IN SEARCH OF LEWIS & CLARK

Alan Williams' gift for dramatic melody is well in evidence in his latest documentary film score, broadcast on TV's The Discovery Channel earlier this year. Unlike Ken Burns' 1997 documentary, which told the original story of the intrepid American surveyors, TDC's 2002 show retraced their route across what would become Montana, the Dakotas and Oregon with an archaeologist who claims to have found the first discovery ever of an actual Lewis-and-Clark site.

Williams' music, characteristically, symphonic and mellifluous, emphasizing the real story that lie behind the archaeologist's investigations. The main theme is performed by trumpet over violins, a strident and vibrant melody, quite heroic and yet somehow solitary, as if reflective of the explorer's bold venturing out into the American unknown. A hauntingly reverberating solo female voice over strings is composed for Sacajawea and the Indian people encountered by the travelers, lending an evocative and contrasting feeling to the score. Throughout the score, acoustic guitar, heavy percussion, winds and violins dominate, with the trumpet and female voice themes reflecting the mixture (and merging) of cultures that transpired on the journey. Cues like EXPEDITION MONTAGE and BREAKING CAMP are vivid compositions full of drive, capturing the progress made by the expedition, despite continual obstacles.---Review by Randall Larson

1. Main Title
2. The Journals
3. Sacajawea
4. Arrival at Fort Mandon
5. The Great Falls
6. The Camp
7. Bison Hunt
8. Frontier Doctors
9. Expedition Montage
10. Winter
11. Burial
12. Breaking Camp
13. Sacajawea Descendents
14. Lewis and Clark
15. End Credits