A Clockwork Orange - Complete Original Score

Composer: Wendy Carlos
Lable (Release Year): East Side Digital (1998)
Availability: ****
Rating: ***

I never find myself enjoy completely synthesized scores very much (ala John Carpenter's scores). This one is not an exception either. I guess I just can't find the required taste of it. I do not own the original release. So I will not be able to compare this release to it.

Wendy Carlos's music is not nearly as strange as the movie, a classic cult film from Stanley Kubrick, who dies recently. The liner notes has details on how they end up working together and the 'story' of each track. I will not quote them here since they can be found at www.wendycarlos.com. The first track, "Timesteps", also the longest track, is the track that I find the least enjoyable. It does not have any melody. Synthesizer sounds just pop up here and there and does not seem to go anywhere. Then the next six tracks are her synthesized versions of the classcial music that we heard in the film (They of course includes Beethoven's 9th). Ironically, I find them more enjoyable than Carlos's score. Some people are bothered the synth voices that she creates but not me. I think they are fun to listen. They are probably the reason why I would want to put the CD in my stereo again. The last three tracks finally seem to lead us to somewhere. Both "Orange Minuet" and "Country Lane" have enjoyable motifs. "Country Lane" is the only track that I can sense some horror. They, however, come too late and short. If you are a big fan of synth music, there is no doubt that you will like this one. But if you are looking for a very enjoyable film score, this one probably is not for you.

By the way, the cover art is drawn by Wendy Carlos herself, a very artistic person indeed.



    Track Listing:
  1. Timesteps (13:50)
  2. March from A Clockwork Orange (7:00)
    (Beethoven: Ninth Symphony: Fourth Movement, Abridged)
  3. Title Music from A Clockwork Orange (2:21)
    (from Purcell's Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary)
  4. La Gazza Ladra (5:50)
    (Rossini's The Thieving Magpie, Abridged)
  5. Theme from A Clockwork Orange (Beethoviana) (1:44)
  6. Ninth Symphony: Second Movement (Scherzo) (4:52)
  7. [Rossini's]William Tell Overture, Abridged (1:17)
  8. Orange Minuet (2:35)
  9. Biblical Daydreams (2:06)
  10. Contry Lane (4:43)
    Total Time: 46:54



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