Rachel Portman's 'Main Titles' theme from "The Cider House Rules" plays again as this review materializes. Just the theme, playing over and over... A truism offered by science fiction writer Aldous Huxley states, "After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music." Music can resonate as the world's ultimate poetry. For the film music admirer, a good soundtrack builds and breaks barriers in moments. This melody is of a romantic conception. It is elegant, its idealism meaningfully simple, its aspirations as involved as human feeling. One may hear it and think of Georges Delerue, a composer who this reviewer firmly believes wrote themes of perfection, like shimmering sunlight on clear spring day, they streamed through leaves and trees to touch the ground no less what they were, but more expressive and vigorous. These themes, these instrumentations, everything is divine not just in what it says, but how it means to be heard. The small paradox with "The Cider House Rules" is that pushing 'repeat play' is mostly unnecessary. The score has effective divergences from its core material, but if this were an LP I would wonder if the needle keeps getting stuck in a groove. More varied use of the themes, more diverse orchestrations, would build a greater sense of interest and emotion. The 'poetry' does become moderately longwinded. For the score as a whole, Mrs. Portman uses her exceptional compositional skills to create a sense of place, time, and personality. Imperishable piano solos (performed by John Lenehan), vibrant string passages, and chamber-like winds harden into the groundwork of the score. While philosophers of cinema keenly point to film as an action-orientated medium, as the terms 'movies' and 'motion pictures' themselves suggest, Portman's score reflects a more casual approach, suggesting an awareness (of some sort) to a philosophy that assuming questions of worth and meaning are more accurately determined by decency and usefulness than they are by mere operation. Five stars, given with some reservation, go to this pastoral recording. The soundtrack's monotony is a minor flaw, a blemish, on a lengthy list of many positive aspects. Those good times are parts that, unlike a multitude of modern ditties, impress for more than a moment; there are many beautiful things offered within the score. The performances are pleasant, the sound follows suit, the themes and orchestrations are worth a fair amount of their repeating appearances, and the aforementioned artistic philosophy, made consciously or not, breathes fresh air. It has decency. It has usefulness. By them, this music has grace. Reviewer Jeffrey Wheeler Ian Lace agrees but… Again, Jeffrey hits the nail on the head when he talks about the repetitive nature of this score. Playing devil's advocate, I have to say that I found many of the middle tracks on this album wearying because of their similarity - their saccharine, homely melancholic/elegiac sameness with thin well-used material insufficiently varied in harmony and instrumentation to keep the attention wandering. But - the disc is worth its price for the glow of the opening tracks that Jeffrey warms to. There is a delicacy and elegance that is most appealing with a lovely melody that reminds me of English - or rather Irish - folk song. Reviewer Ian Lace	Reviewer Jeffrey Wheeler Ian Lace Reviews from previous months Reviews carry sales links but you can also purchase from:
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