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James Horner's In Country (New Intrada CD Feb 19 2013)


Jay

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INTRADA Announces:

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IN COUNTRY

Composed and Conducted by JAMES HORNER

INTRADA Special Collection Vol. 230

By 1989, composer James Horner had firmly established himself in the upper echelons of film music. That year alone brought diverse projects such as the comedy-drama Dad, the wacky family film Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, the brutal Civil War drama Glory and a third Oscar nomination for the mystical Field of Dreams. While Glory’s battlements necessitated large orchestral forces and the Harlem Boys Choir to depict the awful effects of war, In Country required a more introspective musical take. The music consists primarily of solo instruments and small chamber ensembles, only opening up during the climactic battle flashback and the finale at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Whether voiced on the trumpet or another instrument, the powerful main theme weaves throughout the score as “distant memories” of what was loved and lost. The poignant highlight of the score is the finale at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in which Horner provides a 10-minute emotional tour de force that builds in intensity, combining the primary themes and motifs as the trio search for Dwayne’s name and Emmett’s fellow comrades-in-arms on the Memorial Wall.

When Intrada embarked on this project, Warner Bros. produced from their vaults two rolls of high speed tape already assembled and produced by James Horner for a potential 39-minute LP (sides A & B) and CD release back in the day (including the longer than standard pauses between tracks that he favors when presenting music of reflection and emotion). At the end of the B roll, we discovered 12 minutes of additional music consisting of the remaining cues in the film that Horner didn’t include on the planned album, but that he nonetheless mixed and assembled for posterity. Intrada was happily able to gain his approval for the complete master, extras and all.

Based on Bobbie Ann Mason’s celebrated 1985 novel, In Country stars Emily Lloyd as a teenager in a sleepy Kentucky town who yearns to discover how the father she never met died “in country,” the term soldiers used to define their tours of duty in Vietnam. At the same time, she tries to understand the damage afflicting her uncle, a battle-scarred Vietnam vet (Bruce Willis).

INTRADA Special Collection Vol. 230

Retail Price: $19.99

Available Now

For track listing and sound samples, please visit

http://store.intrada.com/s.nl/it.A/id.7972/.f

IN COUNTRY

Label: Intrada Special Collection Volume 230
Date: 1989
Tracks: 17
Time = 51:31
World premiere release of emotionally rich James Horner soundtrack for Norman Jewison film about soldier's reconciliation with Vietnam war and himself, starring Bruce Willis, Emily Lloyd. Dramatic, moving tale inspires Horner to write music with great melodic depth. Haunting minor-key trumpet solo often gets deserved spotlight. Line remains one of Horner's finest. Military backdrop plus tender friendship in story also inspire ideas both reflective, dramatic. "Three Generations" (both as piano solo & piano with orchestra) is incredibly tender piece. Another highlight is elegiac 10-minute "Fallen Friends". Beautiful music! Intrada presents complete score from original two-track stereo session mixes, courtesy Warner Bros. and Watertower Music. "The Album" offers 39-minute program originally produced by composer in 1989 for possible release on Warner Bros. label. "The Extras" feature additional cues not included on album. James Horner conducts. Intrada Special Collection release available while quantities and interest remain!
The Album
01. Distant Memories 5:04
02. Dwayne's Letters 2:45
03. Faraway Thoughts 3:59
04. Three Generations (Piano Solo) 2:49
05. The Letter Home 2:37
06. In Country 6:52
07. Emmett 2:30
08. The Vietnam Memorial 2:11
09. Fallen Friends 10:04
Total Album Time: 39:18
The Extras
10. First Flashback 0:54
11. Finding Photo 0:46
12. Just A Country Boy 1:12
13. The Vietnam Memorial 1:03
14. Three Generations (Piano with Orchestra) 2:48
15. Family Supper 1:14
16. Family Supper 1:15
17. The Storm 2:33
Total Extras Time: 12:04
James Horner

Price: $19.99

http://store.intrada.com/s.nl/it.A/id.7972/.f

http://www.moviemusic.com/soundtrack/M08774/incountry/

http://www.screenarchives.com/title_detail.cfm/ID/24129/

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Does anybody here have this release? If so, what do you think of it?

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I have it, just got around to listening to it for the first time last night. It has that Horner sound, on a small scale. Beautiful trumpet solos. The piano passages are great, and his string writing is very familiar. Familiar in a good way - there really isn't any of his self quoting in here. It's a very nice score, something that would actually compliment Saving Private Ryan very well.

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What Joe said, I'm surprised there hasn't been more comments on this. It was one of those scores many fans kept asking for.

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What Joe said, I'm surprised there hasn't been more comments on this. It was one of those scores many fans kept asking for.

Probably because I didn't even know of this film nor that Horner scored it until I saw reviews of the CD when it came out. And at the moment my budget is limited so Horner releases are not prioritized on my shopping list. The labels do crank out more good stuff than I can afford.

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Does anybody here have this release? If so, what do you think of it?

I wrote an article about this album

Extract:

"All that said, In Country is a score that is both influenced and an influence. It illustrates the composer’s stylistic maturity that he has forged over the first part of his career and that is reflected in other symphonic jewels of the same period, namely The Land Before Time or Willow. This score is also the result of ten years of experience writing for cinema, a demonstration of evolution in his orchestrations compared to the style developed in the eighties, but also a step forward as this album directly leads us in what will be the composer’s music in the mid-nineties. To rediscover such a work twenty-four years after its creation is a gift, a treasure chest and true pleasure to explore thoroughly. In Country or the missing and essential link of emotion by James Horner."

Link: http://jameshorner-filmmusic.com/in-country-in-jewelry/

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