‘Who is James Peterson?’ I hear you cry.  I asked myself the same question when I first saw that MovieScore Media were to release his score for The Red Canvas.  Then last month I see the score – for this frankly little known Boxing drama – appearing in a list of 2009’s best scores…  Intrigued and baffled I looked forward to finally hearing what all the fuss was about, and boy do I get it – what a score this is.

Peterson transforms the boxing ring into nothing short of a battleground, as the fighters duck, dive, pivot and punch to the accompaniment of a massive orchestra.  A battery of brass (apparently double the amount of a traditional orchestral set-up), not to mention 60 strings and well considered over-dubbed percussion work together to lead the way in this gargantuan effort.

There is heart beneath the canvas though, and Peterson ably shifts his focus from the urgent and intense shows of strength found in the likes of ‘Grease Monkey Brawl’, ‘Jungle Rumble’ and ‘Calling All Gladiators’ scratching down to the emotional undercurrent with cues like ‘Awaiting The News’, ‘Maria Cries’, ‘Bills and Tears’ and ‘Death and Resurrection’, Parts I and II.  All in all it’s a hell of an assault on the senses, with steely strings, barrages of brass and percussion, all coming together with occasional strokes of lyrical melody and truly infectious power.

Further highlights are found in the suitably laid back ‘Jazz Café’, which is exacted with convincing generic brush strokes, while the final cue ‘Ballet for Brawlers’ is without doubt one of the most astonishing pieces of new film music I have heard in years.  The eleven minute-plus cue is a show of immense prowess from Peterson, who unleashes the ballsiest, brassiest and most brazen composition to grace the screen since those by Bernard Herrmann.  If there ever was a composer who ought to be scoring the likes of the forthcoming Clash of the Titans et al, then it is James Peterson.  This is a phenomenal piece of work and is worth the price of the album alone as it packs a punch, bursting its way through the speakers.  And it’s not just a big noise, there are motifs underlying and beautifully conceived asides within the muscular chaos.

Alongside Herrmann, other greats cast a shadow here and there, with some of the score’s orchestrational colour resembling that of Goldsmith, Williams and indeed Horner in places.  That’s no bad thing, because goodness knows we need more composers like them working in Hollywood today.

Joining the score is Peterson’s ‘Moving Images Suite’, which is a colourful and impressive ‘showreel’ of sorts, with cue titles like ‘Americana’, ‘Moonlit Desert Chase’ and ‘Pastorale’ going in some way to show just what this composer can do, across the board and in a variety of genres.  Nuances in orchestration and style come through, as does the composer’s penchant for lyrical melody.  ‘The Sorcerer’ is quirky and once again a tad Goldsmithian in part, while ‘Transylvania: 1955’ offers murky shadows and a touch of the chills.  The suite is quite a calling card in itself, and works as a fine bonus selection to the overshadowing and brilliant score which it follows.

I’m grateful to MovieScore Media for releasing such exciting film music. Scores like this reveal that there is hope for the future of film music and while there is certainly a place for the hybridised, wall to wall – and dare I say committee-scored - sound we hear more and more today, the one man and his (very large) band approach isn’t dead just yet.

Who is James Peterson?  A damned fine composer and one of the most exciting discoveries of recent years, that’s who.