SOMMERSBY
Rating: 
Original Review: Can you believe I spent nearly a year scouring every soundtrack outlet I could find looking for this score? The reason being that this is, without a doubt, my favourite Elfman score, which will probably confound all the die hard Elfmaniacs out there who love his quirky la-la-la style, because this is so different. But that's what I like about it so much - it's much more downbeat, much more mature than anything he's ever done before, or since. It has a great main theme played on a muted trumpet with support from strings, which carries on throughout the course of the album in different guises, played at different tempos and with different instruments to evoke different emotions. Unlike The Shadow and others, however, the main theme from Sommersby never seems repetitive: instead it brings a harmony and balance to the entire score. There are a couple of secondary themes dotted around and, apart from the Main Title, the standout cues are 'Going To Nashville', which is probably the most lively rendition of the Main Title theme, and the final three tracks - 'Death', 'Finale' and 'End Credits' - which are simply heartbreaking.
Track Listing:
- Main Titles (4:41)
- The Homecoming (1:58)
- Welcoming (1:34)
- First Love (3:54)
- At Work (2:01)
- Alone (4:23)
- Return Montage (5:20)
- Mortal Sin (4:39)
- Homer (1:07)
- Going to Nashville (1:42)
- Baby (2:14)
- Tea Cups (1:44)
- Townsend's Tale (6:09)
- Death (2:12)
- Finale (4:05)
- End Credits (3:16)
Running Time: 51 minutes 09 seconds
Elektra 7559-61491-2 (1993)
Music composed by Danny Elfman. Conducted by and Thomas Pasatieri. Orchestrations by Steve Bartek. Additional orchestrations by Thomas Pasatieri, Jack Hayes and Philip Giffin. Fiddle solos performed by Bruce Dukov. Ethnic percussion solos performed by Mike Fisher. Guitar solos performed by Bill Kanengiser, George Doering, Gregg Nestor and Joe Di Blasi. Recorded and mixed by Shawn Murphy. Edited by Ellen Segal and Bob Badami. Mastered by Dave Collins. Album produced by Danny Elfman, Ellen Segal and Richard Kraft.
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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.