CINEMA CENTURY VOLUME III
VARIOUS
Rating: 
Original Review: Volume III of the Cinema Century compilations brings together the most famous music from recent history: that is, from 1981 to the present day. Let it be said now that I like virtually every track on the disc, but there are a few really exceptional pieces which stand out from the rest. John Williams' Raiders of the Lost Ark captures all the adventure, excitement and romance of the film in five brilliant minutes: the adrenaline-charged march is exceptionally good, and there is even a tender love theme thrown in there as well. The perennially underrated Basil Poledouris' extract for Conan The Barbarian is a huge, dynamic action cue called The Anvil of Crom, which actually sounds like someone is hammering away in the background, and finishes with one of the best percussion pieces I have ever heard; The Kings of the Synthesisers, Vangelis and Brad Fiedel present their three most famous works: the Oscar winning Chariots of Fire, 1492: Conquest of Paradise and the stunning theme from The Terminator, the ending of which will shake your house if you play it loud enough; John Barry's Out of Africa is very reminiscent of Dances With Wolves at times, but that's probably why I like it so much - the richness of the romantic string section and brass underscore makes it another one of those scores where you just want to sit back and let the music surround you. The End Theme from Ghost by Maurice Jarre is one of those rare pieces which makes me want to cry every time I hear it, it has such an emotional intensity and sadness. I always relate it back to the film, and the bit where the violins and oboes and trumpets all rise to a crescendo at the same moment as Patrick Swayze says goodbye to Demi Moore for the last time simply breaks my heart. The music for Unforgiven is gorgeous: an unadorned guitar solo of a melancholy little theme, which picks up a different section of the orchestra with each rendition until doing a glorious full statement, and then losing all the sections again before finishing with a final unadorned rendition. The score is attributed to Lennie Niehaus, but it's common knowledge that Clint Eastwood writes all his own main themes, with Niehaus undertaking the orchestral arrangements. The album rounds off with John Williams' touching theme from Schindler's List, a heartfelt, tragic violin track which suited the mood and subject of the film perfectly.
Track Listing:
- Raiders March from Raiders Of The Lost Ark (John Williams) (5:07)
- Main Theme from Chariots Of Fire (Vangelis) (3:31)
- Anvil of Crom from Conan The Barbarian (Basil Poledouris) (2:37)
- Flying from E.T. The Extra Terrestrial (John Williams) (3:43)
- Deborah's Theme from Once Upon A Time In America (Ennio Morricone) (4:38)
- Main Theme from The Terminator (Brad Fiedel) (4:36)
- Building The Barn from Witness (Maurice Jarre) (4:38)
- Main Theme from Out Of Africa (John Barry) (4:24)
- Adela's Theme from A Passage To India (Maurice Jarre) (2:24)
- Main Theme from The Mission (Ennio Morricone) (2:57)
- O Mio Babbino Caro from Gianni Schicch from A Room With A View (Giacomo Puccini, performed by Lesley Garrett) (2:27)
- Main Theme from Cinema Paradiso (Ennio Morricone) (3:29)
- End Theme from Ghost (Maurice Jarre) (4:25)
- The John Dunbar Theme from Dances With Wolves (John Barry) (2:31)
- Main Theme from 1492: Conquest Of Paradise (Vangelis) (5:04)
- Claudia's Theme from Unforgiven (Lennie Niehaus and Clint Eastwood) (6:15)
- It's Over from The Fugitive (James Newton Howard) (4:06)
- Concert Suite from Jurassic Park (John Williams) (5:55)
- Main Theme from Schindler's List (John Williams) (4:00)
Running Time: 77 minutes 13 seconds
Silva Screen FILMCD-180-3 (1996)
Conducted by Paul Bateman, Mark Ayres, Nic Raine, Andrew Greenwood and Derek Wadsworth. Music performed by The City of Prague Philharmonic, The Philharmonia and The Crouch End Festival Chorus. Orchestrations by Henry Mancini, Christopher Palmer, Nic Raine, Mark McGurty and Rachel Berlin. Choir Master David Temple. Recorded and mixed by John L. Timperley, Mike Ross-Trevor, Eric Tomlinson, Dick Lewzey and Mark Ayres. Album produced by Alan Smithee.
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These web pages were designed and maintained by Jonathan Broxton copyright 1997. All opinions and views expressed on these pages are my own and are in no way intended to reflect those of my employer, the Trent Institute for Health Services Research, or those of the University of Sheffield.