The Alamo [SOUNDTRACK]

Carter Burwell (Composer)

Product Details

• Composer: Carter Burwell
• Audio CD (April 6, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack
• Label: Hollywood Records
• ASIN: B0001NBN6G
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #40,980 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Carter Burwell cut his film scoring teeth on many a Coen brothers movie, quickly gaining a reputation for a quirky, human-scaled inventiveness that informed everything from jazz and folk to orchestral music and even the well-timed nod to Morricone. That often introspective sensibility is well paired to director John Lee Hancock's revisionist take on the legend of San Antonio's fabled doomed fortress, which focuses more on the conflicted human dimensions of its characters than familiar cardboard, pop culture heroics. Burwell's use of orchestral pomp is deliberate and decidedly restrained; more often the composer leans on spare, evocative passages of simple, though ever-inventive folk-based music (like the elegiac "Quiet Mountain") played by various combinations of guitar, banjo, and violin. Vintage traditional Mexican and American tunes are also given their atmospheric due via Jennifer Hammond's and Craig Eastman's arrangements of "La Zandunga" and "Listen to the Mockingbird Sing," respectively. But its Burwell's own peculiarly modernist instincts that inform both tradition ("Crockett's DeGuello") and his own masterfully understated cues, particularly the bleak, almost gothic emotional landscape of his six-part "Battle of the Alamo Suite" and its bittersweet coda, "Blood or Texas." --Jerry McCulley

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "FOR TODAY, REMEMBER THE ALAMO!", November 14, 2004

By	Steven Hancock (Winston Salem, NC United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Carter Burwell's score for the epic Disney film "The Alamo" is a true example of great film music. It features a very interesting Mexican-Celtic blend of music, encompassing all the characters in the film (From the Mexican soldados to the Celtic-descendant Texans). Never is this mix more evident than in the track "Deguello de Crockett," where the Mexican brass music and David Crockett's soulful fiddle playing blend to make what can only be described as a "Mexican lamentation" that is part of what truly is the best scene in the movie. The rest of the score is solid, and belongs in the soundtrack collections of history and film buffs alike, and is the perfect background music to a superb historical epic! Grade: A

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Remember the Alamo, May 5, 2004

By	Leo P. LeBlanc Jr. (Slidell) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

An excellent and fitting soundtrack for a superior movie. All selections captured the mood and setting of this outstanding film. However, the masterpiece on this soundtrack is the "Deguello de Crockett." This was a brilliant idea by John Lee Hancock for this particular part of the movie, surpassed only by the brilliance of the accompanying fiddle harmony created by Carter Burwell. This is one of those very rare moments in movies which is made unforgettable by the musical score. My only regret is that an unedited version of the "Deguello" was not on the CD.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars song title help for April 15 Collinsville, IL & review, May 1, 2004

By	David W. Flack (San Antonio, TX USA) - See all my reviews

"Deguello," which loosely translated means "slit throat," was what Santa Anna's band played nightly, followed by a cannon barrage. Essentially the message was no quarter would be taken, and all would die. David Crockett accompanies it one night - hence the name "Deguello de Crockett" - for 60 seconds of battle-stopping music. My other favorite cut is The Visitation of Saint Ursula.

Really disagree with the negative reviews online - a wonderful addition of beautiful melodies and diverse music styles. The Celtic feel of lamentation in the movie captured my attention as an intelligent choice, and while in the theatre, decided to buy the soundtrack. Delighted to find "Listen To The Mockingbird Sing" and "La Zandunga" - now THAT is diversity. Carter Burwell was new to me as a composer.
Of course, as a native San Antonian, I'm pretty attached to The Alamo. Billy Bob Thornton was awesome as David Crockett, and quite different from the John Wayne portrayal 45 years ago.

If you're looking for just fiddle music, check out Dean Shostak on "Davy Crockett's Fiddle" at www.coastlinemusic.com (Williamsburg, VA) featuring the actual fiddle Davy Crockett played during his lifetime.