17th November 2008

SOUNDTRACK NEWS

Concord Records have released details of their CD release of music from David Fincher's forthcoming movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The film, which some have said might be Fincher's masterpiece (high praise indeed!), opens in the US on Christmas Day, and the two-disc digipak will be released here in January.

Disc one features the score, which was composed, conducted and produced by The Golden Compass's Alexandre Desplat.

1 Postcards 2:51
2 Mr. Gateau 3:02
3 Meeting Daisy  1:22
4 A New Life  3:39
5 Love in Murmansk  3:53
6 Meeting Again  2:41
7 Mr. Button  2:05
8 "Little Man" Oti  2:02
9 Alone at Night  2:33
10 It Was Nice to Have Met You  1:43
11 Children's Games  4:10
12 Submarine Attack  2:40
13 The Hummingbird  2:35
14 Sunrise on Lake Pontchartrain  3:33
15 Daisy's Ballet Career  2:03
16 The Accident  2:38
17 Stay Out of My Life  1:44
18 Nothing Lasts  2:54
19 Some Things You Never Forget  1:36
20 Growing Younger  2:14
21 Dying Away  2:58
22 Love Returns  1:44
23 Benjamin and Daisy 2:32

TOTAL: 59:12

Disc two features songs used in the film, plus, it would seem, dialogue tracks:

1 "My name is Benjamin" - Benjamin Button 0:21
2 We Shall Walk Through the Streets of the City - Doc Paulin's Marching Band 2:56
3 "Some days I feel different" - Queenie & Benjamin Button 0:18
4 Ostrich Walk - Frank Trumbauer and His Orchestra featuring Bix Beiderbecke 3:06
5 "How old are you?" - Benjamin Button & The Preacher 0:12
6 That's How Rhythm Was Born - The Boswell Sisters 2:53
7 "When was the last time you had a woman?" - Benjamin Button & Captain Mike 0:13
8 Freight Train Blues - Billie & DeDe Pierce 5:35
9 Basin Street Blues - Preservation Hall Jazz Band 7:34
10 "Thanksgiving, 1930" - Benjamin Button 0:08
11 If I Could Be With You (One Hour Tonight) - Louis Armstrong and His Sebastian New Cotton Club Orchestra  3:35
12 "What's your secret?" -  Captain Mike & Benjamin Button  0:25
13 Chanson Sur Staline -  Choeur de la Cathedral de la Rue Daru, Paris X VII  3:06
14 "A date which will live in infamy..." -  Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1941 0:17
15 Arabeske for Piano in C Major Op. 18 -  3:18
16 "Coming home" - Benjamin Button  0:12
17 Out Of Nowhere -  Sidney Bechet  3:00
18 Dear Old Southland -  Louis Armstrong  3:17
19 "Defined by opportunities" - Benjamin Button  0:05
20 Skokiaan - Perez Prado & His Orchestra  2:38
21 "Things were becoming different for me..." - [Dialogue]  0:17
22 My Prayer - The Platters  2:41
23 Bethena (A Concert Waltz) - Randy Kerber  5:43

TOTAL: 51:50

Swedish soundtrack specialist label Moviescore Media is releasing a disc of music from the BBC fantasy series Merlin today.

The disc, which comes in fold-out digipak-style packaging, features orchestral music composed by Rob Lane from the series' first three episodes (The Dragon's Call, Valiant and The Mask of Nimueh). One cue on the disc, Defeating the Afanc, was written by Rohan Stevenson.

The forty-seven minute disc offers a fine array of music in the classic Lord of the Rings-style fantasy vein, performed by the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. Fully developed themes aren't immediately evident, but there are certainly plenty of interesting motifs and melodies. There's copious swashbuckling, a skein of mysticism, and a measure of good old-fashioned romance. A couple of tracks feature a choir (and, in one case, a solo performance by soprano soloist, Emma Brain-Gabbott). The disc ends with the show's rousing title theme, The Call of Destiny.

The disc comes with a note from Rob Lane, explaining that the music has to be mercurial, to keep up with the changing mood of the show. He also explains that the hypnotic track featuring the soprano soloist, The Witch's Aria, was the first to be composed, so that the actress playing the witch (Torchwood's Eve Myles) was able to mime to it during shooting.

What you won't find - and this is a bit of a bugbear of mine, I'm afraid - is a list of which track comes from which episode. Presumably the track titles will assist the fans who are more intimately acquainted with the series than I am!

Track list:

1. Merlin's Arrival At Camelot
2. The Tournament Begins
3. The Witch's Threat
4. Hagrid's Letter To Gaius
5. Meeting Arthur / Lady Helen Possessed
6. Fighting In The Market
7. The Magic Shield
8. Arthur and Prince Valiant
9. Merlin Lost
10. To Morgana
11. The Burdens of Duty
12. Breaking The Spell
13. Plague In The Water
14. Arthur's Final Battle
15. Gwenivere
16. Defeating The Avank
17. The Witch's Aria
18. The Call of Destiny - Titles
 

Homepage: www.moviescoremedia.com

Last week's Zeta Minor News can be viewed here.

Previous Zeta Minor News entries can viewed here.