John Frizzell and James Newton Howard (Dante's Peak) Dante's Peak

The score for Dante's Peak has an unusual dual credit: James Newton Howard composed the primary themes before departing for other commitments, and his protege John Frizzell completed the remaining score. The collaboration produced a workmanlike orchestral soundtrack that earned both composers an ASCAP Film and Television Music Award.

Howard wrote the themes but scheduling pulled him away

James Newton Howard -- who by 1996 had scored The Fugitive (1993), Waterworld (1995), and Primal Fear (1996) -- was hired to compose the full score. Scheduling conflicts with other projects forced him to depart before completing the work. He contributed the film's two primary themes: a main title built around volcanic dread, and a secondary love theme heard on tender piano during the Rachel-Harry scenes. Howard also completed four or five individual cues before leaving. (filmtracks)

Frizzell was Howard's protege and completed the score

Howard recommended John Frizzell, whom he had mentored, to finish the remaining cues. Dante's Peak became one of Frizzell's first major feature credits -- he had previously scored The Rich Man's Wife (1996), also with themes contributed by Howard. Frizzell composed the suspense and action sequences, maintaining consistency with Howard's thematic material while building out the eruption and survival cues. The orchestration was handled by Jeff Atmajian and Brad Dechter, among others, with Artie Kane conducting. (filmtracks, imdb)

The critical reception of the score was polite but unexcited

Filmtracks characterized the score as "disappointingly generic" and "proficiently mundane," noting that the themes suffer from "relative anonymity" despite competent orchestration. The suspense and action cues were described as "effectively nondescript." The score's strongest moments include a flute solo reminiscent of Howard's Waterworld work and some interesting trumpet techniques, but the overall impression is of a score that serves the film without distinguishing itself. (filmtracks)

The soundtrack went from a 30-minute album to a 2-hour deluxe edition

Varese Sarabande released the original soundtrack in 1997 with 10 tracks totaling approximately 30 minutes -- a truncated selection that omitted significant portions of both composers' work. In 2021, a deluxe 2-CD expanded edition was released in a limited pressing of 2,000 copies, running approximately 123 minutes. The expanded edition includes previously unreleased cues, alternate versions, and material from the film's opening and closing sequences that the original album had omitted. The Kino Lorber 4K release (2026) also includes an isolated score and effects track. (filmtracks)