Orchestrated by Thomas Pasatieri

Conducted by Thomas Newman

Produced by Thomas Newman and Bill Bernstein

Release Date: December 2, 2003

              Nonesuch Records

     For Mike Nichols’ HBO mini-series adaptation of Tony Kushner’s award winning play, Angels in America, the choice of Thomas Newman as composer seems an obvious one. With such experience in scoring for dramas like The Shawshank Redemption, American Beauty, and The Road to Perdition, Newman’s scores possess the kind of emotional resonance and unique style that would be necessary to meld with Kushner’s work. Continuing the lushness of depression that Newman so often permeates his music with, Angels in America can be an eclectic mixture at times, with plenty of surreal moments. However, the overall presentation works out quite well.

     Anyone familiar with The Road to Perdition will instantly find the jumping off point for this one. The string work is very similar, though outright moments of sameness are generally lost in the mass of thirty-one cues that make up this album. Those moments help anchor the score in appreciable territory for those who enjoyed Perdition, while at the same time straying far enough away to allow the music to maintain its own separate identity. A more exotic quality finds itself appearing in Quartet, which gives the music an Eastern flavor. Her Fabulous Incipience brings about a sound that would feel perfectly at home in a horror film. Such wanderings are not unusual for Angels in America, and that in part gives it charm. Newman doesn’t just throw things in at random, but subtly weaves them in until they seem like they belonged there all along. Chorus moments are sprinkled throughout, and the usual solo performance marks an eerie style that gives the music an otherworldly feel. Fuller chorus moments also play an important role through the development of the score. In fact, Angels in America almost plays like the best moments of Thomas Newman. Whatever you enjoy about his style, you’ll find oodles of it here.

     The only big problem I have with the production of this score album can be found in tracks eleven, seventeen, and thirty-three. They are made up of source material and their inclusion is quite jarring given the differences in style and sound quality as opposed to the rest of the music. Such tracks would have been better left for the end of the score, because, while good in and of themselves, coupled with Newman’s music for this production, they stick out.

     Anyone who has enjoyed the work of Thomas Newman in the past will definitely want to obtain Angels in America. And even if you’ve never taken the time to listen to his work in the past, there’s no better place to start than with this score.

1 - Threshold of Revelation (0:56)

2 - Angels in America (Main Title) (2:17)

3 - Lesionnaire (0:40)

4 - Ellis Island (2:05)

5 - Acolyte of the Flux (1:15)

6 - Umdankbar Kind (1:24)

7 - The Ramble (1:07)

8 - Ozone (0:58)

9 - Pill Poppers (1:17)

10 - Quartet (6:43)

11 - Solitude (3:10)

       (Performed by Duke Ellington)

12 - Bayeux Tapestry (1:49)

13 - Spotty Monster (0:48)

14 - Mauve Antarctica (4:47)

15 - Her Fabulous Incipience (1:06)

16 - The Infinite Descent (0:54)

17 - A Closer Walk With Thee (2:54)

       (Performed by George Lewis and His Ragtime Band)

18 - Broom of Truth (2:50)

19 - Submit! (1:15)

20 - Plasma Orgasmata (2:57)

21 - Delicate Particle Logic (1:57)

22 - The Mormons (1:51)

23 - Prophet Birds (2:42)

24 - More Life (2:10)

25 - Black Angel (4:10)

26 - Garden of the Soul (4:03)

27 - Heaven (2:00)

28 - Bethesda Fountain (1:17)

29 - The Great Work Begins (End Title) (3:57)

30 - Tropopause (2:55)

31 - I'm His Child (3:36)

      (Performed by Zella Jackson-Price)