The same counts for "The Great Conjunction" at the end. "The Funerals / Jen's Journey" unleashes a couple of Jones qualities into one piece, with organ solos, a mournful flute solo that will become the love theme and a restatement of the main theme for when the journey begins. "The Mystic Master Dies" has links towards Excalibur while "The Gelfling Ruins" captures some wonder through some short fanfares. Luckily from the first track "Overture", it has the theme in fabulous form and even after that theme he adds a sub theme to it that equally listens strong.īut also from the start, Jones starts weaving the mystery and fantasy around the score, and this will never end. And so you start to love its outbursts on brass from the second it appears during the score. Yet the beauty of it, it isn't over because the first part of it is rather ordinary and nothing epic, but then Jones adds another couple of notes and it becomes something else. And then you encounter it, a rather disappointing four note theme. Of course, every time you start a Trevor Jones score, you watch out for the main theme that will explode with an epic mesmerizing brass fanfare. So, see The Dark Crystal as the cousin to a score like Merlin, it can sound boring but the world it creates with its mysterious sound palette is quite easily put, stunning in its own right.
It carries the mystical sound palette like many scores conjure up today, and while in a way boring for some, it also invites you to the world of Henson (whether you actually saw the movie or not). So it wasn't a surprise it already surfaced in Excalibur (a year before that I mean). And more important to know is the fact I'm reviewing the original release, and not the expanded 25th Anniversary release of La-La Land.Īfter several listens I came to the conclusion that many were simply mesmerized due to the appeal of the fantasy and mystery in Jones' score, something Jones is known for, because when it comes down to mystery and ambience, I can't mention a composer who's better at it. It was important to realize how the 2 Henson movies couldn't be further appart in sound, because Laybyrinth was electronic while The Dark Crystal was fully orchestral.
Or fantasies like The Dark Crystal and four years after that Labyrinth.
Fantasies in the tale of Excalibur or the more recent Merlin. Even in the early days of his compositional career, Trevor Jones was exploring the boundaries of fantasy.