Zanobard Reviews

The Mask Of Zorro features the late great James Horner at the absolute top of his compositional game, with four frankly phenomenal main themes, his exquisite use of orchestra – together with some very stylish Spanish guitars and flair – throughout as well as many a swashbucklingly heroic action setpiece cementing this score as one of the composer’s very best.

A quadrinity of themes forms the thematic core of James Horner’s masterful The Mask Of Zorro soundtrack; the first is of course the main motif for Zorro, heard through much of the aptly titled “Zorro’s Theme” – this twelve note theme plays in surprisingly quiet and romantic form through its titled track but for the most part takes the swashbucklingly adventurous role in the score (complete with dashingly heroic brass, appropriately thunderous Spanish guitars and enthusiastic foot taps) which together with its impeccable memorability makes it genuinely one of Horner’s best themes (at least in my opinion anyway). Second on the motif list is then the love theme, which plays in gentle and romantic form twenty seconds into “Zorro’s Theme” as well as throughout “Elena And Esperanza” on luscious strings, and it also forms the melodic core for end credits song “I Will Spent My Lifetime Loving You”. Horner always did have a way with love themes, and its certainly no different here as this one too is just… gorgeous. The ‘family’ theme is then up third, debuting two minutes into “Elena And Esperanza” and evoking a gently hopeful mood as it sounds quietly and peacefully through. Finally we have Elena’s theme; this one is used perhaps the least of the four – at least in Mask, it does play a bit more in sequel Legend – and is similar in structure to Zorro’s but goes in a slightly different, more romantic direction as heard ninety five seconds into the aforementioned “Elena And Esperanza” as well as through “The Confession”.

Of course there are a few further, shorter motifs dotted here and there in Mask – the danger motif of course lurks around every corner as it always does, and there’s a short motif of sorts for villain Don Rafael Montero in “The Mine”, but for the most part the score’s central musical core is formed by the four prevalent themes as mentioned above, and I will just take a moment to say that each of them is truly phenomenal. Gorgeously-crafted, exquisitely played and happily memorable through-and-through, they’re true Horner classics, and La-La Land Records’ fantastic expansion and remastering of the soundtrack here (link below) is just the absolute icing on the cake on what is one of the late great composer’s very best scores (again, at least for me). So with themes and slight Horner fanboying out of the way – the expanded album begins with “Main Title”, a minute-long foot-tapping special with the occasional notational glimmer from a Spanish guitar that then segues seamlessly into the eight minute and standout “Plaza Of Execution”; in the opening seconds tense strings occupy centre stage, but this musical worry doesn’t last for long as the aforementioned guitars emphatically return alongside loudly grandiose brass as Zorro’s theme takes its heroic place in the musical story. What follows for the next seven minutes is then a true Horner action spectactular, with leaping strings, bursts of grand brass and many an enthusiastic reprisal of the main theme playing until a gentle introduction to the love motif then happily closes it out.

As mentioned, the love and family themes sweep gently through on strings for much of the eight minute “Elena And Esperanza”, with Elena’s motif too reprising in similarly quiet and peaceful form. Things do turn a little sinister in the back half however, with moody brass and worrisome strings giving rise to several rather tense excerpts from the Zorro theme until the dramatic danger motif then closes out the track. Spanish guitar flair is then centre stage in the minute-long pair “Interrupted Getaway” and “Meeting On The Beach”, before action rears its frenetic head once again in “Prison Escape”; hints toward the Zorro theme play on downtrodden brass before strings then kick up a tense pace through to the end of the four minute cue. “Diego Meets Alejandro” then reprises the Zorro theme in unusually pensive, worried form on quiet strings in its opening minute, before the motif starts to regain hope again on enthusiastic brass right before the track ends. “The Fencing Lesson (Film Version)” then reprises those exquisite foot taps throughout its hundred second runtime together with several low-pitched guitar and brass-heavy runs of the Zorro theme. Thunderous percussion bursts into frame at the start of “The Black Tornado/First Meeting” before the music then segues into “Tornado In The Barracks”, a five minute action setpiece that features many a dramatically upbeat reprisal of the Zorro theme.

“The Confession (Film Version)” is one of the few tracks for Mask that makes full use of Elena’s theme, playing here on gently pensive woodwinds and lusciously romantic strings. Like I say it returns a bit more heavily in Legend, and good thing too as it is an absolutely superb theme. The Zorro theme then gets an incredibly heroic flare-up at the end of “Rooftop Getaway”, before the mood turns dark and ominous in the subsequent “Choose Your Weapon” as the danger motif returns to the fray. “Sexy Dance” then leans heavily into stylish Spanish-styled score, with thunderous guitar-infused enthusiasm flaring for the entirety of the diegetic track’s seventy second runtime. Villainous brassy bursts and rumbles of moody percussion occupy much of “The Mine (Montero’s Vision)”, emphasizing the dramatic presence of the film’s antagonist throughout the cue. “So Long Ago…” then offers a quiet break from the drama as the gentle family theme reprises alongside Elena’s, with both motifs playing on quietly peaceful strings until action returns in glorious setpiece form for the six minute “Stealing The Map”. Zorro’s enthusiastic theme plays on grand brass at the start of the track, before the music quietens and tensions build for several minutes until thunderous foot taps begin to play and the Zorro theme then heroically charges back into centre stage with dramatic action at its heel. Crashing brass, frenetic strings and deafening brass continue this rapid pace until the Zorro theme crescendos out the cue.

Hints toward Elena’s theme play opposite Zorro’s at the start of “Alejandro & Elena’s Duel”, with many a foot tap and emphatic Spanish guitar flare playing throughout the four minute track. “The Ride” then wins the award for best action cue (sounds like a new Cue Award in the making if ever I’ve heard one), being a thoroughly enjoyable and enthusiastically thunderous rendition of the Zorro theme on crashing drums, tense strings and frenetically fast-paced brass. The danger motif then rears its head again in “Elena’s Truth” together with both the Zorro and family themes (now in worriedly downtrodden form) before the music segues into the titanic “Leave No Witnesses…”, a thirteen minute powerhouse of an action finale to the score, with – naturally – many a thundering and heroic reprisal of the main themes. Tensions rise and the orchestra gets a thorough working out throughout this lengthy track, with a particularly dramatic finishing crescendo occurring right at the end to close out the action. With the album now fast approaching its end, “Diego’s Goodbye (Film Version)” reprises the gentle family and Elena themes one last time in quietly peaceful form, closing the book on that particular motif with final cue “Zorro’s Theme (Film Version)” then of course playing the exquisite main theme one last and happily heroic time (…until the sequel anyway, but that’s another story!).

Overall then, James Horner’s score for The Mask Of Zorro features the late great composer at the top of his game, with his masterful use of orchestra and some truly gorgeous themes altogether crafting a soundtrack that’s part swashbucklingly heroic, part breathtakingly romantic and all just impeccably entertaining. The four motifs that form the album’s thematic tapestry are each fantastic in their own right, whether its the adventurous Zorro theme, the tender love theme (see “Zorro’s Theme” for both), the gentle family theme (see “Diego’s Goodbye”) or indeed Elena’s equally charming motif (see “Elena & Esperanza”) and the way these are all brilliantly weaved together throughout this wonderful work – whether it’s a quietly tender or fiercely action-centric moment – is a feat to hear just on its own. Horner’s use of Spanish guitars and instrumentation across the score as well gives Mask an immensely stylish feel to it, and that as I say combined with many an amazing theme and use of orchestra overall makes it an excellent showcase of just how phenomenal a composer Horner was.

My thanks to La-La Land Records for this fantastic expansion and remastering of Mask as well, it truly is spellbinding. My only ask – do Legend as well please!

Score: 9/10

Standout Cues: 02. The Plaza Of Execution/34. Zorro’s Theme (Film Version)

Buy the 2-CD expansion for James Horner’s score right here, published by La-La Land Records.

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