The Last of the Mohicans (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

by Jason Ankeny A rare pairing of A-list Hollywood composers, The Last of the Mohicans teams Trevor Jones and Randy Edelman, who replaced the former midway through production. The resulting score suffers from the schizophrenia one would expect given its abrupt creative shift, but proves greater than the sum of its parts thanks to a series of impressively epic orchestral themes. Jones' opening main theme is the most effective music here, capturing the mystery and primal wonder of James Fennimore Cooper's frontier milieu in ravishing detail. While he wisely relegates synthesizers to the background, Edelman vaults his electronics front and center, and his glossy modern sensibilities are a poor fit with the subject matter. Last of the Mohicans nevertheless proved a bestseller, buoyed largely by the inclusion of Clannad's mystical love theme "I Will Find You," although some listeners will find its new age feel-goodery a little much to swallow.