowed by "The Pull of Regret."
18. Batterdammerung (1:21)
For the score's resolution, Goldenthal briefly returns to the horrific
diminished brass chords and pipe organ from "Victory" (actually a
subtle variation on both the Peril Motif and the main four-note theme), although the
composer finally displaces it with his magnificent Straussian victory fanfare
and a final nostalgic, victorious statement of Batman's theme.
Batman Forever, easily one of Elliot Goldenthal's most ingenious scores, serves as an impeccably developed Gothic symphony that skillfully blends adrenaline-filled, virtuoso action music with wild social commentary, forming an immensely entertaining album that collectors of Goldenthal, as well as lovers of clever, complex orchestral developments will find to be a worthwhile, lasting purchase.
| Music Rating | 10/10 |
| Packaging/Liner Notes | 6/10 |
| Sound Quality | 8/10 |
| Length | 6/10 |
| Orchestral Performance | 8/10 |
Release Notes
