SOUNDTRACKS
JOHN POWELL | VARÈSE SARABANDE
Celebrating How To Train Your Dragon. John Powell’s clearly practised his scales.
When John Powell embarked on scoring DreamWorks’ 2010 Cressida Cowell adaptation, he knew one thing it needed: an axe. It was a rock guitar that cracked open How To Train Your Dragon’s score for the composer, whose previous work had ranged from animation (Antz, Shrek) to action (Bourne). Powered by metal chords, drum loops and big orchestrations, ‘Test Drive’ took wing as a whopper of a theme, proving this lizard could fly.
Recently reissued in a deluxe edition by Varèse Sarabande, the resulting score is a glorious throwback in an era often beholden to more (Powell’s word) “textural” scoring. While he felt that symphonic grandeur sat awkwardly with the brusque action trends of the time, animation liberated Powell’s melodic urges. From tonsils to tail, Dragon bursts at the seams with themes; unapologetic, indelible and huge.
Right from the off, ‘This Is Berk’ piles in with several. The strident main theme, Hiccup’s theme and a romance cue converge, accompanied by marching themes and mystical elements. Echoes of John Williams and Erich Wolfgang
Korngold show, adding to the piece’s spirit of old-school revivalism.
Throughout, Powell’s thematic command and dynamic orchestrations enable him to switch tones with panache. ‘Dragon Battle’ and ‘Dragon Training’ max the gusto with the best of them – clearly, Powell learnt some tricks working with Hans Zimmer. At another extreme, the shivery chorale of ‘Wounded’ leads to the score’s sweetest cue. In lush folds of xylophone and marimba, ‘Forbidden Friendship’ brings the film’s core emotions into lovely, lilting focus.
Even if Powell’s use of instruments traditionally deemed Scottish drew flak on release, there’s no denying the rousing results on ‘New Tail’. Yet ‘Test Drive’ issues an even more stirring statement of thematic intent, largely because its untethered melody manages to accommodate a lavishly energetic instrumental range without once seeming over-burdened.
Elsewhere, a lighter-than-air love theme leavens ‘Romantic Flight’, before the roaring action scoring of ‘Battling The Green Death’ earns the triumphalism of ‘Coming Back Around’. With Sigur Rós’ Jónsi on vocals, ‘Sticks & Stones’ adds a winning pop closer, the playful coda of ‘The Vikings Have Their Tea’ aside.
For Powell, the results banked an Oscar nomination; later, too, he got the chance to collaborate with John Williams on Solo: A Star Wars Story. In its exuberant blend of fantastical worldbuilding, emotional storytelling and tumultuous action, How To Train Your Dragon rams home just why he was the right man for that gig. Kevin Harley