Search - Cliff Eidelman :: Now And Then: Original Motion Picture Score

Exquisite

Stuart M. Paine | Arlington, VA USA | 12/07/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I should begin by confessing that I absolutely adore a great amount of film music, and usually "listen to" more than "watch" films. I own hundreds of such albums and I will sometimes make up my own soundtrack directly from a film. I purchased this CD from Amazon and told myself that if I were to like it, which I expected to, being already familiar with Eidelman's "sound", then I would review it, because the other review, not being in English, will be of little use to most shoppers visiting this site.



The music here is almost all of a piece. It's quiet, plaintive, consoling, mostly gentle piano accompanied by strings (or vice-versa), with a little clarinet here, a bit of oboe there. I recall two swells that utilize some brass. It's very linear. The sound is similar to (the late) Elmer Bernstein in FRANKIE STARLIGHT or TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, or (likewise) Michael Kamen in WHAT DREAMS MAY COME. The feel is pastoral and hymnlike. It's comfortable with itself and immediately pleasing. For those who know other of Mr. Eidelman's film scores, I would compare this to A SIMPLE TWIST OF FATE or FREE WILLY 3, but it is decidedly more inward than the latter. I believe most people would simply describe it as "calming", which it most certainly is.



I got this CD used and I could almost feel guilty for having gotten something so lovely for so little. I highly recommend it. Cliff Eidelman is a wonderful composer!"