War Horse Soundtrack CD

War Horse Soundtrack Recording information: Abbey Road, London, UK; The Barbra Streisand Scoring Stage/Sony Pictures, Culve.

War Horse Soundtrack For the children's fantasy adventure The Golden Compass, Alexandre Desplat delivers his most sweeping score to date -- this is music rich in ideas, approaches, and textures, and if at times it moves in too many opposing directions, it nevertheless derives consistency from the depth and purity of the composer's vision. Desplat's bold, richly appointed melodies are ideally matched to the symphonic grandeur of the arrangements -- the action themes crackle with energy and suspense, and even the more intimate moments benefit from the larger-than-life scale, underlining the epic drama of the onscreen narrative. ~ Jason Ankeny Composer: Alexandre Desplat. Composer/Lyricist: Kate Bush. Personnel: Alexandre Desplat (flute, piano, programming); Greg Knowles (cimbalom); Skaila Kanga (harp); Alison Stephens (mandolin); Thomas Bowes (violin); Anthony Pleeth (cello); Vincent Segal (electric cello); Robert Winn (flute); Nicholas Bucknail (clarinet); Jan Hendrickse, Billy Lyons (woodwinds); Maurice Murphy (trumpet); Richard Watkins (French horn); Owen Slade (tuba); Conrad Pope, David Hartley, Catherine Edwards, Dave Hage, Gerard McCann, John Alley , Dave Arch, Simon Chamberlain, John Lenehan , David Walter (piano); Tristan Fry (timpani); Paul Clarvis (percussion, gong); Frank Ricotti, Gary Kettel (gong). Audio Mixers: Del Palmer; Peter Cobbin. Liner Note Author: Alexandre Desplat. Recording information: Abbey Road Studios, London; AIR Lyndhurst Studio, Londo. Director: Bill Ives . Arranger: James Brett.

War Horse Soundtrack Credited to composers Hans Zimmer, Geoff Zanelli, and Blake Neely, the soundtrack to the HBO mini-series The Pacific owes more than a courtesy nod to the late Michael Kamen's elegiac work on the Steven Spielberg/Tom Hanks-produced 2001 companion series Band of Brothers. Appropriately melancholy and drenched in French horns and sepia-toned nostalgia, The Pacific yields a more reflective tone than its older brother, although Zimmer makes sure to toss in a few of the bold, heavily percussive military themes that have become his forte over the years. This uniquely American, stoic, brass-heavy approach to scoring historical military drama may feel well worn (the main theme could be applied to nearly every WWII film, documentary, or video game released since Saving Private Ryan), but that's because it works so remarkably well, acting as a cooling agent for the horrific images that war so deftly burns into our collective psyche. ~ James Christopher Monger Audio Mixer: Dennis Sands. Recording information: Sony Scoring Stage.

War Horse Soundtrack  

War Horse Soundtrack In "Captain Haddock Takes the Oars," a cue from composer John Williams' score for director Steven Spielberg's The Adventures of Tintin, a low horn plays a light mystery theme reminiscent of the music for the television series Alfred Hitchcock Presents. The TV music was based on Charles Gounod's "Funeral March of a Marionette," and Gounod gets an acknowledged credit later in Williams' score when "Presenting Bianca Castafiore" finds opera singer Renée Fleming performing excerpts from his "Je Veux Vivre" from Roméo et Juliette as well as some of "Rosina's Cavatina" from The Barber of Seville by Gioachino Rossini. Such classical touchstones offer suggestions of Williams' influences in background music that places strong emphasis on the word "adventures" in the title. Occasionally, as in "Introducing the Thompsons and Snowy's Chase" and "The Milanese Nightingale," Williams brings in an accordion for a French style that recalls his contemporary Michel Legrand. "The Adventures of Tintin" itself has a jazzy feel, almost bebop in nature. But much of the score consists of program music intended to underlie action and suspense while simultaneously reassuring the listener/viewer that all will be well in the end. Williams does not exaggerate the effects for comic purposes as he does, for example, in his Indiana Jones scores. Rather, this is ear candy for a movie that is equally sweet. ~ William Ruhlmann Original score to the 2011 motion picture composed by John Williams. Sony Classical. Audio Mixer: Shawn Murphy. Liner Note Author: Steven Spielberg .

War Horse Soundtrack Composer Harry Gregson-Williams (The Chronicles of Narnia) made his first foray into the Western genre with Iron Man director Jon Favreau's 2011 adaptation of the popular graphic novel Cowboys & Aliens. The score, which fuses the patriotic action cues of Alan Silvestri with the dusty guitar- and horn-laden patina of Ennio Morricone, owes a lot to Greg Edmonson's genre-bending work on Joss Whedon's Firefly series, but Gregson-Williams strikes a nice enough balance between whimsical and melodramatic, ending up on the spirited rather than the contrived end of the spectrum. ~ James Christopher Monger Personnel: Lisbeth Scott (vocals); Hector Pereira, Greg Doering, Tony Clarke (guitar); Martin Tillman (electric cello); Anthony Lledo (drum programming).