Carter Burwell has worked in the music of every single Coen Brothers and Spike Jonze film, and once you are familiar with his work you know why. He is one of my favorite score composers, and has written in my opinion some of the most unique titles for movies: just check “Sailing” from Where The Wild Things Are, (a film I’m very close to) or any of the other tracks from that movie. They are melancholic, and have a sense of naive nostalgia that compliments the images on screen so beautifully and accurately. Some other great examples of his work are the Coen’s True Grit and Fargo.
In this compilation of all four films scores, even though the second and third films where written by Alexandre Desplat (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 1) and Howard Shore (Lord of The Rings) and are magnificent, to me is Burwell’s works on the first and fourth installments what stands out. He is joined by The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, and this gives a sense of amped dimension to all songs that is just remarkable.
You sense he’s telling a story of his own through music, no matter if you are a fan of the film franchise, you don’t need to be to appreciate the eclecticism yet all along coherence throughout this entire score.
Songs like “Bella’s Lullabye” and “Love Death Birth” mix a sense of urgency, nostalgia, romanticism and are beautifully haunting. Then we have lighter scores like ” A Nova Vida”, which gives it a more rounder range.
This is probably one of the most polarizing film franchises among movie lovers, but I really encourage you to check out this score, it’s absolutely gorgeous and stands on its own aside the films.
The Twilight Score by The Prague Philharmonic Orchestra comes out on stores March 12th 2012.
What is your favorite film score?
