Beowulf Soundtrack [SOUNDTRACK]

Alan Silvestri (Composer)

Product Details

• Composer: Alan Silvestri
• Audio CD (November 20, 2007)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack
• Label: Warner Brothers
• ASIN: B000WVUNXG
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #35,130 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
For sheer over-the-topness, this soundtrack takes the cake in 2007: You'd be hard-pressed to find a more bombastic piece of music than "Beowulf Main Title"… until you reach, oh, "What We Need is a Hero," for instance, or "I Did Not Win the Race," or "Beowulf Slays the Beast." Pounding, relentless, swaggering, Alan Silvestri's score explodes out of the speakers, all crashing tympani and supersized choirs. Fittingly for the tale of a battle between a mighty warrior and a rampaging monster, this is movie music on a goofily epic scale--halfway between Carmina Burana and Rammstein. Three songs interrupt the demented flow (although "raging torrent" would be a better word than "flow"). Actress Robin Wright Penn performs "Gently as She Goes" and "A Hero Comes Home," two ballads in soothing, medieval-type arrangements. Idina Menzel (Wicked) reprises a different version of "A Hero Comes Home" at the very end: Good thing she's a belter, because a meeker interpreter would have vanished under the catchy power-ballad arrangements. --Elisabeth Vincentelli

Product Description
In a legendary time of heroes, the mighty warrior Beowulf battles the demon Grendel and incurs the hellish wrath of the beast’s ruthlessly seductive mother. Their epic clash comes to the big screen in Beowulf, directed by Oscar winner Robert Zemeckis. The grand and powerful score is by Alan Silvestri, Oscar nominated for Forrest Gump and The Polar Express, Grammy® winner for the latter and nominated for Back To The Future and Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and a manytime BMI and ASCAP Award honoree. Highlighting the score and soundtrack album is "A Hero Comes Home," performed by the critically acclaimed Idina Menzel (RENT, Wicked).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best new score I've heard in years, December 3, 2007

By	Stuart M. Paine (Arlington, VA USA) - See all my reviews

BEOWULF is a massive work from Alan Silvestri, and of his big scores it's the best listening experience since THE MUMMY RETURNS and arguably his greatest work since JUDGE DREDD. One hears similarities to parts of MUMMY, DREDD, VOLCANO, and THE ABYSS, but BEOWULF is more lyrical than any of them. In it, Silvestri absolutely succeeds in convincing that he's evoking a time distant and primal.

Right out of the gate, the "Beowulf Main Title" combines Silvestri's familiar pounding tympani with one of his most interesting deep-voiced melodies - the kind he normally does with his trademark powerful brass but which is here presented on synthesizer. It's built off a flatted 6th mode with a 3rd that shifts major and minor while a mixed choir interjects a simple and aggressive 2-note motive. In tracks 3 and 7, Robin Wright-Penn, to (again synthesized) "harp" accompaniment, plaintively and understatedly sings the ancient-sounding "Gently As She Goes" and "A Hero Comes Home". They're touching and beautiful performances. Silvestri returns to these melodies repeatedly, expanding and combining them, swelling them with orchestra and choir. In track 11, "He Has a Story to Tell", he gently deconstructs the "Hero" melody so that it sounds almost as if it were from CONTACT. All three themes get a full workout throughout this 45 minute score which seems less like a series of filmic episodes than a cohesive single work - a kind of choral symphony. BEOWULF may be the most mature work of Silvestri's career.

And, the pop version of "Hero" which closes the disc is an exhilarating encore. Not only is it gorgeously scored, but Idina Menzel can really sing! She goes straight for the notes and hits them dead-on and without over-vibrato. She also clearly enjoys the melody just as it is and does not use it as a vehicle for self-indulgent showing off.

Highest recommendation.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beowulf Soundtrack - A Powerful Musical Interpretation, December 30, 2007

By	Mark "Technology, Music and Movies" (East Coast) - See all my reviews (#1 REVIEWER)

Beowulf is a new 2007 version of a classic tale. Beowulf The score is a big part of the film, and Alan Silvestri has put together a power blend of old and new. This soundtrack is bound to appeal to Beowulf fans and music enthusiasts alike.

The score is very well put together and complements the movie experience. There is a lot of driving heart pounding composition, almost operatic in nature. And there are also soft pensive songs. In any case, the music is very well appreciated in a theatre, or in the comfort of well equipped surround sound.

Silvestri draws well from his previous credits, such as "The Polar Express" and "Van Helsing." Yet the score and songs of this film stand on their own and evoke a time long past in a heart felt and powerful way.
The "Beowulf Main Title" starts the film with a driving energetic beat combined with a deep melody. This and other tracks work well to communicate the urgency of the battlefield and the sea.

Yet the surprising and gentle songs sung by Robin Wright-Penn, "Gently As She Goes" and "A Hero Comes Home," are going to please audiences. They provide a stark contrast to the beating operatic pieces. Silvestri uses these melodies in refashioned ways throughout the film to amazing effect. The result is a cohesive score with stand out tracks that will certainly be near the top of his career accomplishments.

A strong pop version of the song "A Hero Comes Home" is sung by Idina Menzel during the credits.

Overall, this score is a key part of a great movie.

Enjoy!!!

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Silvestri's Heroic Spin on "Beowulf", November 27, 2007

By	G M. Stathis (cedar city, utah USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Robert Zemeckis created something of an "animated" holiday classic with "The Polar Express" and Alan Silvestri was right there with a great score and notable songs. With "Beowulf" Zemeckis has upped the ante with a visually stunning reworking of the epic saga of the hero Beowulf and again Silvestri has tagged along to provide music for a modern interpretation of an eighth century tale. What Silvestri has produced is also a modern interpretation but of the classic adventure score not without a few appreciative nods to the late Basil Poledouris and his magnificent score for "Conan the Barbarian" (and a little reminder of "Starship Troopers") along with a rather healthy echo of Silvestri's own fine music for "Van Helsing." But there are a couple of surprises as well. Songs play a significant part in the film and on the soundtrack as well they should since the original epic poem of Beowulf was sung after all. Two songs are performed on screen and the soundtrack by none other than Robin Wright-Penn including a vocal of the main theme, "A Hero Comes Home", and they are delightful. There is also another version of the song "A Hero Comes Home" in a pop version by Idina Menzel (of "Wicked" fame) for the end credits and it is also quite good. Of course this whole project was intended to be over the top, and it succeeds on this level as an adventure film and a first rate score. Silvestri opted for something a little less than a classical approach (Poledouris went the other way with "Conan" as did Jerry Goldsmith and his wonderful music for yet another version of the Beowulf tale, "Thirteenth Warrior"), but his choral-synthesizer main theme with thundering percussion seems just the right fit for this fanciful tale of Norsemen, storm tossed dragon ships, and epic battles with mythical monsters. A heroic score for a heroic saga, it is all a good deal of fun. The score is a good fit on the screen and a worthy soundtrack. Nicely produced and packaged by Warner.