Before he migrated to Broadway and radically slowed down his film scoring output, Marc Shaiman scored some of the nineties’ most popular comedies, and Speechless is a small, largely forgotten work that slipped through the cracks when better-known works like the Addams Family diptych (1991 + 1993) grew in stature over the years.

The downside to Shaiman’s score is the composer’s heavy reliance on the main theme, and the few variations that give the score much diversity as a 46 mins. album. (“Proctor Bribe / Annette is Fired / Fight at the O.K. Corral” is perhaps the score’s rare meaty dramatic cue.) The score’s function was clearly to keep reminding audiences that ‘these characters are a bit wacky’ and ‘this is all part of their quirky romance.’

The film’s title theme delves into the sweeping thematic scope of John Williams, starting off with a large full orchestra and mapping out all the nuances and theme bits that’ll dominate the bulk of the cues. The “Prelude” is filled with mirth and a giddy energy, whereas the romantic section bleeds with a saccharine melody (oddly reminiscent of Stephen Bishop weepies). A short march motif infers conflict, trouble, and the formalism of the character’s world of starchy politics; and hesitant rhythmic passages with lyrical phrases on clarinet and sax infer the increasing awkwardness of the two characters (both titular speech writers) who end up writing for rival political candidates.

The cue lengths are fairly meaty, giving each theme quotation plenty of room to flow and restate its most energetic sections. La-La Land’s CD gathers the full score, and the engineering is first rate. Every nuance is clean, and the orchestrations are beautifully sharp.

© 2010 Mark R. Hasan