The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by James Horner

[odnurega1 0]

Hello. I found something interesting today. On a website supposed to teach kids about movies, there is a short clip from the opening credits of a yet-to-be-released film that James Horner has composed the score for. It is called "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.

Watch this clip and tell me what you think. The music does not sound very Horner-ish, so it very well might be a temp track. But, the clip itself looks complete.

What do you think?

http://www.filmeducation.org/theboyinthest...ties/index.html

[odnurega1 0]

Wow...not much interest, huh? "The Dark Knight" seems to be on everyones mind now.

[scissorhands 16]

I'm really interested... but it's not coming out until late this year. Haven't checked out those clips, but they're probably from the original score, as it was recorded long ago.

[Hitch 57]

Did I hear snippet of his CBS Evening News theme creeping in there at the beginning?? Nice piano work and lovely clip.

[odnurega1 0]

I was thinking the same thing sbout the CBS News Theme, which resembles JW's NBC News Theme.

[Thor 7,452]

This is my alltime favourite James Horner score. I just posted this review:

 

http://celluloidtunes.no/the-boy-in-the-striped-pajamas-james-horner/

 

It's in Norwegian. You can use Google Translate, if interested.

[karelm 2,901]

Sounds interesting.  Will check it out on Spotify.

[publicist 4,643]

Don't expect too much: apart from an attractive german lullaby culled from the romantic period (and Swing Kids) and three haunting, dreamy piano pieces, it's repetitive and boring for long stretches (long winded string chords and piano pedals going nowhere), and the pen-ultimate cue is another reworking of the long melodramatic finale of 'House and Sand and Fog', which is much better in that score. Cues of note are 1, 2, 5, 10 and 12.

[Thor 7,452]

One can always rely on publicist for a party poop!

[Brundlefly 2,385]

Yeah, but it's mostly a reliable down-to-earth evaluation, unlike most other people's obtrusive childhood memories-reverie.

[Thor 7,452]

One man's 'down-to-earth' is another man's 'grouch'.

 

What do you mean with 'childhood memories reverie', btw? You're aware that this film came out in 2008?

[Brundlefly 2,385]

I just mean in general...

[SteveMc 2,674]

Took a listen to this score this afternoon.  Some really strong writing and playing, very interesting considering Horner played the piano parts himself, as I understand.

Still, it sags in spots as @publicist notes.  Nevertheless, when it gets good, it gets very good.  The penultimate cue may be typical Horner, but I don't think I'll ever get tired of him repeating himself.  He does it so very well.

[karelm 2,901]

I have to say, I agree with @Steve McQueen and @publicist on this one.  I enjoyed it as a fan of Horner but this wasn't anywhere near as good as similar scores of his.  I haven't seen the film so possibly some of the experience was lost however speaking purely musically, it's enjoyable and clearly by an amazing composer I deeply miss but certainly not him at his finest. 

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

It's pretty good.

[publicist 4,643]

The 20-minute finale of House of Sand and Fog is pretty much reference material for this kind of writing. 'Iris' remains my favourite when it comes to these small scores, it's blissfully concertant.

[Thor 7,452]

9 hours ago, karelm said:

I have to say, I agree with @Steve McQueen and @publicist on this one.  I enjoyed it as a fan of Horner but this wasn't anywhere near as good as similar scores of his.  I haven't seen the film so possibly some of the experience was lost however speaking purely musically, it's enjoyable and clearly by an amazing composer I deeply miss but certainly not him at his finest. 

 

I'd recommend skipping the corny movie. The best thing is just experiencing the soundtrack on its own, in 3 "movements" (as I talk about in my review). It's just a masterpiece from start to finish in both soundscape and narrative structuring. No other Horner score has managed to move me on such a deeply personal level. There's not a nano-second of boredom, and he's never been finer, IMO (and that's saying a lot, given how much fine stuff he's done over the years).

[Jurassic Shark 12,008]

18 hours ago, publicist said:

Don't expect too much: apart from an attractive german lullaby culled from the romantic period (and Swing Kids) and three haunting, dreamy piano pieces, it's repetitive and boring for long stretches (long winded string chords and piano pedals going nowhere), and the pen-ultimate cue is another reworking of the long melodramatic finale of 'House and Sand and Fog', which is much better in that score. Cues of note are 1, 2, 5, 10 and 12.

 

Both the penultimate track of Pajamas and the final tracks of Sand and Fog are heavily inspired by the sound world of Arvo Pärt - the former sounds like a variation over the first movement of Tabula Rasa, with approx. the same duration. I'd be surprised if that movement wasn't used as the temp track.

[Nick1Ø66 4,687]

6 hours ago, Thor said:

No other Horner score has managed to move me on such a deeply personal level.

 

Thor...be honest. Think back...were you the boy in the striped pyjamas?  

 

It's going to be OK.
 

 

[publicist 4,643]

1 hour ago, Jurassic Shark said:

Both the penultimate track of Pajamas and the final tracks of Sand and Fog are heavily inspired by the sound world of Arvo Pärt - the former sounds like a variation over the first movement of Tabula Rasa, with approx. the same duration. I'd be surprised if that movement wasn't used as the temp track.

 

Sounds much more agitated than Horner's.

[Jurassic Shark 12,008]

2 minutes ago, publicist said:

 

Sounds much more agitated than Horner's.

 

Yeah, that's why I called it a variation. The basic ingredients are all there, as seen through Horner's lens.

[publicist 4,643]

It sounds more like 'Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten'.

[Jurassic Shark 12,008]

It also sounds like other works by Pärt, not surprisingly.