Michael Kamen's THE THREE MUSKETEERS (1993) - 2025 Intrada 2-CD edition

[filmmusic 2,619]

 

Just announced on facebook!

Wow! What I think is the best Kamen score, at last in complete (?) form!

[Meredith McKay 7,858]

9 minutes ago, filmmusic said:

 

Just announced on facebook!

Wow! What I think is the best Kamen score, at last in complete (?) form!

 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/95015405220/permalink/10171722160020221/

Your post is not yet complete, I fixed it for you.

 

 

[Groovygoth666 1,143]

Fantastic news! When Intrada said they were working on a Kamen expansion release for this year, 3 Musketeers was top of my wish list! 

[Jay 42,388]

Great!

[1977 1,814]

1 hour ago, filmmusic said:

 

Just announced on facebook!

Wow! What I think is the best Kamen score, at last in complete (?) form!

 

Fantastic! More Disney stuff is always welcome.

 

And did our friend @Steffromuk do the cover?

[Steffromuk 584]

9 minutes ago, 1977 said:

 

Fantastic! More Disney stuff is always welcome.

 

And did our friend @Steffromuk do the cover?

I think he did 😉

[Frank Vincent 263]

Fantastic news!

[Tom Guernsey 3,246]

Damn. Beat me to it. Really looking forward to this one. I always enjoyed it more than Robin Hood POT (although you can argue how comparable they are but I always kinda think of them as a pair). Very excited for this. 

[Muad'Dib 1,940]

Wonderful!

[Edmilson 10,471]

[Demondm810 434]

Oh my god, FANTASTIC

[Thor 9,308]

It's a gorgeous, fun score. Everytime there is an announcement like this, it's like a reminder -- I peek over to my CD shelf to see if I still have it (since I've traded off so many things over the years), and thankfully it sits there, comfortably.

[crocodile 9,177]

I will be getting this, most likely. How is the material outside of the album? I've never seen this.

 

Karol

[Edmilson 10,471]

Me neither, but I listened to the OST a few weeks ago and I liked it. If Robin Hood is more English and medieval then TTM is more baroque.

 

The OST has decent listening experience, but I'd like to experience the score in a complete & chronological format (even though I think Kamen's scores feel a tad too long than they should, typical case of overscoring).

 

I've never seen the movie, it seems to have been even more forgotten than Prince of Thieves. According to Jon Broxton, "most of the action music from the end of the film is missing entirely, and has never been released.".

[Groovygoth666 1,143]

 

14 hours ago, Tom Guernsey said:

I always enjoyed it more than Robin Hood POT (I always kinda think of them as a pair).

Not sure if I like this more, maybe this expansion will illuminate, but agree that they're a pair, whenever I listen to one have to listen to the other. 

 

6 hours ago, Edmilson said:

I've never seen the movie, it seems to have been even more forgotten than Prince of Thieves. According to Jon Broxton, "most of the action music from the end of the film is missing entirely, and has never been released.".

I think this was because a lot of the score for the final act hadn't been recorded when the album was being produced (although can't find a source for that so could be mixing it up with something else) 

 

Also just learned Bon Jovi did a song for this film that went unused and think All For Love was a much better choice, just the perfect kind of 90's cheese! 

[Director of Poltergeist 8,091]

It's a good movie and score. Kiefer Sutherland looked like Obi-Wan in the prequels and Oliver Platt was sort of a prototype for Jack Sparrow, if he was kinda chunky. Disney used to put out fun live action movies in that Eisner era.

[WampaRat 1,793]

YYEEEESSS!!!!

I made these alternate covers forever ago, hoping they would one day make it!
Cannot wait! 

I have a lot of nostalgia for this film and score alongside Prince of Thieves (which Disney was definitely trying to capitalize on.)

The film seemed to have a lot of tracking of "the swordfight" and "carriage chase" cues all throughout. I'll be curious to hear if that was actually recorded, tracked, or what Kamen's original intentions were.

Now the real question is will Intrada release a 4Disc version of this score later ala their "Prince of Thieves release model"? 

[Andy 5,974]

I don’t think I’ve ever heard this. Definitely didn’t see the movie. But it sounds like Good Kamen, not Bad Kamen. 

[Bellosh 4,247]

Would I like this if I love Prince of Thieves?

[WampaRat 1,793]

@Andy, @Bellosh,  Its Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves but more refined and filtered through classical baroque stylings. Its also really beautifully performed, like his 101 Dalmations score. One of his best. I love his Robin Hood score, but you can tell in the expanded form what a crunch he was in. Some of the orchestral performances in that score sound a bit rough.

Here's a few tracks to get you started:

 

I posted this a bit ago. But here's my joke about how badly Disney wanted to replicate the success of Robin Hood - Prince of Thieves:

I'm sure the pitch went thusly:
"Prince of Thieves had that Bryan Adams song with Michael Kamen's score. Lets do that PLUS Sting! And Rod Stewart!
"Prince of Thieves had Alan Rickman. Let's get Tim Curry!"

"Prince of Thieves had Michael Wincott as a second-in-comand baddie. Let's do that too!"
"What's better than one miscast American with a mullet in a classic swashbuckler? THREE Americans with mullets and one perm-sporting Chris O' Donald!"

[Director of Poltergeist 8,091]

All For Love is a great song 

[WampaRat 1,793]

I found this great interview with Kamen where he talks about the research he did for Three Musketeers and Robin Hood. It also goes into some of his other work.
https://cnmsarchive.wordpress.com/2013/07/23/michael-kamen/

There was another interview I was trying to locate that was conducted around the time he was initially scoring the film back in '93. He detailed recording upwards of 2 hours of music for the film. Can't seem to find it though. 

Wonder if they'll go into the beef Rod Stewart and Sting had while trying to record "All For Love."  
https://www.smoothradio.com/features/the-story-of/all-for-love-bryan-adams-rod-stewart-sting/

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,914]

10 hours ago, WampaRat said:

I found this great interview with Kamen where he talks about the research he did for Three Musketeers and Robin Hood. It also goes into some of his other work.
https://cnmsarchive.wordpress.com/2013/07/23/michael-kamen/

 

Very nice!

[Bayesian 1,513]

18 hours ago, WampaRat said:

I found this great interview with Kamen where he talks about the research he did for Three Musketeers and Robin Hood. It also goes into some of his other work.
https://cnmsarchive.wordpress.com/2013/07/23/michael-kamen/

There was another interview I was trying to locate that was conducted around the time he was initially scoring the film back in '93. He detailed recording upwards of 2 hours of music for the film. Can't seem to find it though. 

Wonder if they'll go into the beef Rod Stewart and Sting had while trying to record "All For Love."  
https://www.smoothradio.com/features/the-story-of/all-for-love-bryan-adams-rod-stewart-sting/

Great find! Thanks for sharing. 
 

One thing confuses me though, after reading this—I was always under the impression that RH:PoT was a rush job and that’s why Kamen turned to using a whole slew of orchestrators. But it seems like he had a normal amount of time to write that score. 

[HunterTech 1,505]

3 hours ago, Bayesian said:

One thing confuses me though, after reading this—I was always under the impression that RH:PoT was a rush job and that’s why Kamen turned to using a whole slew of orchestrators. But it seems like he had a normal amount of time to write that score. 

 

When you compare Jonathan Broxton's story on how the production of X-Men's score went, versus how Kamen officially talked about it, you certainly get the impression that he's very cordial when it comes to talking about his experiences on more hectic productions.

[Groovygoth666 1,143]

On sale now, and here's the tracklist -

CD 1 THE SCORE
01. The Cavern Of Cardinal Richelieu Film Version) (3:29)
02. My Sister’s Honor (1:20)
03. D’Artagnan (Intended Film Version)* (2:54)
04. Musketeers Disbanded (2:29)
05. Enter The Cardinal (1:28)
06. Windmill (1:34)
07. D’Artagnan Meets Constance (4:22)
08. God’s Often Busy (1:55)
09. Palace Gate/For Me And For France (3:30)
10. Chandelier (2:21)
11. D’Artagnan Meets The Musketeers/The Ruins Fight (4:56)
12. Last Rites (1:57)
13. The Dungeon (2:48)
14. Cardinal And Milady (2:27)
15. D’Artagnan Discovered/Now We’ll Never Know (0:48)
16. Beheading (1:45)
17. Carriage Chase (6:29)
18. Into The Sunset (0:58)
19. Athos’s Story (2:37)
20. Musketeers Ride (0:32)
21. Cannonballs (Film Version) (1:10)
22. Talk Of Love (1:29)
23. Affairs Of State/Athos Cornered (5:13)
24. Rumors (3:35)
25. D’Artagnan And Milady (5:11)
26. Ship Fight (1:36)
27. Athos And Milady (2:32)
28. Milady In Jail (3:57)
CD 1 Total Time: 75:24

*Not Featured in Film

 

CD 2 THE SCORE (Cont.)
01. Musketeer Montage/Spotting The Gun (2:55)
02. Brass Fanfare (1:00)
03. Race To The Gun/Courtyard Battle (4:02)
04. Saving The King/Throne Room Battle (3:52)
05. The Musketeers Search For The King (2:21)
06. Porthos And Ugly/D’Artagnan Defeats Rochefort (3:28)
07. The Fourth Musketeer (Choir Version)* (5:21)
Total Score Time: 98:23

THE EXTRAS
08. My Sister’s Honor (Alternate)* (1:21)
09. D’Artagnan* (Alternate) (2:55)
10. Tavern Source (1:42)
The Extras Time: 5:58

1993 SOUNDTRACK ALBUM
11. All For Love (4:43)
      (Performed by Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart and Sting)
12. The Cavern Of Cardinal Richelieu (Overture – Passacaille) (2:58)
13. D’Artagnan (Galliard & Air) (3:19)
14. Athos, Porthos And Aramis (Courante) (5:21)
15. Sword Fight (Bransle) (3:19)
16. King Louis XIII, Queen Anne And Constance – Lady In Waiting (Gavotte) (5:06)
17. The Cardinal’s Coach (Estampie) (4:43)
18. Cannonballs (Rigadoon) (3:27)
19. M’Lady DeWinter (Lament) (4:16)
20. The Fourth Musketeer (Concert Royaux) (5:20)
Soundtrack Album Time: 42:32

CD 2 Total Time: 71:30)

[mstrox 7,211]

Ordered.  Genuinely surprised the song ended up on this!

[WampaRat 1,793]

Ordered!
Very very excited.

52 minutes ago, HunterTech said:

 

When you compare Jonathan Broxton's story on how the production of X-Men's score went, versus how Kamen officially talked about it, you certainly get the impression that he's very cordial when it comes to talking about his experiences on more hectic productions.

He was a class act. He also seemed hard pressed to swear in that interview lol (who says "stinky" instead of "sh*ty" in the entertainment/music industry? )

Listening to the samples. Its cool to hear that "Ship Fight" isn't just a tracked version of the sword fight cue earlier in the film. Theres lots more going on than I could hear in the film. 

[Jurassic Shark 14,970]

5 hours ago, mstrox said:

Ordered.  Genuinely surprised the song ended up on this!

 

Cue new release of Robin Hood. 

[mstrox 7,211]

9 hours ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

Cue new release of Robin Hood. 

Finally!

[Marian Schedenig 10,139]

On 25/05/2025 at 2:55 AM, WampaRat said:

Some of the orchestral performances in that score sound a bit rough.

 

That's a bit of an understatement?

 

On 25/05/2025 at 2:55 AM, WampaRat said:

I posted this a bit ago. But here's my joke about how badly Disney wanted to replicate the success of Robin Hood - Prince of Thieves:

I'm sure the pitch went thusly:

 

How does shooting in Vienna fit into that list? (I've never seen the film, but I remember seeing the barriers they put up to keep the public away when I was at school)

 

On 25/05/2025 at 2:55 AM, WampaRat said:

"Prince of Thieves had Michael Wincott as a second-in-comand baddie. Let's do that too!"

 

To be fair, he was in everything during that time.

[WampaRat 1,793]

Got my shipping order! Should show up at my door soon.

[MedigoScan 371]

On 27/05/2025 at 6:34 AM, Jurassic Shark said:

 

Cue new release of Robin Hood. 

Maybe when they have finally found the mythical 'Robin Hood lives' track.

[Jurassic Shark 14,970]

3 minutes ago, MedigoScan said:

Maybe when they have finally found the mythical 'Robin Hood lives' track.

 

Will we get this or a new release of Inchon first? 🤔

[Edmilson 10,471]

28 minutes ago, MedigoScan said:

Maybe when they have finally found the mythical 'Robin Hood lives' track.

Wait, the 2020 LLL is still not complete despite running for 4 hours across 3 CDs? Which cue is this "Robin Hood lives"?

[crocodile 9,177]

7 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

Wait, the 2020 LLL is still not complete despite running for 4 hours across 3 CDs?

Nope, about 5 minutes missing. The ever-elusive 12M1.

 

Karol

[Edmilson 10,471]

Geez. Is it an important cue with interesting material? Or something not that substantial or interesting?

[Jurassic Shark 14,970]

Is it on YouTube?

[MedigoScan 371]

Its interesting. They've just lost the source.

They had enough trouble trying to find the other tracks that the first special edition also missed

[WampaRat 1,793]

30 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

Geez. Is it an important cue with interesting material? Or something not that substantial or interesting?

 

 

28 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

Is it on YouTube?

I looked to see if I could find the scene on Youtube. Couldn't find it. But if you're familiar with the film, its after the big celt battle in the forest. Azeem is searching the bodies in the aftermath, looking for Robin. We see his silhouette (and 90s feathered mullet!) against the english fog, letting the audience know he's alive and well. 
The cue is a brief but triumphant rendition of the main Prince of Thieves theme. Not super substantial. Its short. Is it significant/important? Kinda. Do you need it to have a fuller appreciation of Kamen's musical narrative? Nah. Not really. It's one of my favorite scores, and even I have a tough time making it through that entire set lol.

[Jay 42,388]

44 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

Wait, the 2020 LLL is still not complete despite running for 4 hours across 3 CDs?

It was Intrada, and it is 4-CDs.

[Jurassic Shark 14,970]

19 minutes ago, WampaRat said:

The cue is a brief but triumphant rendition of the main Prince of Thieves theme.

 

Wasn't it supposed to be 5 minutes long?

[Jay 42,388]

Roger posted this in 2018, after their 2018 2-CD edition was released:

 

For those asking about completeness, here's what is missing that could not be found on any source, anywhere:

 

01M04 - And His Merry Men (5:08) DVD: 0:05:57 - 0:10:47

Plays from Robin and Azeem's budding friendship through the destruction of Locsley Manor.

02M02A - Arrow (1:15) DVD: 0:17:54 - 0:19:06

Plays as Robin saves the child in the tree from Gisborne. Sounds very much like a construct.

09M01A - "Wild Times" (:38) DVD: 1:19:45 - 1:20:23

The film version of the Jeff Lynne pop song from the album.

10M00B - "Medieval Dance Source #3" (1:12) DVD: 1:25:03 - 1:26:09

12M01 - "Marriage Plans / Robin's Alive" (4:53) DVD: 1:41:18 - 1:46:04

Plays from Sheriff's forced marriage proposal to Sheriff telling Marian Robin is Dead, to Robin's survival.

13M01C - Hangman's Drums (1:51) DVD: 1:57:00 - 1:57:55

Just a repeating drum pattern. Nothing special here.

 

There's also a little bit of music that starts right at the beginning of the end credits and plays for 20 seconds before the Bryan Adams song kicks in. 

 

It's definitely dropped in, and frankly the edit is really bad.

 

Source: https://www.intrada.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=78617#p78617

 

 

Bold highlighting is mine.  I believe all the other music he talks about in this 2018 post eventually showed up on their 2020 edition when they found a source with more music on it, but the part I bolded is the major thing that still wasn't found anywhere.

[WampaRat 1,793]

Just going off my memory, but the fanfare bit is brief. The majority of the cue I wanna say is reminiscent of Witch material and "Gisborn Brings Bad News." So, save for that fanfare bit, we have a lot of similar music already throughout the set.  

[HunterTech 1,505]

14 minutes ago, Jay said:

Bold highlighting is mine.  I believe all the other music he talks about in this 2018 post eventually showed up on their 2020 edition when they found a source with more music on it, but the part I bolded is the major thing that still wasn't found anywhere.

 

The Jeff Lynne track remains unavailable, due to licensing restrictions

[MedigoScan 371]

Jay's list excluded some other stuff that was all added to the 4CD edition later on. (Boy in the Tree, Celt Battle Pt2, Will Captured). Presumably because those were parts of larger tracks.

So all that is missing is definitely the Robins Alive/Marriage Plans

[Jurassic Shark 14,970]

12 hours ago, HunterTech said:

 

The Jeff Lynne track remains unavailable, due to licensing restrictions

 

Bummer, that's the heart of the score...

[WampaRat 1,793]

My copy arrived on Friday and I've been listening to this all weekend. Really fantastic stuff. Taking this score as a whole compared to Robin Hood, I'm currently leaning towards Three Musketeers. Perhaps there's some recency bias there. Sure, the main theme and song never took off the way Prince of Thieves did. But I believe that score walked so Three Musketeers could run!

The amount of time given to Kamen to work on this one certainly must have helped. There's so much joy in the scherzo-like action cues. You can tell Kamen relished the opportunity to let loose. The orchestra must have had a ball. (Side note: I love hearing the occasional chair creak, page turn, and rare performance flub - much less than PoT! - in this recording. It just feels so alive and organic compared to the uber-processed scores of today. Even ones that supposedly utilize a full orchestra, you can never tell by the mix.)

It struck me while listening to this score, that if you were to make a list of the top 20 action scores of the 90s, this one wouldn't even make the list. There are just far too many better scores that have had a more significant impact on the medium. But that makes me love this one even more. An old-fashioned adventure swashbuckling score dripping with romance, joy, action, heartbreak, and malevolence, for a long-forgotten "mid" Disney movie in the early 90s. Probably considered "workman-like" by some at the time. And yet, it's LEAGUES above anything that's being written today.

Here's a little thematic breakdown I've put together that might help some appreciate this score more. I'll go back and include time stamps and more specific examples of each if anyone is interested. But this should help some fun discoveries along the way.

Musketeer "Sigil" Motif - Derived from the opening 4 notes (3 with the 4th being a repeat of the second note in the phrase) of the verse in "All For Love". (It reminds me a lot of the opening phrase of Thomas Newman's Meet Joe Black theme!) It appears all over the score and potentially represents the ideals of the Musketeers. Opens the beginning of "The Cavern of Cardinal Richelieu." 

Musketeers "All For Love" Motif - 6 note melody taken from the main chorus of the title song of the same name. Surprisingly, it's used sparingly throughout the score. Seems to appear as a rallying call to arms. Best heard as D'Art enters the city in " D'Artagnon Meets Constance" and "Courtyard Battle" as those loyal to the King join the fight, and the finale after D'Artangnon finally joins the Musketeers in "The Fourth Musketeer."

D'Artagnon theme - A joyful, long-lined melody best heard in "D'Artagnon (Intended Version)". The first five notes of this theme often get used as its own motif. At times it can recall Horner's 'danger motif' when played rapidly in a minor key. It almost blurs into the 'Musketeer Sigil motif' as D'Art gets closer to becoming a Musketeer himself. I included the alternate "D'Artagnon" track as a great end credits closer in my playlist.

Merry Chase motif - Could potentially be a 'B' Theme for D'Artagnon. Reminiscent of Prince of Thieves 's rapid octave-jumping fanfare section. Best heard in "Cannonballs," the middle section of "D'Artagnon," and the end fanfare of "The Fourth Musketeer."

Sword fight theme - A lively, long-lined idea that usually accompanies the Musketeers swashing their buckles. See "The Ruins Fight", "Ship Fight", or the beginning of "The Carriage Chase" Gosh, I love this rollicking 6/8(?) feel!

Carriage Chase theme - A more serious "stakes-rising" type of action theme, predominantly featured in the cardinal's carriage chase scene. But it also appears in fragments in the climactic sword fight to save the king. See "The Carriage Chase pt 2" and "Saving The King"

Love theme - A beautiful tune that only plays once in full as Queen Anne and Constance discuss love ( and thus failing the Bechdal test) in "Talk of Love". But a whiff of it does appear at the end after D'Artagnon dispatches Rochefort.

Cardinal/Evil Guards motif - A snarling, descending 2-note motif (the first note repeated 4 times, followed by 3ish(?) blasts of the second). Associated with the Cardinal's evil doings. Pops up all over. "The Cavern ..." is a good showcase of most of the bad guy material, including the following:
"Bad Guys On The Move" motif - A stomping, churning mini march that often accompanies the Cardinal/guards as they storm through dungeons, hallways, etc. 
"Ascent To Power" motif - Rising/descending religioso chords/choir that appear to represent the cardinal's evil schemes and culminate in a blast of 4-3 notes.

Also the Cardinal's schemes are accompanied by some truly eerie altered choir murmurs and moaning.("Into The Sunset", "Affairs of State," "Rumors"). Really appropriately unsettling stuff. Some of my favorite quieter moments in the score. It's a quality of the score that is mixed poorly in the film. Very glad to hear it on this set!

MiLady theme -  A beautifully tragic theme for the Countess, revealing the sadness behind the Femme Fatal who did what she could to survive. First heard in "Cardinal and MiLady". " Later in "Athos' Story", "Milady in Jail."

Mystery/Ship Motif (?) - Pops up as DeWinter and crew attempt to flee on a boat before they are surprised by the Musketeers the the last half of "D'Artagnon and Milady". The cascading harp/string melody gets woven throughout the swordfight music of that scene, which is what sets it apart from just transition music. So I included it on this list. 

 

 

[Jfallon 48]

Perfectly stated WampaRat! I also am leaning towards liking this better than RH after hearing this remastered and complete version. It can’t sound any better. RH to me seems to have a muddy sound compared to the freshness of this Musketeers release. Wonder if that’s how it was recorded.. anyway one of Kamen’s best!

[thestat 496]

It's a fine score and Kamen clearly put some effort into this - I do wonder how much time good old Don Davis spent on this: