John Adams [Television Series Soundtrack]
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Free Music Notes for John Adams [Television Series Soundtrack]
Free Music Review: John Adams Soundtrack - Music that will move you
Hit: 5 Stars
My wife and I rented John Adams through Netflix, after we had watched all the episodes we kept thinking about the great music. So, off to Amazon to find the soundtrack! The theme song alone is worth buying the soundtrack, but the rest of it is just as compelling. Absolutely perfectly matched to the movie, this soundtrack has been spending a lot of time in our CD player. We enjoyed the movie series so much, we decided to buy it for our collection. We don't buy many movies - much of them really aren't worth watching more than once, but this one was different. Paul Giamatti played the part so well, we can't think of another actor we've enjoyed so much in a long time. The rest of the cast is superb; David Morse as George Washington is brilliantly played, the first time he appears in the movie you think you're seeing the real Washington. He resembles every painting or photo you have seen of our first president. When you go back and listen to the music by itself, and remember the parts of the movie (the disc identifies each scene) - you realize how perfectly matched each piece was.
The one major disappointment for us is the disc does not include the ending theme, which is an extended version of the main theme - and kind of leaves us wanting more. The disc plays everything in the movie from start to finish...well almost... as the actual ending music isn't there. Not sure what the producers of the disc were thinking - why not finish it???
Still, this disc earns five stars.
Free Music Review: one for the textbooks
Hit: 5 Stars
Rob Lane and Joseph Vitarelli have not only written a reflective and shimmering work of music. They have provided a textbook example of how to write film music.
The thirty tracks of this HBO Series soundtrack strike notes that are alternately noble, daring, pensive, and troubled. All of it is stirring in the way that one's soul is moved in proximity to great literature or the finest musical art. Yet, as is the nature of the case with a genre of music meant to frame a visual depiction rather than to publish its own grandeur, most viewers of JOHN ADAMS will fail to realize the degree to which the series' success has depended upon Lane's and Vitarelli's work in the shadows.
The Hollywood Studio Symphony performs its 20th/21st century score with the panache of a great ensemble. The score references rather than revolves around period sounds from the American Revolution. Its gestures are knowing, sophisticated and nuanced. They successfully anchor the sound of this film series at a point more than two centuries ago, then develop it according to the aural canons of our own day.
The result is not less than stunning. The score never turns mawkish, yet connects with the deepest emotions. I hope the next generation of film music writers learn their craft by listening over and over, as I will, to Lane's and Vitarelli's JOHN ADAMS.
Free Music Review: Rejoice Ever More!
Hit: 5 Stars
This is a superbly beautiful soundtrack from the recent HBO miniseries about our second President and Founding Father. I know virtually nothing about the technical aspect of music so I won't even try to describe that. All I will say is that this is a beautiful collection of classical music with a uniquely 18th century American flavor. It is heavy on violins which happens to be my favorite instrument.
Some of the songs are soft and delicate, while others are triumphantly upbeat. The Opening Titles track, perhaps my favorite, is an energetic and melodious blend of violins, whistles, drums and horns that has a distinctly American sound to it. Frankly, this song makes me want to start a revolution myself! That being said, many of the songs are much more subdued, and they tend to invoke a sort of melancholy reflection or even downright heartache. Others, such as 'Adams in the Cold' are not really sad nor triumphant, but have a strangely ironic yet perky sound, if that makes any sense. All in all, this is a brilliant and passionate collection of uniquely American music.
The best songs for me are:
Opening Titles
Leaving for Philadelphia
Abigail
Adams in the Cold
Letter to Jefferson
Farewell to Adams
John Says Goodbye
Abigail Dies
Hot Air Balloon
Free Music Review: Remarkable Achievement
Hit: 5 Stars
Remarkable Achievement
The book John Adams is much more than a biography about a man, but it is, as the back cover says history told on a "grand scale." One cannot leave this book without respecting and admiring John Adams. He was a man who loved his wife and his children. He had a good father and by all means was one. He also loved his country and sacrificed whatever he had to in order to serve it well. He was a man of great character and unquestionable integrity and this book brings all of that out. HBO has made this work into miniseries about John Adams, but, as good as that is, the book is better. The details of letters from, to and about John Adams are communicated in this book. One learns much of Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Samuel Adams, John Quincy Adams, and especially Abigail Adams. The book is more than history, but it is a journey into the soul of a man (John Adams) and also his wife (Abigail Adams). This book deals with the human condition. Issues such as faith, slavery, war, taxation, independence, and death are reflected upon. Most interesting is the letter exchange between Jefferson and Adams. I highly recommend this book. You will not be disappointed.
Free Music Review: Excellent Soundtrack with an Early American Flavor!
Hit: 5 Stars
This is an excellent soundtrack that embodies the melodic feel of that very special Early American sound, piccolo and snare in selected pieces, with a wonderful Revolutionary War march flavor here and there. The pairing of music with screenplay was masterful, down to the detail of "Leaving for Philadelphia"'s end bars reflecting the woeful tone associated with a husband leaving his pregnant wife alone to care for the family whilst he is in Philadelphia drafting the Declaration. Pieces like these are rare for the afficionado of Revolutionary War-times musical fare. I truly don't have any standout favorites as they all are standouts! The closest I've found to this is the Soundtrack by James Taylor and Mark O'Connor's "Johnny's gone home for a Soldier" in PBS's LIBERTY soundtrack([...])
which graces your ears with similar Americana from the 1750's to 1800's. Both of these focused Early American selections make one wish for a revival of this type of music, which embues a genuine feeling of patriotic fervor for the period, and helps one to imagine just how hard life was back then, and just how hard the Founders worked to give us what we now take for granted. Both albums are a MUST HAVE.