After the movie was released, the soundtrack was to be found in stores. It came in liquid vinyl 33 1/3 RPM record and cassette form. Now, it is very hard to find ( If you are looking for a copy I suggest looking on E-BAY ). There is also a bootleg CD, that has nameless tracks, that has more music from the movie.
An * marks a impressive track
Escape from the Castle (Taran's Heroic Theme)
The bootleg CD has 33 tracks and over 72 minutes of music. This CD contains the music actually heard in the movie, unlike the 'official' soundtrack which was repreformed a day after the release of the movie ( recorded on July 25, 1985 ). Regardless, I still think the 'official' soundtrack is wonderful and it has some music I don't recall being in the film. I suggest you look for the 'official' soundtrack first.
Bernstein considers his score for The Black Cauldron one of his most important and challenging assignments in his 35 years as a motion picture composer. This score marks Bernstein's first grand symphonic score in nearly a decade. Before The Black Cauldron Bernstein wrote music for Ghostbusters, National Lampoon's Animal House, Airplane, Stripes, and Trading Places.
"One thing that was very attractive about The Black Cauldron, outside the fact that I love the film, was that this project lends itself to an ambitious score," he said. "Many motion pictures have similar requirements; westerns and comedies have their own set of considerations and problems. In any career, The Black Cauldron would be an unique endeavor."
When Bernstein first saw The Black Cauldron, it was still in rough form with pencil test footage. Bernstein as still able to get the full impact of the story. "I started working on the themes for the main characters, mostly Taran and the Horned King. Taran is an Assistant Pig-Keeper who wants to be a hero. Hie theme at the very beginning is sweet and light. You would never guess at that point that that theme could become heroic but it begins to sound very different when he has the magic sword in hands. This was donw through orchestration," recalled Bernstein.
One of Bernstein's special indredients for adding magic to the score was the use of a rare French instrument called the Ondes Martenot. Since no one in the United States and very few people in the world for that matter could play this instrument, and English musician by the name of Cynthia Millar was flown over for the recording session. Millar had previously played the Ondes Martenot for the score of A Passage to India.
"This instrument was invented in France in 1928 and was one of the first electric instruments," said Bernstein. "It sounds like maybe everything and nothing exactly. There are times when it might sound like a flute, other times when it might sound like a human voice or a cello. I used it a lot in connection with the main characters Taran and Eilonwy."
Bernstein describes the Horned King's theme as overwhelming and very menacing. The witches were another matter entirely. To highlight their eccentric and comic nature, Bernstein created "weird off-center waltzes with some suggestion of rock and roll."
