The Ninth Gate

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

Wojciech Kilar is a name known and not known. He is the kind of composer that scores for movies who are not for everyone, or at least not the prototype of a blockbuster for audiences to see. The Portrait of a Lady, Death and the Maiden and perhaps most of all Bram Stoker's Dracula, all films of high stature and allure but not everyone is willing to see them. Perhaps the same with The Ninth Gate of Roman Polanski, and Kilar (a frequent collaborator with Polanski) is there to back up the visuals once again. Kilar is of course a composer who stays close to the classical sound, and perhaps a bit too close. In a way, you saw that in all of his scores and The Ninth Gate is no exception, a great score on itself but its the sound and tone that dictates if you like it or not. As a film score, its very good, as a score I like listening to its something of a mixed bag. There are very good moments in this score, such as the opening and ending main theme of the score, with soprano Sumi Jo lending her skills to an otherwise lovely baroque tone. 'Vocalise / Theme from the Ninth Gate' is then of course a better start then first imagined. But what I like most about this score is when Kilar returns back to his Dracula composition, the choral accompaniment in tracks such as 'Balkan's Death' and 'Corso and the Girl' are the same as the stunning Dracula music and these moments interest me more. Its demonic and effective all the same. These are the moments that I like, because they show the side of Kilar that I appreciate the most, the rest is equally effective but it draws the line between the repetitive return of the themes and the at times hurting tone of flutes and piano's making their statement.

There are of course themes to speak off, 'Opening Titles' presents its theme like the love theme of Dracula, but only partly in theme. The Corso theme is the most heard of, appearing playful first in 'Corso', hypnotizing after a Spanish rhythm in 'Plane to Spain (Bolero)', due to the strings creating the same tone as Death and the Maiden, disturbing in 'The Motorbike' where parts of Corso' theme are played on piano but so loud they really hurt the ears. But other themes do appear too and one is an effective suspension builder but together it doesn't work to please me like others do encounter it, it starts to show in 'Chateau Saint Martin' and grows stronger and darker in 'Liana's Death' (with added high hurting flutes) and in 'Boo! / The Chase' to name a few. One of the finer moments of the score is 'Blood on his Face' and here a lovely piano tone is heard over a growing Sumi Jo. But the best moments are the effective use of choir in 13 and 15, with 13 capturing the colliding Sumi Jo over the choir in most pleasing effect. Altogether, there is much to like from The Ninth Gate, because it portrays a different side for a horror / thriller score then just the dissonant scaring ruckus. But its also different in part that it uses its frightening tone due to the instruments creating it so loud they can also carry a burden with them. And of course the tone of how you like your movie music is very important to appreciate the score of Kilar all the same. The Ninth Gate is a soundtrack of great class, but it leans too close to the classical side (which I'm no sucker for) and it doesn't show either the mesmerizing beauty of The Portrait of a Lady enough (doesn't need to of course) but not a lot of the demonic choral menace which menaced Dracula more then enough. I'm staying with Dracula from Kilar because I like to listen to it more. Hence the reason why I don't listen to The Ninth Gate at all, just for the moments.

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Tracks

Single Disc

1. Vocalise * / Theme From The Ninth Gate (3.54)

2. Opening Titles (3.31)

3. Corso (3.24)

4. Bernie Is Dead (4.31)

5. Liana (3.02)

6. Plane To Spain (Bolero) (4.47)

7. The Motorbike * (1.18)

8. Missing Book / Stalking Corso (4.41)

9. Blood On His Face * (1.13)

10. Chateau Saint Martin (4.05)

11. Liana's Death (2.38)

12. "Boo!" / The Chase (4.28)

13. Balkan's Death * (3.51) Excellent Track

14. The Ninth Gate * (1.13)

15. Corso And The Girl * (3.20)

16. Vocalise * / Theme From The Ninth Gate (Reprise) (3.56)

* Featuring Soprano Sumi Jo

Total Length: 54.07

The use of artwork or photos is posted for non profitable reasons

=== Link to Composer Site: Wojciech Kilar ===