Before Sunset/Before Sunrise [Soundtrack]

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Before Sunrise and Before Sunset are director Richard Linklater's intimate romantic bookends. Separated by nine years, the latter film picks up the threads of an unfinished conversation spurred during the former's chance encounter between an American writer (Ethan Hawke) and French grad student (Julie Delpy). Commitments have long since changed their lives, but the question remains: What if? Hawke and Delpy blurred the lines between filmmaking and reality by penning their own dialog for the second installment, while the actress further underscored that sensibility by writing and performing the core songs for its soundtrack. Their warm, vulnerable charm offers character insight rare in a song-score, while the folk contributions of singers Kathy McCarty and Kath Bloom and chamber pieces by Bach and Purcell complete the ambience; several songs from the 1995 film round out the collection. --Jerry McCulley

Album Description
The Before Sunset soundtrack (combining tracks from Before Sunrise, for which there was never a soundtrack album) is a romantic musical journey, featuring "Just in Time" by Nina Simone plus multiple tracks by the film's star Julie Delpy. The album also includes classical tracks by Johann Sebastian Bach and Henry Purcell plus performances by Yo-Yo Ma and Igor Kipnis.

Tracks:

Je T'aime Tant - Julie Delpy
Living Life - Kathy McCarty
A Walz For A Night - Julie Delpy
'Andante' From Sonata For Viola Da Gamba In G Major, BWV 1027 - Ketil Haugsand
Dido And Encas Overture - The Scholars Baroque Ensemble
An Ocean Apart - Julie Delpy
Come Here - Kath Bloom
Varianto 25 From The Goldberg Variations In G Major, BWV 988 - Igor Kipnis
The Human Pump - Harald Waiglein
Dancing With Da Rat - Loud
Trapeze - Lou Christie

Amazon.com

Before Sunrise and Before Sunset are director Richard Linklater's intimate romantic bookends. Separated by nine years, the latter film picks up the threads of an unfinished conversation spurred during the former's chance encounter between an American writer (Ethan Hawke) and French grad student (Julie Delpy). Commitments have long since changed their lives, but the question remains: What if? Hawke and Delpy blurred the lines between filmmaking and reality by penning their own dialog for the second installment, while the actress further underscored that sensibility by writing and performing the core songs for its soundtrack. Their warm, vulnerable charm offers character insight rare in a song-score, while the folk contributions of singers Kathy McCarty and Kath Bloom and chamber pieces by Bach and Purcell complete the ambience; several songs from the 1995 film round out the collection. --Jerry McCulley

Album Description

The Before Sunset soundtrack (combining tracks from Before Sunrise, for which there was never a soundtrack album) is a romantic musical journey, featuring "Just in Time" by Nina Simone plus multiple tracks by the film's star Julie Delpy. The album also includes classical tracks by Johann Sebastian Bach and Henry Purcell plus performances by Yo-Yo Ma and Igor Kipnis.

Customer Reviews:

Allright compliation that captures some essence of the movie.........2005-10-12

I'm pretty sure everyone thinking about buying this is probably a fan of these cute little movies. The movies work because they are intellgent with great characaters but also because they evoke that feeling that is pretty hard to describe but easy to recognize. This soundtrack is able to capture that "essence" to some degree and it is worth owning if you are a big fan of the movies but other wise you will probaby want to steer clear.

Julie Delphy sings three songs on the album and they are all good. Like the other reviewer said "Waltz For A Night" is OK but not as good as in the movie and after watching it again I decided the actors reactions to the song are what made it great. Living Life is really catchy and maybe the best song on the disc...I'm surprised it didn't get any radio play. The classical music is pretty good as well but sometimes feels out of place mixed in with the contemporary songs. The biggest flaw of the album is how uneven it is. Honestly the last three songs are pretty much garbage. I don't even recognize them from the movie and never listen to them.

Just for the record, I classified this CD as "coffe house" under the genre section of my ipod.

Bottom Line: If you liked the movies you might really enjoy the first half of this CD. Otherwise you can probably pass on this.

before sunset/before sunrise.......2005-08-03

I mainly bought this cd because I loved the song that Julie Delpy sang at the end of before sunset. Later I found out that she has made many cds. I am still glad that i bought this cd, it is full of random interesting songs. I also want to support these types of films.

Not as good as the Movies.......2005-01-06

If you loved the the concoction of music that made their indelible marks in "Before Sunrise" and "Before Sunset", the soundtrack will come as a major let-down to you. While selective tracks were memorable and brought back fond memories of the movies' moving montages, the soundtrack which lasted a mere 34 minutes and 36 seconds was way too brief to afford the listener a chance to fully appreciate and relish the music that made these superbly-directed movies truly unforgettable.

The best tracks - "Purcell's Dido & Aeneas Overture*" (Track 5), "Bach's Andante from Sonata for Viola da Gamba in G Major" (Track 4) and "Bach's Goldberg Variations in G Major*" (Track 8) - played during the beginning and finishing sequences of "Before Sunrise" simply wasn't aired long enough, leaving one insatiated and yearning for more. The next best tracks are the ones featuring silky-voiced Julie Delpy as the solo songstress - "Je t'aime tant" (Track 1); "An Ocean Apart" (Track 6) and "A Waltz For a Night" (Track 3) - while not perfectly sung, these numbers were performed with great urgency and relevance, but sadly too few and far between.

All said, these six tracks are the sole redeeming grace of the soundtrack as it showcased Linklater's and his editors' ingenious edge in handpicking magical pieces not only in their own right (especially those chosen for "Before Sunrise") but music that worked cohesively in transcending the two movies from extraordinary to sublime. But the fact of the matter is: one inevitably feels the pinch of being ripped of and remorseful that the producers had to spoil what could have been a most tantalizing experience in owning the perfect soundtrack to the much loved movies. If only they had extended the repertoire by including Nina Simone's closing number; songs from Delpy's album (2003) or her unreleased works (either those accompanied by her guitar-playing or au naturel a cappellas would be fine); not least extended versions of the classical recordings to fill this skimpily tossed up soundtrack hastily rendered to milk the success of the movies. This would have made the soundtrack truly 5-star worthy.

*If you've enjoyed Purcell's Dido & Aeneas, one of the best renditions of the opera was performed by Christopher Hogwood's Chorus and Orchestra of The Academy of Ancient Music (Decca, 1994). For Bach's Goldberg Variations, check out Pierre Hantai's spectacular performance on the Harpsichord (Mirare, 2003).

If you want some of the tracks it's okay, but not great.......2004-07-31

This album actually is music from both "Before Sunrise" and "Before Sunset," both of which are incredible movies. Much of the music is very enjoyable, however the album really doesn't flow well with the baroque pieces from the first movie interspersed with the other songs. Apparently these aren't even the same versions of the baroque pieces. I enjoyed Julie Delpy's songs because of their relationship to the movie (though I liked the acoustic "A Waltz for a Night" version from the movie better than this studio version). The last two grunge angst songs I don't recognize at all from either movie, why are they here? And unfortunately the Nina Simone song, "Just In Time," that ended "Before Sunset" isn't on here. If you really want it, it can be found on her album "At the Village Gate" or "Tomato Collection." So, taken as individual tracks there are good songs on this soundtrack, but the album as a whole isn't spectacular.

Great Soundtrack!.......2004-07-26

Julie Delpy's mesmerizing lyrics dig deep into your soul, and the other musicians - Kath Bloom, for example - come together to make this a wonderful collection. The only reason I didn't give this CD 5 stars is because there are a few baroque klavier pieces which seem disruptive. However, I have a feeling that, after time, they'll also make sense. Go out and buy it! (watch the movie first!)

Average customer rating:

The Musicals: The Best Of

Manufacturer: Solid Gold
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Musical Theater | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

General | Musicals | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music

General | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music

General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000BFH4OO
Release Date: 2005-11-01

Tracks:

Lion King/The Circle of Life
Fiddler on the Roof/Sunrise Sunset
Man of la Mancha/The Impossible Dream
Sweet Charity/Big Spender
Aida/Elaborate Lives
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat/Any Dream Will Do
Chicago/Mr. Cellophane
Beauty and the Beast/If I Can't Love Her
South Pacific/Some Enchanted Evening
West Side Story/Something's Coming
Annie Get Your Gun/Anything You Can Do
Camelot/How to Handle a Woman
Thoroughly Modern Millie/Thoroughly Modern Millie
Cats/Memory
Cabaret/Maybe This Time
Rent/One Song Glory
Ragtime/Back to Before
Mame [From Mame]

Tracks:

Chicago/All That Jazz
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang/Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Mamma Mia/Dancing Queen
My Fair Lady/On the Street Where You Live
Chess/Anthem
Jubilee/Begin the Beguine
Phantom of the Opera/Masquerade
Staurday Night Fever/What Kind of Fool
Miss Saigon/Why God Why?
Bombay Dreams/Shakalaka Baby
Guys and Dolls/Luck Be a Lady
Lion King
Miserables/I Dreamed a Dream
Mary Poppins/Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
Phantom of the Opera/All I Ask of You
Oliver!/As Long as He Needs Me
Anything Goes/Anything Goes
We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions

Average customer rating:

landmark Delius recordings by his greatest conductor
A composer for a conductor!
A gramophone classic
Hard to top Beecham conducting Delius

Beecham Conducts Delius

Manufacturer: Angel Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000002ROJ
Release Date: 1990-10-25

Tracks:

Over The Hills And Far Away
Sleigh Ride
Brigg Fair - An English Rapsody
Florida Suite: Daybreak, Dance
Florida Suite: By The River
Florida Suite: Sunset, Near The Plantation
Florida Suite: At Night
Marche Caprice

Tracks:

Dance Rhapsody No. 2
Summer Evening
Two Peices For Small Orchestra: No. 1: On Hearing The First Cuckoo In Spring
Two Peices For Small Orchestra: No. 2: Summer Night On The River
A Song Before Sunrise
Fennimore And Gerda - Intermezzo
Irmelin Prelude
Songs Of Sunset

Amazon.com

Sir Thomas Beecham enjoyed a career-long association with the music of Delius. As Grieg provided the encouragement to Delius to keep composing, Delius in turn helped Beecham choose conducting as his path. In return, Beecham championed the composer's music as no other interpreter has or ever will. There is a delicacy in these sunny accounts, a lightness of touch and of texture that sets them apart. While one encounters occasional out-of-tune notes as well as ensemble problems in the playing by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the spirit of Sir Thomas easily carries the day. The performances were captured in good early EMI stereo, which, while it comes with some tape hiss, is eminently listenable and has a wonderful presence. --Ted Libbey

Customer Reviews:

landmark Delius recordings by his greatest conductor.......2006-12-09

Here you've got probably the most essential set of Delius recordings ever made. Thomas Beecham, the composer's ardent champion of many decades, made the most of this opportunity to record (and re-record) many key works in stereo. The playing of his Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is exemplary, with some gorgeous woodwind soloing.

Delius is an elusive but highly original composer with a rhapsodic style; an acquired taste, he can definitely grow on one with repeated listenings. A kind of English impressionist (born the same year as Debussy), he was also a major inspiration to Duke Ellington. Here you'll find some of the finest short tone poems ever composed, such as "Summer Evening," "On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring," "Summer Night on the River," and "A Song before Sunset"--all gloriously poetic evocations of the natural world and presented here in definitive interpretations. The early four-movement "Florida Suite" is another favorite, and it's recorded here, as are several other works, in Beecham's own editions.

The highlight, however, is the final and longest piece on this set, "Songs of Sunset," a choral work with baritone and contralto soloists that sets passages by Ernest Dowson (a short-lived and largely forgotten nineteenth-century English poet who contributed several immortal phrases to the language, including "days of wine and roses" and "gone with the wind"). Australian baritone John Cameron is wonderful with his rich, mahogany voice, and Canadian contralto Maureen Forrester is simply transcendent, as she is also in the classic Bruno Walter recording of Mahler's 2nd. The passage "and dream we shall lie,/ Red mouth to mouth, entwined" is ecstatic--pure aural magic.

As an introduction to Delius's music, this can't be topped. And for the true Delian, it's desert island material.

A composer for a conductor!.......2006-12-03

Delius was an eminent landscape painter musician if I may; he might be catalogued as late Impressionist. Temperament and lyric refinement are basically the most relevant features of his artistic profile.

To my mind there just have been three eminent conductors who have been able to capture with all fervor and slender elegance the magic of his compositions: Thomas Beecham, John Barbirolli and Anthony Collins.

The eulogizing devotion of Beecham to play the most of his compositions is worthy to admire, and in this sense he must be considered as the most genuine herald, pioneer and defender of his music, especially when Sir Edward Elgar seemed to cover practically all the spectral universe in the early decades of the XX Century.

Don't miss this album that will always keep for us the minim facets of that illuminated and talented composer.

A gramophone classic.......2000-05-29

This set has the power to bring back a sense of wonder to even the most jaded of today's listeners. Something of the magic of the early stereo era is conveyed. If the LP equivalents sounded half as good as this, they must have been some kind of landmark in the history of recording. I would love to have been there to experience the sense of revelation that these recordings brought to their first listeners.

Beecham was and is the undisputed master of this music. Following along with the score of "Brigg Fair", "A Dance Rhapsody" and "Two Pieces for Small Orchestra" as I listen to Beecham conduct them, I fully appreciate how complete Beecham's seduction of his players was. There is no feeling that an interpreter is imposing his will but rather of complete identification with the spirit of the music, a sense of fantasy and, again, wonder. It's as if Delius is speaking directly to us and surely that is the mark of a great performance!

Hard to top Beecham conducting Delius.......2000-05-26

Want to check out Delius? Start here. Ah, the days when conductors like Sir Thomas Beecham roamed the earth... Highly recommended.

Average customer rating:

Best of Broadway

Manufacturer: Intersound Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Musical Theater | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

General | Musicals | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music

General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music

General | Vocal Pop | Pop | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00000DUNW
Release Date: 1996-03-04

Music:

Music

Music