The Omen: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack [SOUNDTRACK]

Lionel Newman, Jerry Goldsmith

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 1, 1990)
• Original Release Date: June 25, 1976
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack
• Label: Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation
• ASIN: B0000014RT
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #123,713 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording
How to scare the bejesus out of yourself: spend an evening alone, lock the doors, turn off the lights, and play this CD. At the very least, the sudden twists and turns of dynamics and mood will cause some startled jumps, but there's more to Jerry Goldsmith's score than chilling effects. With help from orchestrator Arthur Morton, Goldsmith uses splashes of sound to great effect, bending pitches and inserting bursts of atonality until even the cheerful sections (very few) sound spooky. This soundtrack, which won Goldsmith an Oscar for Best Original Score in 1976, plays an enormous role in setting the tone for the classic horror film about an ordinary couple who unwittingly adopt the Antichrist. --Genevieve Williams

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Soundtrack of Nightmares, September 30, 2001

By	"jimben2000" (Phoenix, Arizona) - See all my reviews

This CD should come with a DISCLAIMER!

Without exception, this is the most chilling, soul shattering truly, deeply disturbing musical composition ever committed to record! What an ordeal to subject one's nerves to!

I've read the reviews listed hear and with then went out and listened to the pertinant sections everyone mentioned. "Ave Satani" must have shocked the hell out of the audience when they performed it at the Academy Awards!

And for the benefit of those of you unfamiliar with Latin:

Sanquis bibimus, Corpus edimus
Prode corpus Satani
Ave, Ave Versus Christus
Ave, Ave Satanti

We drink blood, We eat flesh
Bring forth the body of Satan
Hail Antichrist
Hail Satan

The other version runs:

Sanquis Vivimus, Corpus venimus
Prode Cantus Satani

Blood, we are alive, Body we are coming
Sing forth the incantation of Satan

Musically powerful and very effective, the score is one of the most original and polished ever written for a film -or the concert hall. It's essentially a chamber piece for small orchestra and mixed chorus, though recent recordings have used larger orchestras and even more varied vocal arrangements.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is definitely one of Goldsmiths best works., August 11, 1999

By A Customer

If your looking for music that chills you to the bone then you have to get this CD. This music is superb and if I had to pick one CD that brought out the best in Goldsmith this soundtrack would definitely be the one. Not only did the music make the movie ten times better but all by itself this score is something for Goldsmith to brag about. This CD is a must for collectors of Gldsmith and for those who love scary,terrifying music.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A masterwork of horror and beauty, November 10, 2000

By	Michael J. Mazza (Pittsburgh, PA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

One of the greatest horror films ever made, "The Omen" elevates the genre with the intelligence of its script and with the emotional depth of the actors' performances. But the element that both holds the film together and truly raises it to classic status is the amazing soundtrack. Brilliantly composed by Jerry Goldsmith, conducted with skill and insight by Lionel Newman, and performed as if their lives depended on it by the Natonal Philharmonic Orchestra, this is one of the unforgettable landmarks of film music. And the CD of the score stands on its own, apart from the film, as a superb work of art.

The film tells the story of a United States diplomat (performed with passion and integrity by Gregory Peck) who comes to suspect that his angelic-looking adopted son is non other than the Antichrist: the son of Satan manifested on earth in human form. This is truly horror on an epic scale, and composer Goldsmith meets this daunting challenge with the confidence of a master craftsman.

For all its power and terror, the score of "The Omen" also contains passages of melodic gentleness as the music captures the joy of the ambassador's family life before the demonic omens begin to appear. These heartbreakingly lovely selections perfectly complement the tracks in which the full power of evil is musically depicted.

And those tracks will make your hair stand on end. Beginning with the opening track, "Ave Satani," these tracks alternatingly pulsate with ominous foreboding and crackle with lacerating energy. Male and female choruses seamlessly merge with the orchestra to create an absolutely chilling effect; never before have human voices sounded so demonic. Brilliant percussive effects further add to the supernatural flavor of the score.

Goldsmith won a well-deserved Academy Award for this score. He had already been well established as one of the modern masters of film scoring, and since "The Omen" has gone on to compose numerous other classic scores (in addition to collecting more Oscar nominations). I won't mention his many other great compositions--a full list would go on and on--but I consider "The Omen" to be an indispensable part of the Goldsmith canon, as well as an essential score in the great canon of horror film music.

So whether you're an occultist looking for great music with which to accompany a dark ritual, a thrill-seeker looking to scare yourself to death, a fan of Jerry Goldsmith's other classic compositions, a scholar of 20th century film scoring, or merely a lover of great orchestral music, buy this CD. Just don't be surprised if its unearthly melodies summon up the minions of the Dark Lord himself. . . .