For this Cecil B. DeMille epic, Elmer Bernstein
was contracted to provide the musical score. Now, this is only the second
Bernstein score I’ve listened to, and thankfully, it gets a better
treatment than The Great Escape did, as the running time is almost
twice as long, and there is not dialogue inserted between cues. Also, the
music on the CD is not the original soundtrack recording, but a re-recording
that Bernstein conducted which was recorded in stereo. Thus, while the
quality isn’t quite up to contemporary standards, it is still quite good.
One of the things I really like about Golden Age
movies set in an Arabian setting is hearing how the composers back then
scored for the films as compared with music for Stargate, The
Prince of Egypt, and The Mummy.
What makes The Ten Commandments even better is that the same basic
subject matter was retread in The Prince of
Egypt under the pen (or the PC, however he writes his music) of Hans
Zimmer. Zimmer was obviously paying homage to this score as his Egyptian
theme is a close cousin to the one that here. But where The
Prince of Egypt shines over Bernstein’s work is in its more
exotic quality. Despite some of the unique ethnic instruments and the Arabian flavor that this score has, it is still a mostly
conventional score. Still, while Zimmer may have the edge on the music,
Bernstein’s work is admirable in and of itself.
Bernstein composed a variety of themes for this
score and each is used effectively. His action cues are well done as well,
and while they may not be as complex as some of the more modern attempts,
they still sound good. The only sections of the score that I really didn’t
care for was the source cues. Both of them are rather strange and I found
them to be mostly irritating. Thankfully, they are comprised of only two
tracks. As stated above, the Egyptian theme is very close to Zimmer's, and
while that might throw some people off at first, Bernstein does some great
weaving with the theme and makes it and integral part of the score.
Bernstein also makes use of the electronic instruments of his day: the
theremin and the novachord. These instruments are used scarcely, only
to underscore acts of God (such as the ten plagues sequence).
Zimmer’s work on The
Prince of Egypt may have been slightly more interesting, but
Bernstein’s score is nothing to dismiss. If you enjoy these Arabian-themed
scores like I do, then you’ll probably want to check this one out. *****
