I wonder if anyone knows how the men of Easy Company felt about the Band of Brothers Soundtrack? For some reason, I cannot listen to the the music without crying. The composer created a moving requiem as well as a powerful piece for the Invasion.

I don't know; it would be interesting to find out, but regardless, Michael Kamen has written a score so powerful and so haunting that it almost begs to be called a miracle. NO other movie or series score I've ever heard comes close. I don't mean just the military films like Patton or SPR, but ANY score. Perhaps you can make a case for the scores of the early Russian films, which were, after all, written by an established great composer, but that would be about it. Not even Dmitri Tiomkin's best score can be held up against it. And that's saying something.

FJB

I agree, the BOB score is excellent. I am a fan of Ennio Morricone and he has written superb scores for many movies which I have purchased, but nothing to match BOB. I am currently watching Gettysburg and the score in that is excellent too as is the acting. I always take note of the scores, so many people leave unaware of the brilliance of the music - that in itself is no small praise.

You may already know this but if you go on the menofeasycompany.com, you can listen to all the soundtracks used in BOB.
Including the main theme.

http://www.menofeasycompany.com/home/index.php?page_id=99

I think everyone will agree it is one of the greatest soundtracks of all time. Especially if you can get to see an orchestra playing it live - I witnessed the Band of the Parachute Regiment (British) playing three of the pieces and it was unbelievable, it really worked beautifully.
I should think the men of Easy company love it too - who wouldn't? My Dad liked it alot, a Veteran now 89.

I love the String Quartet in C-Sharp. I think it is one of the most beautiful pieces I have ever heard!

Yes, I know about the site. One day at work, I could not get the BOB music out of my head, and that led me to search for the site. It is one of the finest soundtracks for a war movie, tv or major motion, that I have ever heard. I also like the Gettysburg soundtrack. Especially, the Irish tune sung at the Confederate camp.

I think if I were to hear the music live, I would just be too overcome with emotion.

Oh dear. Perhaps best if you don't go see it live then, huh? I'm glad I have never had such an "emotion" problem.

A few years ago I had the honour to travel in a bus together with 15 BoB veterans. The music in the bus was the theme of BoB. It was relaxing.

Frank

My aren't we in a snarky mood. Music stirs many emotions. I am a sentimental slob, and I am not ashamed of it, but I do not like to get all weepy eyed in front of total strangers. Sometimes, the BOB soundtrack reminds me of all of those "boys" who did not come home, and how sad it must have been for their loved ones. As far as I know, the ability to emote is considered healthy. Problems arise when one cannot express emotions. Reading Winter's or Bill and Babe's story, you understand how they were able to do what they did because they could not let themselves think about their buddy who just died or become too sentimental about home. It's a sure fire way to get killed. However, that doesn't mean that after the fact, one cannot be stirred by a beautiful piece of music.

I don't know what snarky means, sorry. But I would get some help for your emotional problems if I were you

Gino, we could do without this troll.

Troll? How funny. This is just like being back at school. Hey don't worry, I will go and listen to my soundtrack and try not to get too emotional.

I've put the track on my cellphone, every time someone is calling, I get goosebumps....

Thirty years ago, I would have told you to take your stiff upper lip, pull it over your head and kiss my ***. However since that time, I matured and try to refrain from using language that would be to the sorrow of both of us. I am aware there are vast cultural differences and language barriers that separate Americans from the British so I will overlook your rudeness. See, in America, psychologists discovered that people who repress their emotions suffer all sorts of disorders. It is bad for the digestive system as well. Psychiatrists, as well as FBI criminal profilers, learned that people who are unable to feel anything become sociopaths. This is my adult way of rephrasing what I said in the first sentence.

I do apologize if this thread offends any one in the forums. Although, I am a Quaker, and I do try to be a good Quaker, I am still a Southerner, and I don't take "nothing from nobody" if you know what I mean.

Life is short and so am I.

Jacqueline, some of your comments towards AQUAKER are disgusting. They are way out of order.
AQUAKER, I agree the BOB music is very emotional.

No need to apologise. This thread is not offensive in any form or shape.

Why wasting our time. Just get back on topic please.

I agree with you AQUAKER. It is an emotional soundtrack.

Sure is, end of discussion.

Quaker

If you are like me, the reason the soundtrack makes you feel so emotional is it's association with the series itself. I cannot watch the series as simple entertainment as it is so emotional - especially the real interviews with the men and I'm sure that is what the producers wanted. Because the soundtrack is such a key part in any film making the emotions stay with it when the visual is not there.
You have experienced the true power of music and anyone who mocks your emotional response to the soundtrack for the reasons you gave has surely come to the wrong site.


It's such a shame that both Michael Kamen and Stephen Ambrose are no longer with us - their work will always be.

regards
T

Thank you all for your understanding. Let us all move on.

Emotional. Count me in. I listen to the soundtrack at least once a week.

"Life is short, so am I"

I like it!!

Don't let some spoil sport ruin everyones fun, I agree!

I wont lie, i have been known to tear up from time to time when I listen to the soundtrack, but shh don't tell my boss!

This is a great example of how a soundtrack can complement a movie, unlike (IMO) the soundtrack to A Bridge Too Far which completely destroys the mood.

I agree with those of you that say the soundtrack is emotive. Everytime I hear it I get goosebumps.

I would also say that the folks involved with making the BBC special "The Flight", documenting the RAF's Battle of Britian Memorial Flight Squadron, thought enough of it to include parts of it into their show. I was watching it for the first time last week and as soon as I heard those familiar notes, the goosebumps popped up all over my arms and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.

If any of you get a chance to watch this show, I highly recommend it.

Joe

ABTF was made 30 years ago. What is the point of comparing it with the recent production of BoB ?

I am guessing Joe is pointing out the importance of having a good soundtrack with any motion picture. When I saw The Situation with Damian Lewis, the music combined with the constant shooting practically drowns out the dialogue. By the way, The Situation, provides some insight to the war in Iraq as it attempts to touch on the complexity of the "the situation" when you combine the goals of the military, the desires of the diplomats, the contrast between good and bad locals, journalists and a myriad of other folk all in one country.

But like a good southerner, I digress, the soundtrack has to compliment what takes place in the move. As for a A Bridge Too Far, I remember seeing it at the movie theaters. Standouts were Sir Anthony Hopkins, Sean Connery and even Ryan O'Neal. My particular favorite part was Robert Redford leading his men across a river in boats, and I believe they use the stock of their rifles as paddles. As they made their way through MG fire, RR kept repeating, "Hell Mary full of Grace." I felt the fear. Overall, it was a riveting movie, but I am unsure to its accuracy.

Use the search engine and duck! Not a very accurate account at all.

PS. It's not Hell Mary, it's Hail Mary!

The ABTF soundtrack is excellent. It is entirely in context with the 1970s, there was that feel to the filming, soundtracks and mixing of the two. Stuff filmed today is completely different.

Oh, my God that is about the Heil Mary. Obviously I am not an RC. Hmm, I must have my movies mixed up.

Oh, my God that is about the Hail Mary. Obviously I am not an RC. Hmm, I must have my movies mixed up.
[/quote]

Sorry if you took that post of mine as a slap down, not intended, if in the film they are heard to say Hell Mary I apologise. I chirped in as I thought it was a mis spelling or mis heard line, I am RC and probably posted defensively. The film itself is not exactly historically accurate thus the search engine quirp and duck comment.

Ian

You and I will just have to agree to disagree. As someone else said, a soundtrack can add or subtract from a film depending on how well it fits with the film, regardless of when it was made.

For me, the ABTF soundtrack sets a completely wrong mood for the film. I won't criticize anyone who feels it works for them, but will admit that I don't understand it.

I will agree with you that it fits the context of the 1970's, but the film is set in WWII, and for that reason I think the jaunty 70's romantic comedy soundtrack (that's the way it sounds to me, anyway) ruins the action on the screen, for the most part.

I´m listening to it right now.

It´s a good way to relax after a *** day at work.

Great piece of music.

Today has been a very hectic at work. This morning when it took off, I started the humming the track, The Mission to myself to prepare for the battery of questions, requests, and general smoothing of feathers that is a daily occurence. It psyches you up.

I'm new here, but music is something I know a lot about, especially symphonic writing. I play the French horn professionally and that is the instrument you hear in the main theme carrying the melody (and harmony, too - actually it's a quartet of horns!). When I first heard it (and it's played brilliantly, by the way) I had to run to the piano to confirm the notes and the key. I thought it was brilliant horn writing. Before BOB came out I had the good fortune to work with Michael Kamen on a different project and have since played the theme of BOB in concert.

As you can tell, I'm fairly biased for the horn and understand the emotional impact it has on others. Similarly, a solo horn is used at the beginning of Saving Private Ryan with the same effect when the backlit American flag fills the screen at the cemetery at Omaha Beach in the opening shot. Later, it changes to a solo trumpet which calls up images of "Taps". Very fine writing by John Williams in this instance.

Tangental to the subject of BoB, movies and soundtracks... I would guess then that you know and appreciate the horns in the opening bars of Brahms' 4th symphony, second movement. Along with the bassoon, they form intricate layers of sound in what starts as a simple e-minor call. That's always been one of my favorite moments in music.

I'm envious that you knew Kamen. I confess I'd not hear of him before, but the moment I heard the intro music to the first episode my jaw dropped and I almost jumped up from my seat. I've written elsewhere on the site that the theme music is the finest score I've ever hears in any war movie, and one of the two or three best in any movie.

So welcome aboard and tell us more about your work with Kamen, if you care to.


FJB

Ditto.

I mentioned earlier the work Michael Kamen did with Metallica (OK, different style, but still,... sends shivers down my spine!).

I'd be grateful if you could tell us more about this man who left us much too early, Scott.

Nathalie

Brahms 4th Symphony, second movement opens with the 3rd and 4th horns - I know it well and have played it lots of times and lots of different ways depending on the conductor. The connection with Kamen came through the National Symphony Orchestra (I play 4th horn) and music director Leonard Slatkin when we played a modern classical piece of his on our program a while back. We have several photographers in the orchestra - I'll see if any of them took pictures of the event. I'll dig around, too, and try to find out what the piece was that we played - I don't remember too much about it, unfortunately, which doesn't bode well for the piece! I have kept lots of rehearsal information, however, so I can probably find a name for the piece and the date we played it at least.



Hi Nathalie,
One of our cellists did the string arrangements for an ex-Metallica member when he left the group. This cellist went to the San Francisco Symphony for a year the same time they played a concert with Metallica and got in with them that way. He ended up hating the 1 hour commute to a multi-million dollar bungalow and returned here to the Washington DC area - housing is ridiculous in the SF Bay area!

Scott

Oh, by the way, when I first heard the BOB theme I knew I'd heard it elsewhere - the first phrase is a slowed and de-waltzified Tchaikovsky Nutcracker Waltz of the Flowers! Did anyone else notice that?

Scott,

Thanks for this info.
I advise everybody to try and listen to Metallica with the SF Symphony Orchestra...
It makes me feel good, makes me happy and moved too.
That's my HM roots!

Nathalie

I did, but that happens to be a repeating phenomenon in movie scores (or the occasional BBC score for TV drama). Henry Mancini's score for Without a Clue is almost identical, in its opening phrases, to a Haydn theme, and the main theme from Ilona Sekacz's score for the 1986 BBC production of "The importance of being Earnest" is taken almost note-for-note from another well-known quartet which, for some senior reason, I can't place right now. There are many other examples. This isn't a case of plagiarizing so much (well, maybe the Sekasc) as an unconscious sliding into a familiar pattern. Mancini for one wrote too much good music (mostly songs) that was unquestionably original for me to suspect that he deliberately lifted the phrase from Papa Haydn.

FJB

ps Natonal Symphony --I grew up in and spent the majority of my life in DC, and followed the symphony from its origins (when it was frankly laughed at by the music critics in Philadelphia, New York, Boston and Chicago) to its gradual emergence as a fine orchestra.

FJB

Scott F., thanks for bringing yet another dimension of expertise and experience to the community.

As a Washingtonian, I also thank you for your work with the NSO. I'm not a Kennedy Center habitue', but the Capitol concerts are must-see's each summer.

FJB, enjoying your dialogue with Scott, even though it is totally over my head . . .

I am a bit of a Classical music fan, however I am not very familiar with the works of the NSO but more familiar with the Philly orchestra but will keep an ear and eye open when next on a CD browsing expedition.

As for the theme to BOB, can't praise it highly enough, I mentioned before in another thread re a recording by the Classical group "All Angels", I purchased it for their rendition of Sancte Deus (Nimrod) by Elgar which is somewhat unusual to say the least and was surprised to find "Lament" (Band Of Brothers theme) was on the CD, track 7. A bit of a result there I thought and a very good rendition.

I must respectfully dissent! It is only in retrospect that the high drama and tragedy comes into focus. Prospectively, it was a simple matter. The war was over! All we had to do was sieze the bridges, brush the last remnants of the German army out of the way and motor on to Berlin for Christmas -- and what's all this nonsense about German tanks? They were all destroyed at Falise! I think a "musical comedy" theme is entirely appropriate!

Myself, I am far from being a musical connoisseur. While I enjoy SOME music (and for those fans of the french horn, I recall a popular instrumental from the mid-1960s called -- for no particular reason I can grasp -- "The Lonely Surfer" which used them to excellent effect), it is a sound which I rarely if ever analyze. For the most part, the musical score for a film -- or a series such as BOB -- blends into it as the background; and it is a rare thing when it makes a sufficient impression on me to be memorable in and of itself. Regretably, the BOB score does not have this effect on me. As I type this, the only part of the score that I can recall is the scene in the convent where the choir is singing a song which Elvis later redid in modified form -- and I recall that only because it was discussed here. As for those scores that HAVE made such an impression on me, only three come immediately to mind -- "Patton" and "The Magnificent Seven" for movies, and "Victory at Sea" for a series. I am certain there are others, but they are few.

Mike

I will watch it with this in mind next time. I understand what you are saying, but I think the realization changed as the attack wore on while the score did not. I'll give it a fair shot, though.

In a few minutes I will leave work for a short time to attend the memorial service for my friend Jim Kuppers, a WWII veteran and a Quaker. Right now I am listening to Katherine Jenkins sing lyrics to the BOB's Requiem for a Soldier. It is totally unexpected, and beautiful. The You Tube address is below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfVELFsb96Q

Regards,
Shelia