Stanley Kubrick's Clockwork Orange (1971 Film) [Soundtrack]

Various Artists (Performer), Ludwig van Beethoven (Performer), Edward Elgar (Performer), Terry Tucker (Performer), Erika Eigen (Performer), Nacio Herb Brown (Performer), Gene Kelly (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Various Artists, Ludwig van Beethoven, Edward Elgar, Terry Tucker, Erika Eigen, et al.
• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• SPARS Code: AAD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack
• Label: Warner Bros.
• ASIN: B000002KDU
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #20,941 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #68 in Music > Miscellaneous > Marches

Track Listings

1. Title Music From A Clockwork Orange - Walter Carlos - Walter Carlos

2. The Thieving Magpie (Abridged) - A Clockwork Orange ST - A Clockwork Orange ST

3. Theme from A Clockwork Orange (Beethoviana) - Walter Carlos - Walter Carlos

4. Ninth Symphony, Second Movement (Abridged) - A Clockwork Orange ST D - A Clockwork Orange ST D

5. March From A Clockwork Orange (Ninth Symphony, Fourth Movement, Abridged) - Walter Carlos - Walter Carlos

6. William Tell Overture (Abridged) - Walter Carlos - Walter Carlos

7. Pomp and Circumstance March No.1 - Stanley Kubrick - Stanley Kubrick

8. Pomp And Circumstance March No.4 (Abridged) - Stanley Kubrick - Stanley Kubrick

9. Timesteps (Excerpt) - Walter Carlos Listen Listen - Walter Carlos

10. Overture To The Sun - Terry Tucker

11. I Want To Marry A Lighthouse Keeper - Ericka Eigen - Ericka Eigen

12. William Tell Overture (Abridged) - A Clockwork Orange ST - A Clockwork Orange ST

13. Suicide Scherzo (Ninth Symphony, Second Movement, Abridged) - Walter Carlos - Walter Carlos

14. Ninth Symphony, Fourth Movement (Abridged) - A Clockwork Orange ST - A Clockwork Orange ST

15. Singin' in the Rain - Gene Kelly - Gene Kelly

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Stanley Kubrick's demanding perfectionism in all aspects of the filmmaking process has led to some of the most memorable soundtracks of the modern era. Kubrick's taste for the classics led to his scrapping Alex North's original score for 2001: A Space Odyssey in lieu of the "temporary" tracks he had used for editing, turning Richard Strauss' Also Sprach Zarathustra into an unlikely 20th-century pop icon. For his 1971 adaptation of Anthony Burgess's cautionary future-shocker, Kubrick once again turned to the classics. Malcolm McDowell's protagonist Droog Alex's taste for Beethoven is given a nice tweaking by Moog pioneer Walter (now Wendy) Carlos's synthesized take on the glorious Ninth Symphony. Some have complained that the now-primitive electronics involved give it a dated feel. Disturbingly--and effectively--other-worldly is more like it. Kubrick also imbues repertory standards by Rossini and Elgar with dark, frequently hilarious irony, and makes Gene Kelly's sunny reading of "Singin' In The Rain" the underscore to an all-too-accurate prediction of societal nightmares to come. --Jerry McCulley

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Veddy horrorshow soundtrack to my alltime favourite film December 10, 2002

By Daniel J. Hamlow HALL OF FAME

Format:Audio CD

This soundtrack is mostly a collection of experimental instrumentals and familiar classical pieces, and as such, works to enhance the film and also to educate people unfamiliar with synthesizer music or to give a crash course for those who want to hear the highlights of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.

The ominous opening notes of Henry Purcell's Music For The Funeral of Queen Mary-Mary II, that is, sets the tone for the then-ahead of its time synthesizer music of Walter (now Wendy after the sex change operation) Carlos. In fact, most of the music is done by Carlos, and as such, provides a wonderful forum for introducing his [at that time] music. Equally dark is "Timesteps", the music played when Alex is being fitted with the gear that will make him see the horrible films shown by the clinic. The two other Carlos numbers are brief numbers, "Overture To The Sun," played when a "cured" Alex is displayed onstage with floodlights nearly blinding him, and shown on stage, and the "Beethoviana" theme, which is repeatedly played throughout the movie in interlude moments.

The three pieces by Gioacchino Rossini include an excerpt piece from the Thieving Magpie. This alternately idyllic and bombastic piece of music was used twice, once during the fighting scene between Alex's droogs and Billy Boy's gang, and also in the slo-mo footage of Alex and his gang striding along the pier, with Alex attacking Georgie and Dim. The second is a speeded up piece from the William Tell Overture, the famous "Lone Ranger" theme, during the equally speeded up sex scene between Alex and the two girls he picks up at the record shop. And the tragic, weepy excerpt from William Tell is featured once again, in the scene when Alex realizes that Joe, the dominating lodger taken in by his family, doesn't want him back....

The second movement from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony is included twice here, one an excerpt from the symphonic original, played during Alex's violent visions in bed, the other a Carlos-adapted synthesizer version aptly titled the Suicide Scherzo, as that's what is played when the author is trying to induce Alex to kill himself. And the Ninth is visited two more times here. Carlos's innovative seven minute score march, modeled after the famous fourth movement, is included, with synthesized voices to match. The ominous bass sounds that divide the first part of this track from the second betokens greater stuff to come, which it does. This is my favourite track here. A snippet from the end of the choral movement is used to cement the understanding reached by the Minister and Alex.

When I realized that Sir Edward Elgar's "Pomp And Circumstance No. 1" was included in the CD, I thought, "OHO, so THAT's who did this, and that's what this is titled." You know, the famous graduation march that's often played... well, maybe not as much today. There's only an excerpt of his "P&C No. 4" here, as that's how much used in the scene where Alex is being transferred from jail to the clinic.

The weird oddity of this album is Erika Eigen's "I Want To Marry A Lighthouse Keeper" ditty, which is what Alex's family is listening to when he bursts in on them upon his release.

Gene Kelly's "Singin' In The Rain" done in the end credits, finishes the soundtrack, signifying Alex's cure. A veddy horrorshow soundtrack to my favourite film of all time. Read more ›

27 of 32 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as Wendy Carlos' A Clockwork Orange February 10, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Audio CD

The original soundtrack album for A Clockwork Orange truncates too much of the music. If you are interested in this album for the great electronic synthesizer music heard in the film, you should instead buy "Wendy Carlos' A Clockwork Orange" (5 stars) which has the same music, complete and uncut, and has also been recently digitally remastered for great sound.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The best soundtrack of all time December 9, 2001

By "timothy1146"

Format:Audio CD

Every bit of music on the cd is excellent.The only gripe is that "Timesteps" is a 4 minute excerpt of a 13 minute work.At only 46 minutes as is the cd could have easily fit the entire thing. The excerpt of "Timesteps" is the portion played in the movie,and quite an exquisite,melancholy piece it is. The "Theme"is a study in the kool and understated. The gem of the entire soundtrack is the synthesized Funeral music of Baroque composer Henry Purcell.It sets the mood for the movie perfectly.Its overwhelming and desolate sense of sadness makes it one of the most wrenching pieces of music ever written.Its amazing how much dimension the synthesizer brings to the work.This setting of the piece may be Carlos' crowning achievement. As for the synth version of Beethoven's 9th you can only smile at the goofy,quirky and primitive sound of the voices.Therein lies its charm.The iconoclastic maestro himself might have cracked a smile at the audacity of Carlos' reworking of this deservedly hallowed music. The Edward Elgar Pomp and Circumstance marches are a nice bonus to the album as is the "Overture to the Sun" and the nutty and silly "I want to marry a lighthouse keeper"."Singin in the rain",one of little Alex's personal favorites is also included.It is perfect music for stomping an old man,if you are so inclined. This soundtrack should be studied in film schools as a perfect example of matching music to scenery as every piece of music in the film fits precisely the scene it accompanies. Get this disc and Carlos' complete version.They are worth the the money. Of the probable 800-900 albums I've listened to in my lifetime I still come back to this masterpiece again and again.It is truly a magical creation.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars real horrorshow May 6, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Audio CD

Oh my brothers, when you slooshy this horrorshow work of art you will feel all the hairs stand up on your plot like slow malenky lizards, gravity all nonsense now. Lovely Ludwig Van's glorious ninth and Rossini's "Theiving Magpie" will sharpen you up a bit and get you ready for a little twenty to one. So comport yourself publicwise and spend some of that cutter me brothers!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Prisoner 6 double-five 3-2-1 March 16, 2007

By Annie Van Auken TOP 100 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD

The soundtrack album of CLOCKWORK ORANGE, even with its simple (and supposedly) outdated Wendy Carlos recordings, holds up far better than the actual film has over these 38 years. This story takes place in the 1990s, and we all know that today's world is nothing like Anthony Burgess' dismal and nightmarish vision . . . don't we?

Many of this soundtrack's classical selections are by Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic. Their spirited Beethoven and Rossini interpretations remain some of the very best ever recorded.

An excerpt of Wendy's "Timesteps" is the most compelling piece here. In the film, this stark aural collage is background to Alex's behavior modification. In order to shorten his prison sentence, the violent sociopath agrees to a course of reprogramming. He's made chemically ill while forced to view scenes of rapine and bloodshed. The choking sickness can only be arrested by replacing any natural criminal urges with passive thoughts.

It's hard to listen to "Overture To The Sun" without picturing the spotlighted naked girl who tempts an on-display Alex into a state of unwellness that he likens to "wanting to snuff it." His ability to act brutally has been taken from him, ironically through a violently imposed trigger reflex. The subsequent events precipitating Alex's restoration into a fully NON-functional member of society beset him in a fashion eerily similar to the chaos he once left in his violent wake.

The stark images and perversities of "Orange" tend to stay with a person. Perhaps watching Kubrick's A CLOCKWORK ORANGE has in some way "programmed" the viewer too, by desensitizing us to the madness that's all around....

Maybe the film holds up better than I thought. I must have a glass of choko moloko and reconsider. Meanwhile, you may buy this CD with confidence and listen to lovely, lovely Ludwig van . . . Read more ›