Bach's Prelude No.7 from Book 2

Johann Sebastian Bach picture (head) Bach's keyboard works continue to fascinate people, particularly the 48 preludes and fugues known as The Well-Tempered Clavier. The 7th Prelude from Book 2 appeared on the soundtrack to "Milk" so here is this piece in the following formats:

Elmer Berstein by Jeffrey Dane

Elmer Bernstein with Cecil B. DeMille during the making of The Ten Commandments Did you know that Elmer Bernstein is the only film composer to have been nominated for an oscar during each decade from the 1950s onward? Jeffrey Dane looks at the life and work of the composer with a particular focus on Cecil B. DeMille's "The Ten Commandments". More...

Around the World in 80 Days

Victor Young - Around the World in 80 Days soundtrack CD cover We voyage around the world with Victor Young's oscar-winning score for Around The World in 80 Days. The movie was a lavish production with many locations and cameos from lots of stars. The music reflects those locations, and takes us on a grand adventure accompanied by the main theme which became a hit song for Bing Crosby. More...

2010: A Video Game Odyssey

Robyn Miller - Myst soundtrack CD cover There has always been a creative cross-over between film and video games, and game music now rivals film music in its inventiveness and importance. In our first article of 2010, we survey the vast world of video game music and point out some of the key milestones on its path to greatness. More...

Bruce Broughton's Young Sherlock Holmes

Bruce Broughton - Young Sherlock Holmes soundtrack CD cover Though well-known as a TV composer, Bruce Broughton made a big splash in 1985 with two excellent film scores - Silverado and Young Sherlock Holmes. With its genre-twisting opportunities, Young Sherlock allowed the composer to deliver a top-notch score full of action and excitement. More...

Conan The Barbarian by Basil Poledouris

Basil Poledouris - Conan The Barbarian soundtrack CD cover When it comes to Sword and Sorcery Fantasy films, Basil Poledouris set the standard with his score to Conan The Barbarian. This has the expected macho sword-wielding heroics in abundance, plus a touches of mysticism and some personal dramatic moments. More...

Restoration by James Newton Howard

James Newton Howard - Restoration soundtrack CD cover Restoration is a Period Drama released in 1995 with an excellent score from James Newton Howard which deserves a closer look. Not only has the composer captured the period feel and blended beautifully with music by Henry Purcell, but he also heightens the film's dramatic flow to great effect. More...

Piano music - as heard by Brahms!

Brahms in 1853 Brahms was an excellent pianist, and a number of the pianos he used are preserved in museums. This double album consists of a number of Brahms' piano pieces played on the same instruments which he used. So we can hear his music as Brahms himself would have heard it. Jeffrey Dane's review of these recordings highlights the historical context of the pianos featured and, with a number of photographs, brings to life the history and the personality of the composer More...

Franz Waxman by Jeffrey Dane

Franz Waxman in 1950 In the early days of Hollywood, many film scores were written by conservatory trained composers from Europe. They may have been tempted by the financial rewards of a career in film music, or in some cases they were looking to escape from the troubles brewing in 1930s Europe. Franz Waxman was one of those immigrants who became a very successful composer in his adopted country. Jeffrey Dane gives us an overview of this remarkable man with some very revealing insights. More...

"Waltz with Bashir" by Max Richter

Max Richter - Waltz with Bashir soundtrack CD cover Waltz with Bashir is a wonderfully warm, romantic, but also harrowing film by Ari Folman. Equally the soundtrack is a very moving piece of work by composer Max Richter which complements the film perfectly. With this score the composer has finally obtained proper worldwide exposure, winning the hearts of music critics and musicians around the globe. The score was nominated for an Annie Award for Best Music in an Animated Feature and, most importantly, won the European Film Awards for Best Composer in 2008. More...

Star Trek: The Music

The Best of Star Trek 30th Anniversary Special - original TV soundtracks CD cover With a new Star Trek movie hitting theatres soon, we take a look at the music of Star Trek. Over the past 40-plus years, the Star Trek Universe has brought us 11 major movies and 5 television series (not to mention the animated series, video games and some song singles), and that is a lot of music! Many composers have played a part in creating this music. In the "Star Trek" movies, Jerry Goldsmith has dominated, with James Horner, Leonard Rosenman, Cliff Eidelman, and Dennis McCarthy providing very able support. The Television Series have employed many more composers with Dennis McCarthy and Jay Chattaway playing major roles, following in the footsteps of the father of Star Trek music Alexander Courage who started it all off in 1966. More...

Christopher Young: Murder in the First

Christopher Young - Murder in the First soundtrack CD cover Christopher Young made his name with horror movies such as Hellraiser. While he is often thought of as a "horror composer" (composers can be type-cast like actors), the non-horror movies that he has scored have shown him to be an extremely versatile composer. One such movie is Murder in the First, where the composer has created a very moving score. More...

James Horner - Field of Dreams

James Horner - Field of Dreams soundtrack CD cover While "Avatar" is doing well at the box-office, we look at one of James Horner's highly regarded soundtracks from 1989. The unusual story of Field of Dreams demanded a subtle treatment from the soundtrack, and Horner delivered a score which is ethereal and dreamy but building to moments of considerable power. More...

Classical Music
Click here to view and download a stunning selection of beautiful classical music.

Bach Toccata
Bach wrote more than one Toccata, some better known than others.

Scott Joplin and the Age of Ragtime

Scott Joplin and the Age of Ragtime - by Ray Argyle book cover Scott Joplin was a fascinating figure in the world of music, though there are tantalising gaps in our understanding of his life. Scott Joplin and the Age of Ragtime takes a different approach and explains the wider context of music and the arts against a backdrop of American culture and politics, and sheds new light on Joplin's achievements and motivations. More...

John Williams - Home Alone

John Williams - Home Alone soundtrack CD cover Christmas has a homely feel to it, and the delightful Home Alone soundtrack taps into that feeling. John Williams creates some original Christmas Music, some cartoon-ish music for the baddies and some great action set pieces. Listening to this, you are transported to a world where chestnuts are roasting on an open fire. More...

Marc Shaiman - Musical Director at Oscars

oscar statue picture Marc Shaiman (The Addams Family, City Slickers, Hairspray) will be Musical Director for next year's Oscars. He was also Musical Director at the awards 6 year's ago and has been nominated several times for his film music. More...

John Williams documentary

John Williams - Star Wars Episode 5 album CD cover An historic documentary about the film music of John Williams has been posted on YouTube. Made during the making of "Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back" this features extracts from previous films plus comments from George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. The documentary is in 6 parts and you can start from the link marked "Star Wars Music by John Williams" on our John Williams page. The audio is poor quality at the very start but this improves.

Vic Mizzy (1916-2009)

Vic Mizzy We sadly report the passing of composer Vic Mizzy. Though most famous for the iconic themes to the TV programmes "The Addams Family" and "Green Acres", his career was much broader than this. His early career saw several chart hits as a song-writer, before he made the transition into television and film music. A common feature of his music seemed to characterise the man himself - full of good-natured humour. We have collected the best examples of his work on youtube. More...

Ryuichi Sakamoto

Ryuichi Sakamoto - The Last Emperor As a film composer Ryuichi Sakamoto is probably best known for two exceptional scores, and curiously he starred in both films. In "Merry Christmas Mr.Lawrence" in 1983 he played the onscreen part of Capt. Yonoi and 4 years later in "The Last Emperor" he played the role of Amakasu. Though both scores used a wide instrumental mix, the earlier film concentrated more on synthesiser sounds, while in the later film (for which he shared the best score oscar) Sakamoto concentrated on the orchestral tracks while David Byrne and Cong Su provided most of the traditional Chinese music. More...

Grieg Piano Concerto - making history

Edvard Grieg This album is a modern recording using the latest techniques, though the performances were laid down a century ago! The Grieg Piano Concerto was recorded by Percy Grainger in 1921 on piano rolls which have been used to play a steinway concert grand and recreate the historic performance. Also included on the album are similar recordings of a number of solo piano works made by Edvard Grieg himself in 1906, and his Violin Sonata No.3 in Cm. It is remarkable to hear historic recordings with such clarity and definition More...

Blade Runner 25th Anniversary

Vangelis - Blade Runner Trilogy, 25th anniversary soundtrack release 3CD cover It is now 25 years since "Blade Runner" first hit our screens, and the movie and its music have had a remarkable impact on subsequent films and soundtracks. To mark the anniversary, director Ridley Scott has released his definitive version of the film called "The Final Cut", and composer Vangelis has released a 3 CD celebration of the music. CD1 of this Trilogy is the original soundtrack release, CD2 contains previously unreleased music from the film including some tracks which weren't used in the movie, and CD3 is all new material by Vangelis inspired by the music and mood of the Blade Runner score. Further details and a short interview with Vangelis can be found on our review page. More...

Atonement - by Dario Marianelli

Dario Marianelli: Atonement soundtrack CD cover In some ways the music to Atonement is a return to the world of "Pride and Prejudice" for composer Dario Marianelli, with its piano theme taking central place and performed once again by French pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet. On closer inspection however, this is a very different soundtrack with greater emotional depth and a central duet between Thibaudet's Piano and the Cello of Caroline Dale. There are other solo moments for Clarinet, Oboe and even Harmonica but the score has some unusual tricks up its sleeve. In places it carefully blends underscore with some period choral music, but most unusual of all it features an old-fashioned typewriter as a musical instrument! More...

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