Legends of the Fall
James Horner

Review

This is Horner at his best. A grand and sweeping score for a very good film. Its beautiful blend of Japanese flute, fiddle and orchestra makes this soundtrack suitable for all occasions. The eleventh track must be one of the best tracks ever written for a movie. There are a number of different themes running through the score: the mellow sound for life on the ranch; the big, bassy sound for action sequences; and the eerie, pipes for revenge. Horner skilfully weaves these together to give you a wide tapestry to use.

The length of the tracks makes it hard to fit them to events, and should be used for background music to evoke moods. There are exceptions, and tracks eleven could be used quite well for an ambush or attack scene.

I tend to think of it is a fantasy score, because that is where you are going to have more sweeping vistas, but it would still have science fiction applications. Well recommended.

Track Listing and Notes

  1. Legends Of The Fall (4:17) - used to scare the characters ~ grand and operatic for sweeping landscapes
  2. The Ludlows (5:40) - happy, nice music
  3. Off To War (5:55) - a hint of sadness, taking your leave
  4. To The Boys (2:48) - heroic battles
  5. Samuel's Death (8:24) - battle: of death and dying, loss and loneliness, of feeling and revenge
  6. Alfred Moves To Helena (3:00) - let us sit around the fire and tell each other sad stories
  7. Farewell/Descent Into Madness (8:13) - madness and sadness
  8. The Changing Seasons/Wild Horses, Tristan's Return (5:11) - something strange is in the air, there is a change about: for better or worse
  9. The Wedding (3:06) - strangely quiet and unremarkable
  10. Isabel's Murder, Recollections Of Samuel (3:58) - sadness
  11. Revenge (6:20) - darkness and death, anger and revenge, a kind of poetry
  12. Goodbyes (3:11) - something brewing in the air and of endings
  13. Alfred, Tristan, The Colonel, The Legend (15:10) - war ~ grand honour being swept up into an epic

Total Running Time: 75:18

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© 1997 - 2002 David Schibeci

Legends of the Fall © 1995 Sony Music Entertainment Inc.