The Wicker Man (Original Soundtrack Album)
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Composer: Paul GiovanniConductor: Gary Carpenter
Performer: Gary Carpenter
Performer: Thomas the Rhymer
Performer: Wicker Man Ensemble
Performer: Christopher Lee
Performer: Diane Cilento
Performer: Lesley Mackie
Performer: Paul Giovanni
Performer: Rachel Verney
Performer: Sally Presant
Performer: Walter Kerr
Edition: Music CD
Format: Soundtrack
CD Release Date: 2002-09-24
Music Label: Silva America
Soundtracks:
- Corn Rigs
- The Landlord's Daughter
- Gentle Johnny
- Maypole
- Fire Leap
- The Tinker Of Rye
- Willow's Song
- Procession
- Chop Chop
- Lullaby
- Festival / Mirie It Is / Sumer Is A-Cumen In
- Opening Music / Loving Couples / The Ruined Church
- The Masks / The Hobby Horse
- Searching For Rowan
- Appointment With The Wicker Man
- Sunset
Music reviews of The Wicker Man (Original Soundtrack Album)
Music Review: Wonderfully original soundtrack
Rating: 4 Stars
The Wicker Man certainly is a Trojan Horse. It appeared on the surface to be a rather cheap and badly made film. But the twist in the story is one of the best in film history (imo). The soundtrack is very bizzare. At times, some of the music reminds me of Mike Oldfields early work, such as Hergest Ridge and parts of Ommadawn. But just as you think there is one "style" to this soundtrack, the next song is totally different.
The "Corn Rigs" is a nice little folky tune. In the film,it seems unsuitable though. It's used in sudden short bursts which dim to nothing very suddenly. But i guess it's trying to set the scene for "Everything is alright in this Scottish island town". The "Landlords daughter" is a great "Beer swigging and rocking side to side" one. The scene is one of those "Walk into pub and everything stops (including the music)" moments that are very funny and actually quite common in reality. But on this newly released version,it lacks the rough edge of it in the film, when they're teasing Woodward about the landlord's daughter. On the CD it sounds a bit too "Comical". In the film, it's rather creepy. Lots of "nudge nudge, wink wink,say no more" type of atmosphere which doesn't transfer so strongly onto the CD, for me.
"Gently Johnny" is a mellow and very 'visual' piece that stands well outside of the film. "Maypole" is one of my favourites in the film and on this album. The lyrics symbolizing the endless creation cycle of life. Great stuff, and one of those songs that gets stuck in your mind if you're not carefull. "Fire leap" is very 'pagan' (if i can use it to describe this). I hear that for research for the music, some very old pagan songs were researched and altered. Perhaps this is one. Very harmonic. "The Tinker of Rye" is the one that most people cannot stand. It's comically awfull.
In the film, i had to laugh at Christopher Lee sitting at the Piano in a kilt, singing Tinker of Rye in that very deep operatic voice. His accompaniament is truly awful when it comes to singing. "Willows Song" is the one we all love. What a mellow piece. I was born a year after this movie came out. But the 'sound' of this song brings me to that era somehow. It's very "Hergest Ridge" (Mike Oldfield) that song. One of the songs on this album that is not quirky, but quite a serious and well made song. After this, we get into the Brass band moments with "Procession", which are very unusual and quirky. "Chop chop" gives us some bagpipes and bodhran drums for the "gamble" scene with the swords. "Lullaby" is a wonderful little piece. The sacrifical lamb being prepared. Quite a mystical and calming piece.
The next "Festival/Summer is a-cumen in" (never worked out why they didn't write "Comin' in" (as it should be written). Perhaps for reasons of possible misunderstanding?. This one is the most disturbing of the lot. At 1:59 into it,it's all rocking side to side in glee. When they begin singing it's very disturbing in the film. Considering what is about to happen, the rocking side to side glee of this song and the look of happiness on their faces is very disturbing. Hence, it was the perfect choice of song for this scene if they wanted to shock the viewers. At the end of this song they include the terrified voice of Woodward, screaming "Oh god....oh jesus christ" at the site that confronts him.
The "opening" song truly is beautiful and feels the most accurate of all the songs, in terms of culture and location. Beautiful. After this point, we head into much of the incidental music as such that occured in the film. Such as the "Hobby Horse" where woodward is chasing the hobby horse character around the town. This includes the footsteps and clapping of the wooden horse's mouth. I dont know if this was intentional, or if they had no choice as perhaps the master tapes are now long gone. "Searching for Rowen" is good, but the last minute or so seem way out of place. An electric guitar makes it way in.
"Sunset" is (as in the film) quite unsuitable in my opinion. Something about it just doesn't feel right in that final scene. It's too professional a piece of scoring compared to elsewhere in the soundtrack. Overall,this is a bizzare soundtrack but one to own because this is a rare chance to get it in this format. Hail the Queen of the may!!!
Description of The Wicker Man (Original Soundtrack Album)
Extraordinarily literate and thoroughly compelling, The Wicker Man has often been called the Citizen Kane of horror movies. Writer Anthony Shaffer and director Robin Hardy built their contemporary (1973) English murder mystery/thriller upon gothic Druid underpinnings and wisely gave songwriter-composer Paul Giovanni (whose first and only film score this is) the freedom to create music of a piece. The score remains one of the most unusual in the entire genre: a collection of original, well-researched folk songs and instrumental underscore that evoke a rare, eerily discomfiting sense of displaced time and place--'70s folk-pop informed by ancient forces of nature and superstition. Long a holy grail among soundtrack aficionados, this lavishly packaged and annotated release has been prepared from recently discovered master tapes with a clarity and presence that gives the late Giovanni's haunting music the gratifying showcase it's so long deserved. --Jerry McCulleyPop CDs
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