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LAST COPIES !
Limited edition of 1000 copies.
In a climate where, more that ever, film makers and studios are treating film music as a disposable art and truly memorable and meaningful scores are all but unheard of, the fate that befell Christopher Young's exceptional score for Lasse Hallstrom's An Unfinished Life was all the more sad. For a composer to pour so much soul into a score and then see it cast aside, the thought of the music being lost forever is a painful and, for all but the thickest skinned, unbearable one. Fortunately most composers have indeed developed a very thick skin in this business. And, also very fortunately, Varèse Sarabande has been there to rescue a selected few of these utterly exceptional film scores, which can no longer be found in a film. From the landmarks like Bernard Herrmann's Torn Curtain and Alex North's 2001, to Jerry Goldsmith's Timeline, Cliff Eidelman's Picture Bride and Elmer Bernstein's Last Man Standing, we've been there to save the music from a very unkind future, one where great music has no audience. To this illustrious fraternity we now add Christopher Young.
Lasse Hallstrom's An Unfinished Life, had been completed in 2003, but not released until 2005. Christopher Young, who had provided the fine, Golden Globe-nominated score for the director's previous film, The Shipping News, ultimately found nearly all his cues replaced by another composer's. As if that indignity wasn't enough, the film's confusing credits lead some critics to skewer Young by name in print -- for music he didn't even write.
The splendid, intimate music on this album sets the record straight. Young's music is a heartbreaking and poignant work. Truly one of the composer's most intimate musical poems, the unused orchestral score for the film features some haunting guitar work and a wealth of impressionistic themes for solo piano. As a further exploration of the thematic ideas Young developed for this film, and adding a deeper and even more personal dimension to the album, the over fifty minutes of orchestral score on this release are followed by a separate work titled 14 Unfinished Lives - For Solo Piano in which Young further explores thematic ideas, both used and unused, in his score for the film. Long one of the most respected names in film music, Christopher Young is a true artist. Featuring nearly 80 minutes of music, this very special release presents one of his latest and finest opuses.
CD cover features an original painting by Matthew Joseph Peak.
- Varèse Sarabande
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