Track Listing

1. To The Edge Of The Earth
2. Big My Secret
3. A Wild And Distant Shore
4. The Heart Asks Pleasure First
5. Here To There
6. The Promise
7. A Bed Of Ferns
8. The Fling
9. The Scent Of Love
10. Deep Into The Forest
11. The Mood That Passes Through You
12. Lost And Found
13. The Embrace
14. Little Impulse
15. The Sacrifice
16. I Clipped Your Wing
17. The Wounded
18. All Imperfect Things
19. Dreams Of A Journey

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #41383 in Music
• Released on: 2003-03-03
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: SACD, Soundtrack

Customer Reviews

Nyman tops the rest
Nyman's execution of this score is no less than perfect. The motiffs he composes does not echo, but speaks in place of Ada's voice, the 'protaganist'of the story. The piano solos are deeply moving and are accompanied by the excellent Munich Philharmonic Orchestra. This score is a masterpiece in it's own right, and whether or not you have seen this movie, it deserves a place on the shelf of any music lover. You will be no short of moved and inspired by this haunting score.

Improved sound on SACD, music still marvellous
The original recording was produced by Nyman himself and is characterised by the multi-miking, near-saturation and closeness for which performances of his music are generally noted. The DSD (stereo)remastering was done by Simon Heyworth in August '01 and it does sound better than the original. Although there's not noticeably much greater bloom, instrumental definition & tone is clearer and more characteristic of the instruments, especially John Harle's and David Roach's saxes, and that in turn adds to the stereo effect.

It also adds greatly to the "height" of the sound. Fittingly for film music, it now covers a canvass as tall as it is wide. The sometimes electronic-sounding violins of the Munich Philharmonic not only pack a punch, they also soar. Bass extension is good without being dominant, as it can be in many Nyman albums.

The immediacy of the sound is part of Nyman's stylistic signature of resolving the almost opposing forces of hysteria and inevitability. For the "Piano" this conflict is less explicit than in some of his pieces, but no less forceful. The hysteria here is an inward and muted one, befitting its association with the mute, piano-obsessed, emigrant bride Ada. The music too was written to suggest both Ada and her childhood memories of songs and piano pieces and so it reflects "Scottish" type themes and melodies as well as the tempestuousness of the new world Ada finds in New Zealand.

I found the film itself embarrassingly melodramatic and it hasn't grown on me in the decade since its release, but the music has. It is possible to find it lightweight initially, a la George Winston and co, but it holds more than it seems to. It is deliberately "naive" music and eventually works on an almost atavistic emotional level. It's also bloody lovely, with a main theme Paul McCartney would die to have written (as Douglas Adams would have written).

So, to sum up, it was worth trading in the redbook version for, and it'll get regularly played.

Wonderful!
If the film enchanted you as much as it did me, then you will love the soundtrack. The pieces are all taken from the film, and as they play you remember the scenes they are taken from and thus taking you back to the enjoyment of the film.
The best piece is definately 'The Promise' and is continued throughout the disc in variations. There are a few tracks that are not particularly magical, but overall, it is a soundtrack worth buying for listening to when you are feeling down or in any other mood! I personally loved it, and even my younger sister of fourteen loved it which is saying something!