The sweepingly emotional melodies of James Horner’s Glory are its strength, providing a powerfully sombre tone for the 1989 Edward Zwick-directed American Civil War film, and a score overall that doesn’t pull any punches in reflecting the sorrow and sacrifice of war.
Of all the war movie scores that James Horner has composed there are two that have always stood out to me, and these are Windtalkers and Glory. The former shines through its tremendously heroic main theme held upon thunderous orchestra, and while it does tonally touch on the more sorrowful side of war, it doesn’t linger on it. In contrast, Glory – kind of like John Williams’ Saving Private Ryan in that way – is much more focused on it, on the sacrifice and loss inflicted by war. Horner reflects this with a meticulously-crafted and rather pensive orchestral style that highlights similarly thoughtful main themes, and the result, while perhaps not quite as brassily boisterous as Windtalkers – is utterly captivating. Delving into La-La Land Records’ expansion and remastering of Horner’s Glory, we hear the first instances of said themes and style through opening cue “A Call To Arms”; a rather ethereal-sounding children’s choir (the Boys Choir of Harlem, to be precise) starts things off, echoing an old Civil War hymn solemnly alongside marching drums. As the track continues this hymn then fades in favour of Horner’s main theme, which also echoes rather forlornly on the aforementioned children’s choir. There is a strong sense of nobility, honour and sacrifice here, with a great sadness also enveloping the music, as serene strings, percussion and militaristic brass join the fray to hold the spellbinding theme high.
The now quietly ethereal children’s choir echoes the main theme through “After Antietam” alongside serene strings, rumbling drums and the established militaristic brass, with additional and more shrill vocals then joining the fray in the forty five second “Flashback” to deliver a rather anxious rendition of said theme. Sombre brass then plays the motif behind the Civil War hymn from earlier in the opening minute of “Forming The Regiment”, with the main theme then following pensively on strings for the remainder of the track. Marching drums and a whistling fife instrument are then the stylistic focus of the first half of “Jefferson & Liberty”, jovially evoking a marching band in tone until thoughtful strings overtake in the second half, reprising the main theme first before then debuting another, secondary motif, a quiet, almost regretful and rather beautiful piece overall which, given its sombre tone, we’ll call the sacrifice theme. Said new theme also continues into the subsequent “The Decision/Second Flashback”, playing first on gently pensive strings before rising gradually on noble brass, and then practically exploding with spine-tingling orchestral colour for an utterly gorgeous crescendo. “Lonely Christmas” afterward then quietens the theme back down for a more solemn reprisal on thoughtful brass and strings.
The tone turns tense and rather anxious for “The Whipping”, with an undercurrent of thudding drums echoing against downtrodden brass and strings that hint toward the main and sacrifice themes. “New Shoes” then once again evokes the enthusiastic marching band aesthetic – akin to “Jefferson & Liberty” earlier – in its opening minute before the music briefly simmers with the serene sacrifice theme in the cue’s back half. The subsequent “Worth A Life” then continues this pensive tone, hinting toward the sacrifice theme at first before then moving into a rather wonderful strings rendition of the main theme. “The Year Of Jubilee” then reprises the same upbeat march from “New Shoes”, though this time with the main theme interspersed between the drums and fife – reprising firstly on serene strings before building into a grander and more hopeful rendition on vocals. With the marching band fading out, the sacrifice theme then plays quietly on strings to close out the track. “Burning The Town Of Darien” then echoes with similarity quiet solemnity, with both the main and sacrifice themes returning on children’s choir and strings. The orchestral mood then turns wary and rather unnerving in the opening minute of “Our Time” with ominous percussion echoing, before the militaristic brass from earlier in the score returns to once again echo the solemn Civil War hymn alongside a strings rendition of the sacrifice theme.
A dramatic pace occupies “The Battle Of Grimball’s Landing”, as aggressive drums thunder together with frenetic bursts of brass and several rather nervous renditions of the main theme. Solo brass then echoes the ever-sombre sacrifice theme through the short “Promise Me/When Do You Want Us?” and the first half of “Brave Words And Deeds”, before the main theme returns in the back half on wistful woodwinds and brass. Said woodwinds also reprise the main theme rather serenely at the start of the eight minute “Preparations For Battle”, with additional strings and percussive echoes then building both the main and sacrifice themes to a determined crescendo. The latter theme then leads an increasingly noble stride on strings and hopeful vocals for the next few minutes, with drums also joining the fray at the six minute mark to introduce a dramaticallly marching pace before the ensemble builds to a finishing crescendo. Darkly anxious strings, crashes of drums, worrisome bursts of brass and increasingly shrill chanting vocals then take charge through tense action setpiece “Charging Fort Wagner”, though this doesn’t last for long as “An Epitaph To War” afterward shatters this momentum with a deeply sorrowful, choir-focused take on both the main theme and Civil War hymn. Standout Cue “Closing Credits” then ends the album with enjoyably lengthy renditions of the main, sacrifice and Civil War hymn themes, all wrapped in a delicate, meticulously-crafted and deeply emotional orchestral bow.
Overall, James Horner’s score for Glory is gut-wrenchingly heartfelt, and an impeccable tonal showcase of the darker, more sorrowful side of war told through film music. It’s similar to John Williams’ Saving Private Ryan in that way, utilising restrained, thoughtful strings and quiet yet militaristic drums to get its mournful point across, though where Horner’s work here primarily differs is obviously in its setting – the American Civil War versus the Second World War – and stylistically through the use of the Boys Choir Of Harlem as the score’s instrumental focus, with their high-pitched and resultingly ethereal sound adding another deeply emotive layer to Horner’s already very solemn music here. Certainly, their singing of the Civil War hymn (“A Call To Arms”) that features across the album elevates it to heart-wrenching heights, and their voices combined with the earlier-mentioned strings and drums as well as marching band-styled brass and serene woodwinds also boost the themes – the main (“An Epitaph To War”) and sacrifice (“The Decision/Second Flashback”) themes respectively – tremendously too. All-in, I will say that Glory isn’t the easiest listen; its dramatically sorrowful style is incredibly effective, so I can’t say you’ll be happy listening to it, but at the same time the composer’s incredibly delicate and meticulous approach to the orchestra and themes is utterly captivating, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think “Closing Credits” is genuinely up there as one of Horner’s very best compositions.
Score: 8.5/10
Standout Cues: Preparations For Battle, Closing Credits
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