Gorky Park: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack [Soundtrack]

James Horner (Composer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Composer: James Horner
• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack
• Label: Varese Sarabande
• ASIN: B00000153Z
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #318,738 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Main Title - James Horner

2. Following Kirwill

3. Irina's Theme

4. Following KGB

5. Chase Through the Park

6. Arkady and Irina

7. Faceless Bodies

8. Irina's Chase

9. Sable Shed

10. Airport Farewell

11. Releasing the Sables/End Titles

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars one of horner's better earlier scores, January 12, 2000

By 

[e-mail] (Oxford, England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gorky Park: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Audio CD)

Gorky Park is one of Horner's better fusions of jazz/ rock and full orchestra. In the early 80's Horner employed pounding rhythms in his scores to 48 hours, Commando and Gorky Park. While the Russian influence is represented by uses of Tchaikovsky's 1812 overture, Horner again makes room for one of his sweeping love themes, as well as some deep brooding passages hinting at the corruption implicit in the film. The standout tracks, though, are the rock influenced action sequences which although reminiscent of the above mentioned scores (down to inheriting a ten note leitmotif played on steel drums, almost note for note), there's no denying that it represents Horners best synthesis of Orchestra and percussion. No matter how derivative the casual listener may deem these pieces to be, to the Horner afficionado, there's no denying their ability to get the heart pounding. Horner has since abandoned this genre in favour of the more romantic, sweeping epic (eg Legends of the Fall, Rocketeer and the ubiquitous Titanic). Grab this as an illustration of the best of a young, experimental James Horner in his prime.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Russian police & faceless corpse...James Horner's score", May 29, 2001

By 

J. Lovins "Mr. Jim" (Missouri-USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gorky Park: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Audio CD)

This is a wonderful adaption from the bestselling author Martin Cruz Smith and his number one book, from director Michael Apted and a very talented cast ~ William Hurt, Lee Marvin, Brian Dennehy (under-rated actor, now coming into his own) and Joanna Pacula...our story deals with three faceless corpse found in Moscow's Gorky Park, excellent behind the scenes of police work, no clues to be found. But to keep the adrenaline high and on course, we have our favorite composer James Horner, doing what he does best...painting the story on a musical canvas.

Let's look at some of the stand outs ~ "IRINA'S THEME", beautiful with a gentle sweetness of a harp intro, dreamlike waves hovering an electronic keyboard theme ~ "IRINA'S CHASE", percussion abounds blending with tubular bells, cascading into counterpoints of strings as brass undertones perfection is the key ~ "THE SABLE SHED", counter-balanced percussion, the tempo increases into string measures lifting a mask of cymbals creating a backdrop of intrigue ~ "RELEASING THE SABLES/END TITLES", only a film score fan would appreciate what Horner does with this closing cue...wraps it all up into one neat bundle, and "film-score-buffs"...this is a winner!

Total Time: 36:02 on 11 Tracks ~ Varese Sarabande VCD-47260 ~ (1983)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential early Horner, August 14, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Gorky Park: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Audio CD)

Gorky Park wasn't a very popular film at its release, and perhaps its box office got in the way of the recognition of the film's score, but Gorky Park, with its screenplay by Dennis Potter and direction by Michael Apted, is one of the most literate detective/spy films of the past several decades - and Horner's score is a neat fit to Potter's screenplay and Apted's direction. The score has a sense of mystery and intrigue, and acknowledges the great spy films of the past.