Terminal Soundtrack CD

Composer: John Williams .
Composer: John "Buddy" Williams .
Personnel: Weldon Dean Parks (guitar); JoAnn Turovsky (harp); Eun Mee Ahn, Anatoly Rosinsky, Katia Popov, Tamara L. Hatwan, Ana Landauer, Helen Nightengale, Ken Yerke, Jeanne Evans, Rene Mandel, Franklyn d'Antonio, Joel Derouin, Lisa Sutton, Mark Robertson , Richard Altenbach, Jacqueline Brand, Roberto Cani, Julie Gigante, Clayton Haslop, Phillipe Levy, Sarah Thornblade, Roger Wilkie, Dimitrie Leivici, Miwako Watanabe, Rafael Rishik, Endre Granat (violin); Marlo Fisher, Shawn Mann, Steven Gordon, Cassandra Richburg, Michael Nowak, Robert Becker, Keith Greene, Roland Kato, Simon Oswell, David F. Walther, Victoria Miskolszy, Thomas Dienner, Andrew Duckles, Shanti Randall (viola); Timothy Landauer, Dennis Karmazyn, Anthony Cooke, Paul Cohen , Stephen Erdody, Armen Ksadjikian, David Low , David Speltz, Cecilia Tsan, John Walz (cello); Jim Walker , Steve Kujala, Geri Rotella (flute); Ralph Williams , Emily Bernstein, Gary Bovyer (clarinet); Leslie Reed, Phil Ayling (oboe); Michael O'Donovan, Kenneth E. Munday (bassoon); Marissa Benedict, Rick Baptist, David Washburn (trumpet); Andrew Thomas Malloy, Phil Teele, William Booth, George Thatcher, William Reichenbach (trombone); James Self, Fred W. Greene (tuba); Todd Richard, Brian D. O'Connor, Jenny Kim, Kurt Snyder (horns); Randy Kerber (piano, keyboards); Michael Lang , Chet Swiatkowski (keyboards); Alan Estes, Jerry Williams , Thomas Raney, Donald Williams (percussion).
Audio Mixer: Shawn Murphy.
Liner Note Author: Steven Spielberg.
Recording information: Sony Pictures Studios, Culver City, CA.
Editor: Peter S. Myles.
Director Steven Spielberg keeps coming up with different kinds of films, and composer John Williams, with whom he has collaborated on 21 of them now, keeps finding appropriate musical settings. For The Terminal, a film about an Eastern European trapped in the international arrivals airport terminal in New York when his country erupts into civil war, Williams seems to have taken inspiration from the main character's origins and the film's lightly comic mood. His main theme for this character, "The Tale of Viktor Navorski," playfully recalls "The Third Man Theme," even if it is played on a clarinet most of the time. There is also a love theme for the bittersweet romance Navorski enters into, and that minor-key motive echoes such familiar tunes as "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning" and even the folk ballad "Barbara Allen." The soundtrack album is presented out of sequence from the film, and it is very much oriented to listening as opposed to simply mirroring the actions onscreen. This makes it a better audio experience, with Williams' themes being developed and finished. But it in some ways does not reflect the movie accurately. In particular, the big payoff of the film turns out to be Navorski's purpose in coming to America, which is to get an autograph from a jazz musician, Benny Golson. On screen, we see and hear Golson, but he is not featured on the soundtrack album, which is a shame. ~ William Ruhlmann