John Scott: King of the Wind (1989) Suite / Munich Symphony Orchestra

ABOUT THE SCORE: The 1989 adaptation of the famed novel “King of the Wind” involves a the continent-spanning journey of a boy and his Arabian horse, and is derived at least in part from a true story of the famed “Godolphin Arabian” who lived in the early to mid 18th century. The wide-ranging span of locations, from the Arabian desert to Versailles and all the way to England and back again, inspired John Scott to pen a varied and adventurous score anchored by a hugely spirited main theme (heard immediately at the onset of this suite) whose swooning progressions recall Maurice Jarre or even Rodrigo, but whose harmonic development (especially in the secondary phrase) and endlessly variations - from brassy fanfare form to galloping string prestos, all the way the to downtrodden renditions for solo viola - are immediately and undeniably Scott’s own voice at work.

Joining this recurring motif are exotic music for the Arabian locales (6:11), exciting tambourine-slapping sea shanty-type motifs (7:45), and at 18:00, a singularly-employed motif of sublime beauty for supporting actress Jenny Agutter’s character - an expressive flute cadenza that yields to a gorgeous interpolation of the main theme on high strings and rippling celesta. A delectable moment of beauty that only this composer could come up with! Scott wraps the adventure up with a superb racing cue, during which his central subject is put through its most dynamic and exhilarating snare-ripping permutation before a rousing send-off in the end title closes things with grand style.

While at face value the score “King of the Wind” most-closely resembles is his masterful “Harem” with its Middle Eastern feel, it is perhaps the globe-spanning like of his popular score to “Shodun Mayeda” that this score reflects most succinctly in this composer’s oeuvre - taking an exciting main theme on a journey around the world in a musical sense with much local flair and color for the supporting characters and places in the story. It’s all great musical storytelling executed with the exciting and sophisticated sense of craft and drama one expects from Scott, and performed with tremendous gusto by his go-to ensemble of the era, the Munich Symphony Orchestra.

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