Music Composed by James Horner
Rating: *** 1/2

For at least the past 10 years, Horner can’t seem to write a score without attracting widespread criticism for his constant reuse of old material. Sometimes the accusations are well-founded, sometimes a trifle unfair, but they’re consistent with every album Horner releases. Perhaps the only foolproof film he could score would be a sequel then, where reusing his old themes and motifs is not only condoned, but virtually required. This is especially advantageous if the film happens to be a sequel to one of Horner’s most popularly beloved projects, in this case 1998’s The Mask of Zorro. For many, this score represents Horner’s last truly “fun” score, a rollicking adventure-romance, with memorable themes, exciting battles, and exotic ethnic Spanish flourishes. I was not among this majority, I must say – I liked Horner’s core Zorro material, but found the album to be overlong, with frequently aimless passages and overly dour melodrama fillings the spaces between the big thematic sweeps. In this light then, I view his score for the sequel, The Legend of Zorro, as a marked improvement, overlong still, but far more consistently entertaining and upbeat than its predecessor.

James Horner

You won’t get much in the way of new themes in this Zorro, but that should hardly come as a problem for the millions of listeners who loved the first batch. The big three (the galloping trumpet-led “Zorro” fanfare, the more slightly more romantic-but-still-adventurous “horse” theme, and the grocery-store-muzak-ready “love theme”) are all here, and probably get mileage than they did in the first go-round. Frequently, this is not a problem, as Horner actually puts the themes through an inventive run of new variations and orchestrations, even taking the time to build a more lighthearted extension onto the end of the “Zorro” fanfare (best heard in the closing “My Family is My Life…”). For me though, the most exciting return is the melody from the first film’s “The Ride,” a great adventure theme that I always wished Horner had used more – it’s great to hear the theme return in full glory in “Stolen Votes” and “The Train.” The Flamenco element also works much better here it did in the last score, as Horner has finally perfected using the dancers’ foot-clacks and hand-clicks to drive the momentum, rather than stall it. On the whole, the action in this score is much stronger this time, focused more on forward momentum and thematic playfulness, and less on over-seriously mimicking the action.

The only problem with the score is that it has a hard time sustaining interest for its mammoth running time. 75 minutes worth of variations on a small set of themes is pushing it as it is, but 75 minutes worth of variations on set of themes that have already been firmly established in an earlier film is just way too much. Despite the enormous appeal of the highlights, it’s hard to keep yourself interested for too long when Horner isn’t pressing the thrill button. He keeps the tone nicely light-hearted, but breezy music tends to works best in small portions. There are a few new ideas hidden in the mix, including a secondary romantic motif in “A Proposal with Pearls” and a Saint-Saéns-inspired melody in “Classroom Justice,” but neither are given enough development to register linger memorably. Most of the underscore is devoted to the first film’s themes, and Horner can only quietly do so much with them before they begin to loose interest.

Still, when the score really cooks, it’s easy to forget the slow parts. The aforementioned “Stolen Votes” and “The Train,” along with “The Cortez Ranch” and “Jailbreak/Reunited,” represent Horner at his very best, soaring so high on giddy thrills that even the formerly-insufferable love theme musters excitement. In fact, “The Train,” Horner’s mammoth climax that runs for a breathless 11 minutes without loosing steam, may be the most satisfying piece of adventure music Horner’s given us since he stopped writing scores like this in the early 1990s. There’s plenty of material to make the CD an essential purchase for Horner’s fans, but like many a Horner album, this is one that would benefit from some serious pruning. Still, better to have too much than too little, and as Horner scores tend to contain the best moments in the largest tracks, pruning is a pretty easy task. If you just sequence, say, tracks 1, 2, 6, 9, 13, 14, and 15, you’ll have a much more consistently thrilling ride than if you try to listen to the disc from start to finish. The Legend of Zorro is not Horner’s best by any means, but it’s been along time since he’s given us anything this exciting, and fans of the first score will be thrilled.

Music Composed and Conducted by James Horner; Orchestrations by James Horner, Randy Kerber, Bruce Babcock, Eddie Karam, Jon Kull, Conrad Pope, David Sloanaker; Recorded and Mixed by Simon Rhodes at Todd-AO; Produced by Simon Rhodes and James Horner; Availability: In print; Label (Catalogue): Sony Classical, (SK 97751); Release Date: October 25, 2005

01. Collecting The Ballots (3′25)
02. Stolen Votes (6′31)
03. To The Governor’s… And Then Elena (4′05)
04. This Is Who I Am (3′05)
05. Classroom Justice (1′50)
06. The Cortez Ranch (6′35)
07. A Proposal With Pearls / Perilous Times (3′58)
08. Joaquin’s Capture And Zorro’s Rescue (5′00)
09. Jailbreak / Reunited (5′36)
10. A Dinner Of Pigeon / Setting The Explosives (5′04)
11. Mad Dash / Zorro Unmasked (3′20)
12. Just One Drop Of Nitro (2′40)
13. The Train (11′11)
14. Statehood Proclaimed (5′00)
15. My Family Is My Life… (8′14)

Total Playing Time: 75′34