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Track Listings
| 1. Nina's |
| 2. Mother Me |
| 3. The New Season |
| 4. A Room of Her Own |
| 5. A New Swan Queen |
| 6. Lose Yourself |
| 7. Cruel Mistress |
| 8. Power, Seduction, Cries |
| 9. The Double |
| 10. Opposites Attract |
| 11. Night of Terror |
| 12. Stumbled Beginnings... |
| 13. It's My Time |
| 14. A Swan Is Born |
| 15. Perfection |
| 16. A Swan Song (for Nina) |
Customer Reviews
“ I absolutely loved the movie as well; so for any fans of the movie or of Clint Mansell's previous work, you will not be disappointed by this purchase. ”
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
84 of 90 people found the following review helpful
By Jon Broxton
Format:Audio CD
An intense psycho-sexual drama which touches on a number of themes ranging from parental oppression and body dysmorphic disorder to sexual repression and the search for perfection, Black Swan is the latest film from the challenging director Darren Aronofsky, the man behind films such as Requiem For a Dream, The Fountain and The Wrestler. Natalie Portman stars in a tour-de-force performance as Nina, a young and talented ballerina in the New York City ballet, whose personal life is dominated entirely by her overbearing mother Erica (Barbara Hershey), herself a former dancer. Artistic director Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel) decides to promote Nina to the leading role in their new production of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, as the expense of prima ballerina Beth (Winona Ryder), but Thomas is concerned as to whether the naďve and virginal Nina has enough `dark side' to play both the White Swan and the Black Swan on stage. Into this mix comes the free-spirited and sexually adventurous Lily (Mila Kunis), a transfer from the San Francisco ballet; before long, Nina and Lily embark on a dangerous relationship with is part-friendship part-rivalry, which threatens to shatter Nina's already tenuous grasp on her sanity.
In Aronofsky's hands, the world of professional ballet never seemed more brutal. Little girls the world over dream of donning a tutu and becoming a ballerina princess, but the reality is much more demanding: backbiting understudies who would see you broken to get your part, endless hours of grueling routines, and feet which bleed from being en pointe for hours on end are par for the course for these perfectionists, so it's no wonder they start to go a little crazy. Not content with presenting unfiltered scenes of psychotic breakdowns, self-mutilation and lesbian sex, Aronofsky also dares to mess with a classic: in this case Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's classic 1876 ballet score Swan Lake, via his composer Clint Mansell and conductor/orchestrator Matt Dunkley.
As one would expect, quite a lot of the music in the film is either an homage to, an adaptation of, or a straight performance of Tchaikovsky's famous score. The legendary Swan Theme and the playful Danse des Petits Cygnes both feature prominently in the film and on the soundtrack CD, but in several key scenes Mansell plays with the music, twisting and manipulating the familiar strains of Tchaikovsky's strings with electronic groans and pulses that illustrate Nina's tortured psyche. The Swan Theme is actually the very first thing you hear, in "Nina's Dream", before the intrusive effects begin to worm their way to the forefront of the mix, intentionally obscuring Tchaikovsky's beauty. Later, the Danse des Petits Cygnes (Dance of the Little Swans) features in "Stumbled Beginnings...", again accompanied by Mansell's lurid electronic textures.
Cues such as "Mother Me", "A Room of Her Own" and "Cruel Mistress" invoke the clear stylistics of Tchaikovsky's writing, especially in the woodwinds and pianos, without making many direct references to the great Russian's melodies. One of the most impressive things about Mansell's work in cues such as these is the way he implies the `ghost of Tchaikovsky' everywhere in the score, almost making it follow Nina around, haunting her, messing with her head, throughout the course of the film. She can't escape from the pressure of the performance, of the music, of her mother's vicariousness. It never leaves her alone.
Mansell's major original cues include "Lose Yourself" and "Opposites Attract", a pair of haunting and hallucinatory electronic tracks that continue to illustrate Nina's continually diminishing grasp on reality. The latter of these two gradually takes on an insistent, seductive tone to accompany the now-notorious [...] scene between Portman and Kunis, becoming almost euphoric towards its conclusion. Similarly, "Power, Seduction, Cries" is a strident and insistent string piece which grows more urgent as it progresses, while "The Double" features a dark and brooding motif for piano and percussion which has vaguely Arabic overtones and accompanies the most devastating scenes of Nina's descent into madness.
Other cues which have an equally disturbing effect include "The New Season", "Night of Terror" and "It's My Time", which are more stark and dissonant, with impressionistic string wails, rumbling pianos, and trancelike electronic effects which buzz backwards and forwards through the speakers in a dizzying manner. During the moments when Tchaikovsky's music bursts forth in "Night of Terror", offset by Mansell's nightmarish contemporary accents (which include what sound like gruff shouts accompanied by metallic scrapes very low down in the sound mix), the effect is quite shocking, but incredibly successful.
The cues which make up the film's grand finale - "A Swan Is Born" and "Perfection" - contain the longest stretches of pure Tchaikovsky performance, and they are quite glorious. The powerful performance of the ravishing Danse Hongrois (Hungarian Dance) in "A Swan Is Born" is breathtaking, while the extended statement of the magnificent Swan Theme in "Perfection", with its sweeping refrain and soaring melodramatic string writing, is simply wonderful.
The discordant final piece, "A Swan Song (For Nina)", again invokes the melodic stylistics of Tchaikovsky through its solo piano writing, but gradually adds layer upon dissonant ambience: subliminal heartbeats that sound like blood rushing through your ears, sounds of breaking glass, tortured-sounding cello chords, and a distressed, distorted electronic version of the Swan Theme, which eventually brings the album to a morbid close. This music, much like the film itself, seems designed to keep the audience on edge.
There is an AMPAS rule which states that "scores diluted by the use of tracked themes or other preexisting music, diminished in impact by the predominant use of songs, or assembled from the music of more than one composer shall not be eligible" for the Oscars, which could very well mean that Mansell's score suffers the same fate as others of its type, and will not be considered for Academy Award nomination. This would be great shame because the use of music to evoke powerful emotions from the audience in this film is quite masterful. The music is front-and-center for a great deal of the running time, highlighting perfectly the way in which music and auditory design can be a powerful tool in the filmmaker's arsenal.
Black Swan is a tremendously rewarding experience, and is probably my favorite Mansell album since Sahara back in 2005. If nothing else, it provides an excellent reminder of Tchaikovsky's genius as a composer, especially for a younger generation who might be unfamiliar with his work, while simultaneously reminding us why Clint Mansell is so popular with the kids. Classical purists will absolutely detest what Mansell has done to one of the greatest pieces in musical history, but I applaud his audacity.
In Aronofsky's hands, the world of professional ballet never seemed more brutal. Little girls the world over dream of donning a tutu and becoming a ballerina princess, but the reality is much more demanding: backbiting understudies who would see you broken to get your part, endless hours of grueling routines, and feet which bleed from being en pointe for hours on end are par for the course for these perfectionists, so it's no wonder they start to go a little crazy. Not content with presenting unfiltered scenes of psychotic breakdowns, self-mutilation and lesbian sex, Aronofsky also dares to mess with a classic: in this case Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's classic 1876 ballet score Swan Lake, via his composer Clint Mansell and conductor/orchestrator Matt Dunkley.
As one would expect, quite a lot of the music in the film is either an homage to, an adaptation of, or a straight performance of Tchaikovsky's famous score. The legendary Swan Theme and the playful Danse des Petits Cygnes both feature prominently in the film and on the soundtrack CD, but in several key scenes Mansell plays with the music, twisting and manipulating the familiar strains of Tchaikovsky's strings with electronic groans and pulses that illustrate Nina's tortured psyche. The Swan Theme is actually the very first thing you hear, in "Nina's Dream", before the intrusive effects begin to worm their way to the forefront of the mix, intentionally obscuring Tchaikovsky's beauty. Later, the Danse des Petits Cygnes (Dance of the Little Swans) features in "Stumbled Beginnings...", again accompanied by Mansell's lurid electronic textures.
Cues such as "Mother Me", "A Room of Her Own" and "Cruel Mistress" invoke the clear stylistics of Tchaikovsky's writing, especially in the woodwinds and pianos, without making many direct references to the great Russian's melodies. One of the most impressive things about Mansell's work in cues such as these is the way he implies the `ghost of Tchaikovsky' everywhere in the score, almost making it follow Nina around, haunting her, messing with her head, throughout the course of the film. She can't escape from the pressure of the performance, of the music, of her mother's vicariousness. It never leaves her alone.
Mansell's major original cues include "Lose Yourself" and "Opposites Attract", a pair of haunting and hallucinatory electronic tracks that continue to illustrate Nina's continually diminishing grasp on reality. The latter of these two gradually takes on an insistent, seductive tone to accompany the now-notorious [...] scene between Portman and Kunis, becoming almost euphoric towards its conclusion. Similarly, "Power, Seduction, Cries" is a strident and insistent string piece which grows more urgent as it progresses, while "The Double" features a dark and brooding motif for piano and percussion which has vaguely Arabic overtones and accompanies the most devastating scenes of Nina's descent into madness.
Other cues which have an equally disturbing effect include "The New Season", "Night of Terror" and "It's My Time", which are more stark and dissonant, with impressionistic string wails, rumbling pianos, and trancelike electronic effects which buzz backwards and forwards through the speakers in a dizzying manner. During the moments when Tchaikovsky's music bursts forth in "Night of Terror", offset by Mansell's nightmarish contemporary accents (which include what sound like gruff shouts accompanied by metallic scrapes very low down in the sound mix), the effect is quite shocking, but incredibly successful.
The cues which make up the film's grand finale - "A Swan Is Born" and "Perfection" - contain the longest stretches of pure Tchaikovsky performance, and they are quite glorious. The powerful performance of the ravishing Danse Hongrois (Hungarian Dance) in "A Swan Is Born" is breathtaking, while the extended statement of the magnificent Swan Theme in "Perfection", with its sweeping refrain and soaring melodramatic string writing, is simply wonderful.
The discordant final piece, "A Swan Song (For Nina)", again invokes the melodic stylistics of Tchaikovsky through its solo piano writing, but gradually adds layer upon dissonant ambience: subliminal heartbeats that sound like blood rushing through your ears, sounds of breaking glass, tortured-sounding cello chords, and a distressed, distorted electronic version of the Swan Theme, which eventually brings the album to a morbid close. This music, much like the film itself, seems designed to keep the audience on edge.
There is an AMPAS rule which states that "scores diluted by the use of tracked themes or other preexisting music, diminished in impact by the predominant use of songs, or assembled from the music of more than one composer shall not be eligible" for the Oscars, which could very well mean that Mansell's score suffers the same fate as others of its type, and will not be considered for Academy Award nomination. This would be great shame because the use of music to evoke powerful emotions from the audience in this film is quite masterful. The music is front-and-center for a great deal of the running time, highlighting perfectly the way in which music and auditory design can be a powerful tool in the filmmaker's arsenal.
Black Swan is a tremendously rewarding experience, and is probably my favorite Mansell album since Sahara back in 2005. If nothing else, it provides an excellent reminder of Tchaikovsky's genius as a composer, especially for a younger generation who might be unfamiliar with his work, while simultaneously reminding us why Clint Mansell is so popular with the kids. Classical purists will absolutely detest what Mansell has done to one of the greatest pieces in musical history, but I applaud his audacity.
33 of 34 people found the following review helpful
By T
Format:Audio CD
While Clint Mansell's soundtrack for Black Swan is haunting, beautiful and just what we would expect from him (in a good way)--the "soundtrack" as this is being marketed. It is missing eight fantastic songs which I hope get released on a separate album or deluxe edition as they cannot be found anywhere else. The songs are:
Danka Jane - The Chemical Brothers
Outside the Lines - Sepalcure
The White Easton - Al Tourettes
Illicit Dreaming - Kavsrave
Electric Hands - The Chemical Brothers
The Nina Frequency - The Chemical Brothers
Dark Sygnet - Jakes
Danka Jane - The Chemical Brothers
Outside the Lines - Sepalcure
The White Easton - Al Tourettes
Illicit Dreaming - Kavsrave
Electric Hands - The Chemical Brothers
The Nina Frequency - The Chemical Brothers
Dark Sygnet - Jakes
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful
By emilia
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I am very happy to have purchased this soundtrack. The music is really beautiful, dark and haunting. I absolutely loved the movie as well; so for any fans of the movie or of Clint Mansell's previous work, you will not be disappointed by this purchase. Track 6 and Track 10 are especially my favorites. The original Swan Lake music is still very much present but it has a modern feel - Again, I am very satisfied with this purchase!
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Soundtrack
The album is beautifully written, some of the great pieces from the movie are in it and they sound amazing, sound quality is also superb.
Published 12 months ago by WW9035
4.0 out of 5 stars
Black Swan Soundtrack
The music is of course what you heard in the movie of - but my recollection was a lot more 'original' Swan Lake and not as many original compositions. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Jacqueline M. Paytas
5.0 out of 5 stars
Black Swan CD Review
I received the CD in good shape in a very timely manner. There is some skipping on Track 4, but I can deal with that. The soundtrack is truly amazing.
Published 17 months ago by J. Johnson
5.0 out of 5 stars
AWESOME
Just love the movie rented first then i wanted to buy it and was very very please with my order thank you amazon
Published 21 months ago by Mary J. Priore
5.0 out of 5 stars
Clint Mansell and Darren Aronofsky...
Darren has continued to impress me like know other, and his consistent hiring of the masterful Mr. Clint Mansell to compose the film's score. Read more
Published 23 months ago by J. Powers
4.0 out of 5 stars
it's ok
this is the music that accompanies the film. i am a rabid fan of this film and playing the soundtrack at home was a good alternative to me to actually going and forking out more... Read more
Published on March 7, 2011 by marcsamuelsmith
5.0 out of 5 stars
Nina is a white swan, but she also needs to be the black swan! This is...
This is a collection of beautiful songs based on Tchaikovsky. It reflects the tension behind the main theme of the movie where a white swan needs to be the black swan.
Published on February 21, 2011 by Daniel O. Cajueiro
5.0 out of 5 stars
Masterpiece of a Soundtrack
When I saw this movie, I walked out of the theatre knowing only two things - Natalie Portman turned in an astounding performance and I had to have the soundtrack. Read more
Published on February 19, 2011 by L. hogue Maurice
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not Mansell's Best With Aronofsky But Still Great
When Clint Mansell scores a Darren Aronofsky film it's usually reason to take notice. Aronofsky and Mansell are one of those director/composer collaborations that shows how... Read more
Published on January 29, 2011 by Kaya Savas
5.0 out of 5 stars
The soundtrack to "Black Swan" is brilliant!
The soundtrack to "Black Swan" is brilliant! This is another excellent score by Clint Mansell for a Darren Aronofsky film that is one of his best movies, if not, his best movie of... Read more
Published on January 8, 2011 by Kris King
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