New York Philharmonic – Justin Freer conducts John Debney’s score for Elf

John Debney
Score for Elf [2003; New York premiere]

Buddy – Will Ferrell
Walter Hobbs – James Caan
Papa Elf – Bob Newhart
Santa – Edward Asner
Emily Hobbs – Mary Steenburgen
Jovie – Zooey Deschanel
Michael – Daniel Tay
Gimbel’s Manager – Faizon Love
Miles Finch – Peter Dinklage
Deb – Amy Sedaris
Fulton – Michael Lerner
Morris – Andy Richter
Eugene – Kyle Gass
Gimbel’s Santa – Artie Lange

Directed by Jon Favreau
Cinematography by Greg Gardiner
Edited by Dan Lebental
Production design by Rusty Smith
Art Direction by Kelvin Humenny
Set Decoration by Johanne Hubert
Costume Design by Laura Jean Shannon
Screenplay by David Berenbaum

New York Philharmonic
Justin Freer

Jon Favreau’s comedy Elf, the story of Buddy, a human accidentally transported to the North Pole as a toddler and raised among Santa’s elves, who travels to New York City at age 30, in full elf uniform, to find his real father, marking the film’s 20th anniversary.

In a three-decade career, Debney has composed for more than 150 films. Elf is probably not the first to come to mind when recalling celebrated screen compositions, but the movie itself is a modern classic.

For this, the third of four performances, Justin Freer elicited a joyful and energetic account of Debney’s music, an apt complement to the lighthearted, often loopy action. The lyrical main-title sequence set the mood for the film: sentimental, wistful, whimsical. Other highlights included the nostalgic sounds of a clarinet and high strings as Papa Elf, Buddy’s adoptive father, shows him a snow globe of the Empire State Building and tells him that’s where his real father works; the tiptoeing tune on the celesta, similar to Tchaikovsky’s ‘Sugar-Plum Fairy’, that plays while Buddy, newly arrived in Manhattan, wanders around the city; the cartoonlike strains heard while Buddy explores Central Park with Michael, his 12-year-old half-brother; and the triumphant brass fanfares that sound when he redeems himself in Michael’s eyes by defeating the ‘bad news’ kids with his snowballing skills. An exception to the mostly playful music is the dark and dramatically intense motif as the Central Park Rangers gallop into the park to wreak revenge on Santa. 

In addition to music by Debney, the soundtrack makes clever use of recorded excerpts from old-time pop music hits – in particular Louis Prima’s jazz-flavored ‘Pennies from Heaven’ and Frank Sinatra’s ‘You Make Me Feel So Young’ – along with clips from standards – all seamlessly mixed into the soundtrack while adding to the film’s nostalgic charm.

Watching a New York movie surrounded by fellow New Yorkers – all laughing out loud, singing along in the ‘Santa Claus is Coming to Town’ sequence, or bursting into applause when Santa’s sleigh reared up into the sky – was a heartwarming experience. And when the Philharmonic went into its highest gear the effect was thrilling.