Mists of Avalon : Original Television Soundtrack [SOUNDTRACK]

Lee Holdridge (Composer)

Product Details

• Composer: Lee Holdridge
• Audio CD (June 26, 2001)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack
• Label: Varese Sarabande
• ASIN: B00005LNGY
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #87,139 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

1. The Mystic's Dream - Loreena McKennitt

2. Morgaine's Journey

3. Igraine Meets Uther/Arthur Is Born

4. The Children Leave/Vivienne's World

5. Morgaine Grows Up

6. Running Up The Hill/Guinevere

7. The Cave Ceremony

8. Finding Excalibur

9. Night Courtyard

10. A Night Of Love

11. No Baby/Castle Dance

12. Merlin's Wisdom/Merlin's Death

13. Morgaie's Despair

14. Vivienne's Death

15. Lancelot And Guinevere Say Farewell

16. Mordred Confronts Arthur/The Battle Ends

17. Finale

18. I Will Remember You Still - Aeone

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Director Ulrich Edel's miniseries adaptation of Marion Zimmer Bradley's bestseller turns the Camelot fable inside out, examining the drama and moral lessons from the perspective of its female characters. Composer Lee Holdridge was thus presented with the challenge of not only reinventing the genre's hoary clichés yet again, but imbuing them with the perspective of the powerful women behind the throne as well. By turns airy and ominous, Loreena McKennitt's ambitiously pagan mini-epic "The Mystic's Dream" essentially shows the way, neatly segueing into Holdridge's initially quiet strains in a way that's increasingly rare among such hybrid efforts. The veteran composer takes that magical introduction and deftly gives it flesh and blood, the bucolic harps, strings, and woodwinds punctuated by brass, percussion, and foreboding choral flourishes. It's a score of impressive range and mature character, from the largely pastoral "Morgaine's Journey" through passages of mystery and medieval folk tonalities to the thundering percussive passages of "The Cave Ceremony" and the inherent drama of "Mordred Confronts Arthur/The Battle Ends." "I Will Remember You Still," Holdridge's ethereal collaboration with Aeone, brings the album full circle and serves as a worthy bookend to McKennitt's memorable prelude. --Jerry McCulley

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sheer Enchantment, August 10, 2001

By	Emily Todd (USA) - See all my reviews

This is a beautiful soundtrack with a great variety of music with a celtic flavor. The songs are are all very emotionally moving and quite mysterious, like the movie. This music has the power to take you back to the Arthurian time and relive the experience.

'The Mystic's Dream' by Loreena McKennitt was a great addition to this soundtrack. She has such a lovely voice! 'I Will Remember You Still' by Aeone was also quite nice. Overall, this soundtrack was a magical experience for me and will be for you too.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Music For The Heart And Soul, June 8, 2003

By	The No Evil Killer "Know No Evil" (Everywhere, Anywhere, Nowhere) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Much like Trevor Jones' score to 'Merlin', Lee Holdridge has created a wonderful and magical experience that doubles as a score to the movie 'Mists of Avalon'.

Every single track evokes love, magic, sorrow and happiness in powerful uplifting cues and cues so wistful that they'll bring you close to tears. The art of the film score is mostly lost in this day and age with most Hollywood trash being scored by trash-metal guitars and blaring sound effects. Amid this cluster of cheese 'Mists of Avalon' is a Godsend and a saviour of hope.

If you like full orchestral scoring with passion and talent then there is no better recent example than this CD. You must buy. It's not an acquired taste to appreciate music of this calibre. After all, this is why God invented music. Yes, it is that good!

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Soundtrack for an Amazing Book/Movie, November 24, 2003

By	jb3579 - See all my reviews

I saw the movie first before reading the book. I know, how horrible! But I really enjoyed the book. It is one my all-time favorites. Anyway, the soundtrack is great. I'm a huge fan of instrumentals, so I'm probably a bit biased, but it sounds amazing. There's Celtic hints obviously because the movie and book take from that time, but it also is just a nice instrumental soundtrack. I hadn't heard of the composer before, but I will definitely look for him in the future because I love this cd. I definitely recommend this to anyone who loves instrumentals, soundtracks, or orchestras.