Customer Reviews

Sleepy Hollow: Music from the Motion Picture

5 star:		(44)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

In what may have been one of the greatest marketing blunders in film history, director Tim Burton's "Sleepy Hallow" (1999) was released just before Thanksgiving! The film has already been called the perfect Halloween movie, and that it well may be. It certainly has one of the greatest Halloween scores ever written. Danny Elfman produced what may become a seasonal, musical classic. His driving and melodic music is as important to the film as its outstanding cinematography. Elfman uses a variety of themes here, but his main theme, a pounding and relentless theme for the horseman, and a haunting children's chorus for young Ichabod are at the center of the enitre score. Fans of Elfman may note that this score seems to be a dark reflection of his outstanding, earlier work for "Black Beauty" (1994). The Introduction, Main Titles, and the suite for the End Credits are particularly good. The score works perfectly for the film, and is fascinating listening in this soundtrack recording. Wait for a stormy night, turn off the lights, light a candle or two and enjoy!

My oH-my! This is the best Elfman's score since Nightmare before Christmas. This score works. It's so dark and powerful. Danny Elfman have took a lot of Maturity to compose this Grandiose score and he have a great talent to capture the atmosphere of the film and translate his personnality by the music. Another excellent Burton-Elfman collaboration. ''Introduction'' and ''Main titles'' are Subtile. Elfman has found his Nostalgic OLD STYLE that we (the Fans) really loved before. Sleepy Hollow is now one of his best score since Batman, Edward Scissorhands, Sommersby and Nightmare before Christmas. Enjoyable Score for me, and YOU the FANS of Elfman. THIS SCORE IS FOR YOU !

When it comes to a Tim Burton atmosphere, there is only one composer who fits the profile: Danny Elfman. The music score to Sleepy Hollow reflects this throughout the entire 67 minutes. During this time, Elfman invites you into the creepy woods surrounding the town of Sleepy Hollow and uses his adept musical talents to make you wonder what that really was that you heard in the closet.

Beginning this score with a killer introduction that blends a low-toned harp with quietly escalating strings that shiver with fright all the while a ghastly choir moans with a deathly melody, was a superb way to seize the audience and ensure their attention. Elfman's ability to bring out the choir to the near-perfect degree was incredible - and it lasted throughout the entire score. A great deal of the melody came from the choir, which at times seemed to be speaking in its own language of ooohs and aaahs. I got an uncanny feeling that the choir was actually the ghosts of those who had died, recounting their tales and tragedies.

Many of the tracks awarded the careful listener with a special story. Each one gave a glimpse at something that even the movie couldn't fully portray...something unearthly and vague - in particular, "The Gift" with its sweet mystery, "Into the Woods" with its spectral beauty, and the "End Credits" with its ingenious ensemble of string melodies, choir, and dreamlike percussion.

There were, however, moments when Elfman tended to become a little outrageous with his score, making some parts hard to listen to. Though they fit nicely in the film, these parts can irritate you a little with their loud and abrasive clamor. It's hard to even hear a melody with some of these such parts, simply because you want to skip ahead to the next track instead. Nonetheless, Elfman's score for Sleepy Hollow is sure to set a frightful mood in any darkly lit room.

I loved the movie Sleepy Hollow as I did to the timeless classic by Washington Irving. But the music is what really brings out the terror in this wonderful soundtrack. I loved every minute of the music because it is spooky and all Elfman. Few people realize what elfman is capable of making.

The movie was fantastic, but what made the movie great was the spine-tingling score by Danny Elfman. This edge-of-your-seat music will take you beyong the movie but into Sleepy Hollow itself. This soundtrack is a big time winner!

Danny Elfman does it again. Once again, master film-maker, Tim Burton, and masterer composer, Danny Elfman, blend their trademark styles together seamlessly. Danny's haunting music combines perfectly with the gothic feel of the movie. Some of the best tracks are ones that have the ghostly boys oratory singing. The track, "Into the Woods" is a beautiful and mysterious song, combining sweeping violin themes and a haunting voice of a female singer. Perfect for Halloween listening, highly recomended for Elfman fans, like me!

Danny Elfman returns with a dark and symphonic score to Sleepy Hollow, another Tim Burton collaboration project. Here, Elfman mixes a very large symphony orchestra with a choir and a boy soprano soloist. The main theme is a 5 note brass motif for the headless horseman, which is heard repeatedly throughout the score, especially in "Introduction" and "Main Titles". Beautiful, romantic music that you don't hear much from Elfman is present in "The Gift", "Love Lost", and "Tender Moment". The boy soprano soloist makes his mark in "Young Ichabod", "Sweet Dreams", and "More Dreams". The action music in the score is superb, with top notch brass fanfares, moving string passages, and driving percussion, along with the awesome touch of the Metro Voices in "The Story", "Masbath's Terrible Death", "The Church Battle", "The Windmill", "The Chase", and "The Final Confrontation". If you are a fan of tons and tons of brass (like myself), you will really enjoy the action music, as Elfman uses lots and lots of low brass sounds to represent the headless horseman. An overall satisfaction and a job well done by Danny Elfman and the orchestra.

If you have seen 'Sleepy Hollow' and have even half considered buying the score, do so and you will not be sorry. I was not a big fan of either Burton or Elfman until this film came along and now I am so glad that I not only saw and enjoyed the film, but bought this CD. I listen to this score every day and find that I am more and more pleased with it within each listening. It has the perfect blend: near completion, Danny Elfman's haunting action and just plain haunting, and a great movie to match up with. The only thing that I do not like about it is that the CD leaves out small little cues of music here and there, especially in #10 which takes place during the fight with the horseman on the bridge in the film - that entire 10 minute song is missing 10 seconds, why not put it in there? Anyways, this is a great catch and I'm looking foward to buying more and more Elfman CDs as the year progresses.

Tim Burton's "Sleepy Hollow" is a splendiferous tribute to the early Hammer horror films---over-the-top bleakness, menacing fog, drab, colourless sets, plenty of oozing blood and gratutitous decapitations (18 during the film). Although the plot of the film is fairly predictable, Danny Elfman's brilliant score ties the package together with a macabre noose.

Much of the score is pulsing, string-driven, ominous tension, but moments of tenderness shine through on tracks such as "A New Day," "Love Lost" and "Sweet Dreams.' Elfman uses children soloists and a full choir whose sound is haunting and occasionally frightening, church bells, crashing percussion, and a good deal of strings. A masterpiece of foreboding atmosphere...this music is perfect for reading scary stories to...it gives me the chills on dark, misty nights. A masterpiece of the macabre.

Sleepy Hollow, Danny Elfman's new turn on film music, left me without words. The music truely is horrorfying, including INTO THE WOODS/THE WITCH, which begins with slow strings, then builds to an orchestral explosion that rips into a creepy violin solo. I usually dismiss fight/battle pieces played in action movies, because they hold no theme. But the action tracks in SLEEPY HOLLOW are masterpieces in themselves. Elfman uses crashes of gongs and symbals at key moments of tension. The children's chorus, used in the tender moments, brings a creepy texture over the atmosphere of the disk. Track 4, THE STORY...., is one of my favorites. I can't help but smile as the tension builds to an explosion of roaring horns as the Hession loses his head. Another highlight is the final track, where soft piano and child chorale give way to synthesized beatings and violent drums, then back to strings, continuing in a mechanical pattern until chase music takes over completely, giving way to the full chorus. The children sing "AAWW"s for a few moments. Listen closely to hear synthesized wind in the background. The finishing touch, a purpose flaw, is the last note of the disk, which begs for a closing note, but instead leaves the listener hanging. A great buy, for all listeners.