The Film Music of Leonard Rosenman: East of Eden / Rebel Without A Cause

Leonard Rosenman (Composer), John Adams (Conductor), London Sinfonietta (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: London Sinfonietta
• Conductor: John Adams
• Composer: Leonard Rosenman
• Audio CD (July 29, 1997)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Nonesuch
• ASIN: B000005J43
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #138,727 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A word in Rosenman's defense, November 6, 2002

By 

Peter Hilliard (Roslyn, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Film Music of Leonard Rosenman: East of Eden / Rebel Without A Cause (Audio CD)

Michelle Kwan fans, I understand your need to warn others that this is not the cd you expected. But for those of you who are just interested in intelligent film music, it really doesn't get any better than this. Here's a man who really understands the needs of a film, what film music should do, and what music should do. Anybody interested in well constructed '50s film scores should pick this up immediately.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Entry Disc For Modern Music, May 23, 2004

By 

Jeffrey Lipscomb (Sacramento, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Film Music of Leonard Rosenman: East of Eden / Rebel Without A Cause (Audio CD)

I can't think of a more "user friendly" way for those listeners who find Berg, Schoenberg & Webern somehow "too atonal" or "too intellectually complex" to get more exposed to that musical aesthetic. As just one example: the music Rosenman composed here for the Planetarium sequence in "Rebel Without A Cause," dealing with the creation of the Universe, is music of eloquent chaos - and it's right out of the 2nd movement from Alban Berg's Violin Concerto! Not a literal "lift and use" like film composer James Horner is so frequently guilty of (he used the slow mmvt. of the Shostakovich 5th in both "Patriot Games" and "Clear & Present Danger"), but more of an homage to Berg.

It boggles my mind that in 1955 film audiences in record numbers came to see this film about teenage alienation - and got exposed to the New Vienna School quite by accident! Adams' conducting is gorgeous, and the recorded sound is superb.

Rosenman was a pupil of both Schoenberg and Roger Sessions. I am also rather fond of his score for Ralph Bakshi's animated version of Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings." Rosenman went on to supervise the wonderful classical music selections used in Kubrick's film "Barry Lyndon." Kubrick here - and in "2001" and "The Shining" - probably did more for putting classical music in the mainstream than any other film director.

39 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wrong CD, March 31, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Film Music of Leonard Rosenman: East of Eden / Rebel Without A Cause (Audio CD)

Not really a review. Just a clarification the piece skater Michelle Kwan used was composed by Lee Holdridge.