Cutthroat Island (soundtrack)
The score for the pirate film Cutthroat Island was composed by John Debney.
| Cutthroat Island | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by John Debney | ||||
| Released | 1995 | |||
| Genre | Soundtrack | |||
| Length | 70:31 | |||
| Label | Silva Screen FILMCD 178 | |||
| Producer | John Debney | |||
| John Debney chronology | ||||
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The music was performed by the London Symphony Orchestra, with choral contributions by the London Voices and was conducted by David Snell.
Although the actual film was a commercial disaster, the score has been praised for its style, reminiscent of the Golden Age Hollywood swashbuckling scores by Erich Wolfgang Korngold,.[1][2][3][4][5] It has been noted as one of Debney's greatest compositions, alongside The Passion of the Christ. The score used traditional orchestration backed with choir, a practice Debney considered necessary to avoid the music's sounding "too old fashioned".[6]
Particularly, conservative critics have considered this score as one of the best in the genre.[1]
1995 release
Two CDs were released with the score in 1995, one of them by Silva studios,[7] and another by Nu.Millenia Records.[8] Both releases have the same tracks.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Main Title : Morgan's Ride" | 4:38 |
| 2. | "Carriage Chase" | 7:20 |
| 3. | "The Language of Romance" | 2:39 |
| 4. | "Setting Sail" | 1:03 |
| 5. | "To the Bottom of the Sea" | 2:43 |
| 6. | "Morgan Takes the Ship" | 4:30 |
| 7. | "The Funeral" | 1:30 |
| 8. | "The Rescue" | 3:41 |
| 9. | "Discovery of the Treasure" | 2:19 |
| 10. | "The Big Jump" | 2:38 |
| 11. | "The Storm Begins" | 2:33 |
| 12. | "Morgan Captured/Sword Fight" | 5:23 |
| 13. | "Shaw Steals the Map" | 3:30 |
| 14. | "Escape from Mordechai's" | 2:09 |
| 15. | "Charting the Course" | 2:19 |
| 16. | "First Kiss" | 1:54 |
| 17. | "The Battle" | 6:29 |
| 18. | "Dawg's Demise/The Triumph" | 3:31 |
| 19. | "It's Only Gold/End Credits" | 9:42 |
2007 expanded edition
In 2007, Prometheus released a two disc special extended edition, which added 40 cues that were left out of the previous soundtracks or were not used in the film.[3]
In August 2016, La-La Land Records re-issued the 2-disc set.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Main Title : Morgan's Ride" | 4:38 |
| 2. | "The Rescue/Morgan Saves Harry" | 3:41 |
| 3. | "Purcell Snatcher" (composed by Brad Dechter) | 2:58 |
| 4. | "Shaw is Caught" | 1:15 |
| 5. | "The Funeral" | 1:29 |
| 6. | "Morgan in Command" | 2:51 |
| 7. | "The Language of Romance" | 2:40 |
| 8. | "A Lady Scorned" | 1:38 |
| 9. | "Carriage Chase" | 7:21 |
| 10. | "Ainclee Plots/To Spittelfield" | 3:46 |
| 11. | "Uncle Mordechai" | 2:02 |
| 12. | "Morgan Captured/Sword Fight" | 5:23 |
| 13. | "Escape from Mordechai's" | 2:09 |
| 14. | "Setting Sail" | 1:03 |
| 15. | "Charting the Course" | 2:19 |
| 16. | "First Kiss/Love Scene/Dawg's Plan" | 3:12 |
| 17. | "Shaw Discovers the Location" | 2:04 |
| 18. | "Betrayal" | 2:46 |
| 19. | "The Storm Begins" | 2:33 |
| 20. | "To the Bottom of the Sea" | 2:43 |
| 21. | "The Island" | 3:41 |
| 22. | "Shaw Steals the Map" | 3:30 |
| 23. | "Discovery of the Cave" | 4:39 |
| 24. | "Discovery of the Treasure" | 2:19 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Wedding Waltz" (Composer unknown, orchestrated by Debney) | 2:43 |
| 2. | "Caught" | 1:37 |
| 3. | "The Rope" | 2:17 |
| 4. | "Morgan and Shaw Jump the Cliff/The Big Jump" | 2:38 |
| 5. | "Shaw Captured" | 2:32 |
| 6. | "Morgan Takes the Ship" | 4:30 |
| 7. | "The Hangman's Noose" | 3:56 |
| 8. | "The Battle/To Dawg's Ship/Morgan Battles Dawg/Dawg's Demise/The Triumph" | 17:52 |
| 9. | "It's Only Gold/End Credits" | 9:33 |
| 10. | "Main Title/Morgan's Ride (Without Choir)" | 4:48 |
| 11. | "Carriage Chase (Alternate Version)" | 7:21 |
| 12. | "First Kiss (Album Edit)" | 1:54 |
| 13. | "Dawg's Demise/The Triumph (Without Choir)" | 3:31 |
| 14. | "Morgan's Ride & The Rescue (Original Synth Demo)" | 7:25 |
References
- Cutthroat Island soundtrack review at Filmtracks.com
- "Cutthroat Island (John Debney) soundtrack review". Archived from the original on February 28, 2009. Retrieved February 7, 2009.
- Other reviews by Mike Brennan (May 12, 2005). "Soundtrack: CutThroat Island (2005)". Soundtrack.Net. Retrieved February 12, 2012.
- Archived October 15, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- Notes by John Debney from the 1995 Silva album
- "Soundtrack: Cutthroat Island (1995)". Soundtrack.Net. January 17, 2012. Retrieved February 12, 2012.
- "Soundtrack: Cutthroat Island (1995)". Soundtrack.Net. January 17, 2012. Retrieved February 12, 2012.
