Track Listing

1. Szerelem Szerelem/The English Patient
2. Retreat
3. Rupert Bear
4. What Else Do You Love
5. Why Picton
6. Cheek To Cheek - Astaire, Fred
7. Kip's Lights
8. Hana's Curse
9. I'll Always Go Back To That Church
10. Black Nights
11. Swoon I'll Catch You
12. Am I K In Your Book
13. Let Me Come In
14. Wang Wang Blues - Goodman, Benny
15. Convento Di Sant' Anna
16. Herodotus
17. Szerelem Szerelem - Muzsikas & Marta Sebestyen
18. Ask Your Saint Who He's Killed
19. One O'clock Jump - Goodman, Benny
20. I'll Be Back
21. Let Me Tell You About Winds
22. Read Me To Sleep
23. Cave Of Swimmers
24. Where Or When - Shepheard's Hotel Jazz Orchestra
25. Aria From The Goldberg Variations - Steinberg, Julie
26. Cheek To Cheek - Fitzgerald, Ella
27. As Far As Florence
28. En Csak Azt Csodalom (Lullabye For Katherine)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #26716 in Music
• Released on: 1997-03-10
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack
• Original language: Arabic, English, German, Italian
• Running time: 162 minutes

From Amazon.com
Anthony Minghella's Oscar-winning realization of Michael Ondaatje's intricate romance deservedly earned comparisons to David Lean's sweeping screen epics derived from strong literary sources. Like Lean, Minghella sought an equally thoughtful, yet ravishing musical counterpart that fleshes out a sympathetic orchestral score with allusions to the story's cultural milieu. The equation begins with Gabriel Yared's tender, brooding symphonic score, which mingles the film's poles of fate and passion with subtlety and restraint, then adds the exotic, mesmerizing voice of Marta Sebestyen (best known for her work with Muzsikas, the brilliant Hungarian folk revivalists, who also appear here), whose presence provides a literate clue to the title character's true identity. The film's '40s time-frame gains resonance and dramatic irony by pop songs from that era, including Benny Goodman swing classics and two versions of Irving Berlin's "Cheek to Cheek" (by Fred Astaire and Ella Fitzgerald, respectively). Add a pivotal Bach cue and this is a film package that works even if you don't know the film--and that much more powerfully if you do. --Sam Sutherland

Customer Reviews

An interesting and highly sensitive collection of songs
Having loved the book and been disappionted by the film, i was intreiged by the different styles of music I heard throughout the film. The soundtrack is sensitive and melodious, charting the different lives, stories and cultures that the main characters lead. The tracks are a collection from different countries, from a Hungarian ballad to Ella Fiztgerald and Fred Astaires very different recordings of "Cheek to cheek". It is a lovely album, very relaxing and every track is different, each superb in its own way. However the classical melody composed by Gabriel Yared is slightly repetative as it occurs frequently during the album. A work of art in it's own right, which seems to capture the spirit of the book better than the film does. Buy it if you like your music well thought out and meaningfull.

Truely Beautiful
I was initially captivated by the music by of course watching the film which is as equally beautiful. The music is a combination of 30's jazz, Hungarian folk music which incidently sounds very arabic, Bach and of course the haunting symphonic score of Gabriel Yared. The album sums up all the emotions in the film, love, passion, hope, tradgedy, happiness and despair. Utterly compelling and in all honesty some of the most beautiful pieces of classical music i have ever heard. Regardless of whether you have seen the film or not, this is a must have.

Oscar Winning score, And Deservedly so !
Gabriel Yared has composed some timeless compositions and this in my opinion is his most creative to date.
Not one track is below par out of the 20+ on this CD its an instrumentally tribulant work that is so eminant of the African Locations in the film, it really captured the 1940s and i loved the nostalgic 'Cheek to Cheek' thrown in By Yared to enhance his own Music.
This CD really reminded me of Peter Gabriels 'Last temptation Of Christ' the music ranges from the haunting woodwind tradgedies to Bulgarian folklore and what I liked best was that i didnt find myself skipping tracks because some irritated me, from start to finish it moved and inspired me, and you cant say that for many Artists.
I have appreciated this soundtrack more and more as i have listened to it, on first listening to this i was mildly disappointed as i had another of Yareds work (City Of Angels)and my expectations were that the music would be the same, then i watched the film and the next time i listened to it, the music became much like a picture book improving both the soundtrack and the film. Gabriel Yared is so much more unappreciated than say 'James Horner' (titanic, braveheart ) i consider Yared much more diverse than horner as all Yareds work from 'Betty BLue', city of angels, 'the lover' etc are so different and indistinguishable to Yared, making him in my opinion one of the great pioneers of the classical music for film genre.

I would highly recommend this to any romantic, or soul searcher looking for divine inspiration by way of music.