Magic

The sinister Magic remains one of the most idiosyncratic scores of Jerry Goldsmith's long and winding career. Performed by strings, piano, celeste, and harmonica (the latter serving as the instrumental signature for Fats, the 1978 film's malevolent ventriloquist's dummy), its dark, taut melodies perfectly capture the nuanced psychological horror that unfolds onscreen. Goldsmith eschews the traditional contrivances of horror music in favor of richly textured melancholia that probes the bleak inner world of star Anthony Hopkins' puppeteer protagonist. His arrangements are simple yet dramatic, with even the romantic interludes underscored by an inescapable sense of dread. ~ Jason Ankeny