"War Adagio" by Paul Baillargeon
Yesterday, I made a point to highlight George Dunning as an underrated composer from the TOS era. If we are talking 90s Star Trek, I think the same could be said for Paul Baillargeon, who scored a number of episodes with stand-out moments, particularly as they pertain to orchestration. While one highlight is his use of accordion in the Voyager episode "Lifesigns," I'm going to highlight something completely different: one of the darkest episodes of Deep Space Nine: "The Siege of AR-558."
In this cue, Baillargeon introduces a unique theme that plays throughout the harrowing attack of the garrison on AR-558 by Jem'Hadar soldiers. Gone is the usual percussive action writing typically associated with battle scenes from this era. Rather than highlighting the excitement or spectacle of battle, Baillargeon focuses instead on the tragedy of the events occurring, with his cue acting as an elegy for the fallen Starfleet crewmembers.
Veteran director Winrich Kolbe takes this one step further by choosing to let the music take the fore, with any dialogue and sound effects dialed down. To me, this adds considerably to what is shown and heard as Sisko and crew attempt to fight off the Jem'Hadar, while Quark is left to tend to his nephew, Nog, who has already suffered a serious injury to his leg. In a stand-out moment for the sequence for me, even Quark must draw a weapon to protect himself and Nog—the look on his face says it all.
Baillargeon augments the usual 90s Trek strings and horns with instruments like oboe and soprano saxophone, both of which feature prominently. The result is some beautiful and tragic writing that never fails to be affecting for me.
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