The Score

"Music shapes your personality. When you're young, music is a huge building block. Part of you identity is finding something you really love and can hold on to. It's not only that it's a soundtrack, it's an exposition of who you are."

-Tim Westergren, founder of Pandora Radio

(WSJ Magazine, March 2010)

One of the things I love about iTunes is that you can create your own playlists. My newest one is composed entirely of instrumental songs. I love a good piano or violin instrumental by contemporary artists like Yiruma or the 5 Browns mixed in with classical composers and the scores of movies. John Williams, Hans Zimmer, Dario Marianelli, James Horner, Craig Armstrong, Bruno Coulais I've got the scores they've done for various films on my playlist.

But HANDS DOWN the score that just makes my heart ache and my eyes tear is Ennio Morricone's theme for Cinema Paradiso. It just sets something off within me, particularly the flute.

Below are two versions of the score. The first is a shorter version which I love. I sometimes find the beginning of the song a bit slow and it cuts that part out going straight to the flute. The second is longer and is I think the whole song. The orchestra performs it as Morricone conducts. Performed in entirety the song seems to really breathe. There's also a version where Dulce Pontes sings.






The theme for Somewhere in Time is also lovely.

Other great instrumentals are

J.S. Bach's Prelude to the Unaccompanied Cello Suite No. 1 in G major (used in Master and Commander)

Claire de Lune by Debussy (used in Ocean's 11, Twilight)

Craig Armstrong's Love Themes for the film Love Actually.

The Glasgow Love Theme and Portuguese Love Theme are on my list.

Pepinot by Bruno Coulais from Les Choriste

Casper's Lullaby by Jame's Horner from Casper (The Friendly Ghost)

The Secret Life of Daydreams by Dario Marianelli's from Pride & Prejudice

I love this scene from the movie The Holiday Miles (Jack Black) and Iris (Kate Winslet) discuss movie scores in a video shop.

The film The Mission with a score Miles describes as "genius" and coming "from a totally different place" is another one of Ennio Morricone's works.

"What makes music so powerful is that it can connect you to parts of your personality, parts of your history. We're looking for things that make our life less ordinary."

-Tim Westergren, founder of Pandora Radio

(WSJ Magazine, March 2010)