During Joe Harnell's lengthy association with writer/producer/director Kenneth Johnson, probably the best work to emerge was “The Lonely Man Theme” from The Incredible Hulk TV series. It's a simple piece that doesn't pity the character of David Banner, but nails the sadness of a man forced to keep a large distance between himself and all people because of a monstrous force he's unable to keep locked away.

Harnell's prior work (mostly for Johnson) evoked gothic horror, heroic material for rebellious humans trying to stop aliens from enacting another holocaust, or breezy action, but his Hulk material is more focused on Banner and his attempts to wrestle out of unwanted conflicts, and the massive guilt he simply can't expunge from his bruised psyche.

Besides the theme statements (which are far less than one expected), there's some very moody cues with plenty of room to develop – rather rare for TV scores, since the scenes have to be edited down to fit each commercial break.

Harnell's orchestra is quite modest, but his writing encompasses a lot of very diverse sounds, and Hulk arguably symbolizes perhaps the last period when composers with a jazz background could inject a bit of funky rhythms and orchestral dissonance before cheap synth and pop-based scores would reshape TV's musical landscape.

“Gamma Ray Treatment” really evokes a bit of Jerry Fielding, mostly because Harnell blends twisting tones on strings with brooding chordal waves, and a slick, jazzy high-hat tapping. (The similarities in technique may in fact be due to Harnell's prior scoring of The Bionic Woman, integrating the theme and sound established by Fielding, who composed that show's theme and main sound.)

The cue then opens up with a clarinet's plaintive call, which Harnell answers with taunting waves from brass, flute, and pliable strings, and caps it with trumpets cresting to a sharp cut-off. The brass closing is actually the Lonely Man Theme, and each note played like sharp boxing jabs that figuratively bludgeon Banner, as his life is forever altered.

“Growing Anger,” probably the show's second best-remembered theme, is really a wonderful gem, and separated from the show's heavy sound effects and green-man growls, one notices the fine nuances Harnell invested in this simple theme that was tracked over sequences when the Hulk would emerge and start cracking skulls.

Harnell opted for a 5-note pattern, which is extremely odd because our expectations are to hear rhythms in straight 2 and 4 beat statements, much like a galloping horse; in clusters broken up by a rhythmic statement on bass; or perhaps a more strained version of a main theme. Harnell's Anger Theme sticks with a cyclical 5-note cascade, but every now and then he tilts a note, texturizes the background with woodwinds, adds eerie strings merged with synths, piano hits, bongos, or has specific instruments (French horns, strings) trading parts to ensure the cue never develops into any kind of resolution. Like the Hulk's rage, the Anger Theme is focused, one-sided, and has one sharp mood, and the lack of any tempo shift ensures the cue also kept viewers hooked, waiting for some respite that's never offered.

The Hulk music is very indicative of the scoring style from composers with a jazz background, and it's likely everyone fed off the other's most inventive ideas, which include exploiting the colours of brass and woodwinds, playing with ambient vibes and processed reverb, and layering watery taps to evoke some brooding, dangerous force lurking in the near distance.

There's also the use of a jazz orchestra with light rock percussion (“Opening Credits/David Remembers”) that gave tense moments and chase scenes a bit more resonance, but most composers stuck with mostly formal orchestra instruments, allowing them to colour orchestral sounds without radically changing a score's idiom and disaffecting a show's sound. Each show had a Bible for the characters, and a staff composer knew a show had to have its own distinct sound so audiences could also develop a relationship with the characters over a short time, since a new show had to succeed quickly to avoid the network cancellation axe.

Those more familiar with Harnell's V scores will find a rich array of moods and colours the composer couldn't really enjoy in that sci-fi series (mostly because of the classical music cues, as well as Harnell's North by Northwest riff.)

The two scores represented on this limited CD are for the pilot, and the episode “A Death in the Family.” Each suite of cues is well-balanced and edited, and there's a decisive shift from more brooding, amorphous sounds in the pilot towards straight melody and accessible rock rhythms in the second suite. Some of the lyricism is a bit heavy, but it doesn't steer into the treacly bathos often indulged by contemporary David Rose.

Like the selection of themes and cues on Harnell's 1992 2-disc promo set (which includes additional material not on this CD), the sound is straight mono, although the source tapes are very limited in their dynamic range; the music's quality is the key draw to this excellent release, but the sound is quite flat.

Series and the composer's fans should also check out The Incredible Hulk: Prometheus, Parts 1 and 2 (1980), which features even more amazing music.

© 2008 Mark R. Hasan