Mayuzumi's score was outstanding and well-deserving of its Oscar nomination.
I read somewhere that he was specifically chosen because he was NOT a Roman Catholic/Christian and would therefore approach scoring the film without any preconceived notions of piety or religious baggage.
As it was, he scored the film as an epic drama; full of secular awe and non-denominational splendor. The Main Theme alone is a towering example of scoring against the "hosanna" and "alleluia" pattern.
The creation of Adam sequence, also, plays against the cloyingly reverent, plaster saint approach with a score that - when heard apart from the film - actually comes across as almost frightening, particularly the droning in the chorus. I find this particularly successful because it plays up the terrifying power of a being that can create life from dust.
Listen too, to the almost over-the-top melodramatics of the Flood sequence. The horror of destruction is expertly captured with the literal sturm-und-drang of the Mayuzumi's composition, while at the same time subliminally calling to mind the comedic cartoon associations one has with the Storm on Lake Lucerne snippet of Rossini's William Tell.
I could go on, but I will close by stating that it is shameful that no legitimate CD release of this score has yet been offered.
"If you don't know the answer -change the question."
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