War Horse
Winner of five 2011 Tony Awards including Best Play, War Horse has been the talk of Broadway in non-musical circles. Extravagant life-size puppets, created by South Africa’s Handspring Puppet Company, provide the centerpieces for the dramatic telling of Michael Morpurgo’s World War I tale about the unbreakable bond between a young soldier and his beloved horse.
To heighten the drama of Morpurgo’s story, director Tom Morris called on composer Adrian Sutton and songwriter John Tams to provide a two-pronged approach to musically supporting the play. The resulting compositions have been preserved on CD by Masterworks Sony and Cordafonia Records. Sutton creates orchestral underscoring with influences ranging from Mahler to Copland, and in so doing offers an expansive aural landscape. He effectively utilizes a small ensemble complemented with synthesized strings to paint a sweeping picture of the war torn European continent that is the background for Albert’s search for his horse, Joey.
On the other end of the musical spectrum, folk writer Tams has written eight songs, in styles ranging from jigs to ballads, to reinforce the humanity of the story. From songs of war ("The Scarlet and the Blue") and progress ("Learning to Plough") to the theme song, "Only Remembered" ("Shall we at last be united in glory / Only remembered for what we have done"), the ditties bring to life the people whose culture must come to terms with changing times, and propels them directly into the face of the listener.
The recording remarkably captures the setting, the time, the characters’ emotions, and the flavor of the play’s dramatic moment.
War Horse - Original songs and music from the National Theatre production
CD
Masterworks Sony / Cordafonia Records
