What You Need to Know: Animated content that comes out straight to DVD usually offers music that is electronically created due to budget reasons.  With "Dragons of Autumn Twilight," the first clue that it was going to be a successful effort is that it employed the services of a full orchestra.  Making use of this resource was Preusser, a relative unknown in the world of film music, who took this opportunity to deliver an above average score.

 

Any time the fantasy world comes up in movies there should be no excuse for a flat soundtrack; there is simply too much material that can be conjured up to leave soundtrack fans miffed.  For this title, Preusser does all the little things right.  He employs a choir, he keeps it orchestral and he also embraces the world of DragonLance with the use of medieval instruments.  If that doesn't give you the warm and fuzzies, I don't know what will!  Adding such authenticity to an animated saga is an effort that deserves to be saluted; Preusser meant business!

 

While the soundtrack doesn't offer up any one main theme that resonates with the listener, it is comprised of one quality track after another.  Preusser's writing is consistent from the very beginning and the flow of the score was simply wonderful.   I hesitate to call it easy listening but it really does make for a nice, smooth engagement when heard in its entirety.  It's the type of score that you can just slip into the music player and let it play on in the background; it has a very friendly sound to it.

 

The standout moments on the album include the opening set of tracks that bring you straight into this world of DragonLance, offering a rich and textured style of instrumentation.  In a way, it's as if the listener is getting acquainted with the melodies that are heard later in the album.  Also deserving of praise is the stop and go technique utilized by Preusser --  a flow of music that is bridged by dramatic pauses in peak moments.  This is especially effective when the style is employed on tracks of differing variations, making for an overall positive grade of creativity for the composer. Lastly, the choral segments, specifically in the Main Titles, are eerily haunting in how the voices are presented and in how the lyrics are heard. Indeed, another age and time does come to life within this context and this atmosphere carried forth throughout the duration of the album. By the time the entire score is traversed (all 67 minutes of it) I had wondered where the time went. Indeed a good sign, my friends.

 

Final Grade:  A soundtrack like this is what 'respectable recommendations' are made for.  "Dragons of Autumn Twilight" offers just enough melodic statements and counterpoints to make for a consistent, well developed soundtrack experience.  While one will not be overwhelmed by epic titles and themes, there are plenty of other small victories to be claimed here.  Give this one a shot.