John Williams, The Chieftains, Paddy Moloney - Far And Away: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

great cd

Thank you. Keep it in the car CD player to listen on way to / from work. Thanks. May 8, 2008

Yet Another Awesome Williams Score!

You pop in this CD, and as soon as song 1 starts, you are hooked. I am a huge fan of John Williams and his scores. They are all so intensely rich and detailed. The celtic air of this score is simply thrilling, and the main theme is beaturiful.

This CD has no flaws. Aside from all the slow drama music, this CD is also full of fast paced action music.

A must have!

MEDIA LOVER April 5, 2005

Williams does an Irish turn

Once again John Williams shows why he is so sought after as a soundtrack composer. Anyone who has heard of this movie knows that it focuses on a young Irish couple seeking a new life in turn-of-the-century America, and Williams immerses himself so thoroughly in that reality that you almost feel as if you're listening to a CD by one of the many Celtic groups like Clannad or Gaelic Storm, only without the vocals. From the triumphant to the contemplative to the pugnacious to the lively rhythm of the jig, every aspect of the Irish musical character is here. (You may find that you have to turn up the volume: for some reason it isn't recorded at a particularly listenable level!) There are also moments (as in "Shannon is Shot") when Williams's own voice, so familiar to us from the "Star Wars" movies and his many other triumphs, makes a surprise appearance. Once the characters have reached the West ("Oklahoma Territory," "The Land Race") he blends his recurring Irish themes with a musical motif that suggests the newness and astonishing size of the country and the many adjustments the young pioneers have to make. I can't help wondering what Williams would be able to do with a "real" Western (why didn't Kevin Costner hire him for "Open Range," for instance?). An impressive example of a great composer's work. August 18, 2003

Williams in top form once again

I don't know how many times i've said that before. So many i've lost count. John Williams is without a doubt the best composer out there. He is the best thematic composer hands down and writes knockout theme after knockout theme. This one is no exception. With a touch of Irish in the music, similiar to the route Horner used in Braveheart (Braveheart used Scottish), Far and Away blows Braveheart out of the water. 2 dominant themes occur throughout the score. The first one features The Chieftains, along with Uillean pipes, pan flutes, and penny whistles. The second, which is the main theme and the one that gives the score its 5 stars, is bold, brassy, noble, and heroic all thrown into one. "The Duel Scene" and "Leaving Home" feature this theme played by strings. Fun cues to listen to include "Blowing Off Steam" and "Fighting For Dough". Both contain exciting and very fast violin lines. "The Big Match" is a highlight action cue with a militaristic snare drum thrown in. "Joseph's Dream" contains an upbeat brass march that explodes into the main theme. The best track on the album by far is "The Land Race" which is Williams in top form. It is an epic action cue that lays out the main theme the best you will ever hear it in a full brass performance. "End Credits" features both themes thrown into one suite. Enya's song "Book of Days" is good and fits into the score perfectly. This is a score that deserves to be heard because it is so good. In other words, its a John Williams score. November 19, 2002

Exciting form Beginning to End!

There seems to be an easy way to tell an artist's appreciation for his own work. No matter the style nor the intensity, whether the project is naturally subtle and reserved or inherently loud and bombast, there can always be an underlying excitement that reveals the artists passion for the project. Far and Away, in that case, seems like one of composer John Williams' absolute favorites. He seems to be in love with everything about this film and the style he was able to use. There is a wild energy here that many film composers never achieve, but even for Williams--who remains, with little argument, as the greatest living film composer--this exceeds some of even his more well-known works.

Starting with the sheer quantity and quality of themes, the score for Far and Away is epic. They are innumerable, just listen to the concluding "End Credits" track--and moreover, each has its own, fun style that circles the complex melding of Irish and American culture. And that is really what this score is about, the complementation of the Irish and American together as they coalesce into one and prove and develop one another. And in between Williams' masterful development of these multiple themes, as he presents them, re-imagines them, and utilizes them to their fullest capacity, he interjects some of the most beautiful thematic outbursts ever created for a film. It's harsh calling this score capricious, since it doesn't work to the music's detriment, but sometimes the mood will change so quickly and develop into a new style with new and interesting rhythms, sounds, and harmonies, that one cannot help but be enthralled by Williams' abundant imagination.

And so the finished product is the amalgamation of some of the most beautiful music, instruments, and rhythms ever to grace the big screen. Williams' undoubtedly paid a lot of attention to the music for this score, as it comes across as a veritable feat of composition. Since it does heavily reflect Irish music, I mark it as somewhere as a cross between James Horner's Willow and Ronan Hardiman's Lord of the Dance. But while in Willow Horner divulged the same outbursts of singular beauty, Williams' in Far and Away manages to surpass it by enshrouding the same outbursts more cohesively in the thematic beauty of the whole film. Certainly, this is a score not to be missed by even the most remote film music fan, and not least of all the Williams' aficionado. Far and Away represents an exciting, perpetually entertaining, adventure through the complimentary cultures of Ireland and America, as they form together to make one of the most satisfying scores ever composed. February 24, 2002

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