If you've read my review of Schindler's List you'll know that it is one of the only scores I have listened to that succeeds in bringing about the same emotional reaction I got when watching the film. I was expecting the same from this score as well. Spielberg's compelling story concerning the trial of a group of slaves in 1839 America is wrought with tension and drama. It too evoked an emotional response from me. I didn't cry but I was touched in a way I hadn't been since seeing Schindler's List. However, Williams's approach to the music in this film is much different from his approach to Schindler's List.
In that film, the music was so full of emotion brought out by the sad notes of the violin that one could not help but be moved. The notes of desparity were prevalent throughout and that's what I was expecting from this score as well. However, the themes Williams creates for the film are more triumphant in nature than sad. That's not to say that it has no soft main themes. On the contrary, tracks such as Cinque's Theme are soft and soulful but the main theme presented in Dry Your Tears, Afrika is much more upbeat and uplifting. I guess it's meant to represent the triumph of the slaves over the adversity they had faced.
The score has its gloomier portions as well. Using choral works to a greater extent this time around in tracks like Sierra Leone, 1839 and The Capture of Cinque, Williams presents Cinque's Theme in a different light. It is used effectively again to convey the horrors of the middle passage from Africa to America in both Crossing the Atlantic and Middle Passage. But Williams doesn't allow adversity to prevent the power of Dry Your Tears, Afrika from making a brief appearence at the tail end of this track.
Dry Your Tears, Afrika makes an appearance at several points during the score. It is a trademark move on Williams's part to recall a piece of music that is meant to convey the mood of the scene. In this case, triumph. Cases of this are Mr. Adams Takes the Case and The Liberation of Lomboko where the theme makes its most powerful appearance to accompany the destruction of the vile slave port. The theme is reprised for a last time on the last track.
On the whole I was very much impressed with both the film and the score. While it wasn't exactly like Schindler's List it is a wonderful score that rightly deserved its Oscar nomination. If you're looking for a score similar to Schindler's List look this one up, I don't think you'll be disappointed.
Total time:
1: Dry Your Tears, Afrika (4:18)
2: Sierra Leone, 1839 and the Capture of Cinque (3:39)
3: Crossing the Atlantic (3:21)
4: Cinque's Theme (4:12)
5: Cinque's Memories of Home (2:35)
6: Middle Passage (5:18)
7: The Long Road to Justice (3:16)
8: July 4, 1839 (4:01)
9: Mr. Adams Takes the Case (7:15)
10: La Amistad Remembered (5:08)
11: The Liberation of Lomboko (4:09)
12: Adams' Summation (2:55)
13: Going Home (2:02)
14: Dry Your Tears, Afrika (Reprise) (3:37)