[updated] How do directors use cinematography to establish a character? - Jesse James

The music in the opening of Jesse James adds to the feelings of distance we get from the character, as it is calm and perhaps distracted as it doesn't completely match some of the things that are happening in some of the shots such as the burning field, which is more chaotic than calm, or even what the narrator is saying. The music matches and reinforces the tone of the memories in the scene, which are calm and perhaps wistful.