Apollo 13 – 2 x CD Complete Score – Limited Edition – James Horner

World premiere 2-CD release of James Horner score for Oscar-nominated Ron Howard film! Highly regarded, award-laden film chronicles eventful Apollo 13 mission to the moon, heartbreakingly aborted late during trip due to an explosion aboard command module that jeopardized lives of crew and their ability to return safely back to earth. Universal releases, Imagine Entertainment presents, Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, Ed Harris, Gary Sinise, Kathleen Quinlan give top-notch portrayals, Dean Cundey photographs, Brian Grazer produces, Ron Howard directs. Film is drawn from Astronaut Jim Lovell’s book “Lost Moon”, written with Jeffrey Kluger. Hanks plays Lovell in nine-time Academy Award-nominated film, including nominations for Picture and James Horner score, winning Oscars for sound and film editing. Director Howard describes film not as one of action or distress but of “absolutely brilliant professionalism and quiet nobility”. Though Howard championed two separate albums for release from the soundtrack, incredibly just a “souvenir” release featuring the songs, dialog highlights, sound effects and limited selections from Horner’s score became commercially available through the MCA label. Horner did prepare a disc of 59 minutes of his music for internal Academy Award consideration but it never saw commercial release. Subsequently a special “Gold” edition of the soundtrack was issued but it remained the song and dialog album. Finally, through the combined cooperation of UMG, Universal Studios and Imagine Entertainment, Intrada proudly presents for the first time ever the entire score by Horner, both in the versions heard in the film lasting 76 minutes on CD 1, and in the selections Horner prepared for promotional purposes running 59 minutes which included several alternate versions and different performances of certain cues on CD 2. Album producer Mike Matessino has also assembled the 9 minutes of music Horner scored for electronics, following the orchestral score on CD 1. The number of highlights in this important work are numerous but easily commanding a spotlight is the rich Americana flavor throughout, movingly provided by elegiac trumpet work from acclaimed soloist Tim Morrison. Lengthy musical journey includes moments of stunning power such as 10-minute “All Systems Go – The Launch”, terror (“Master Alarm”, “Manual Burn”), dynamic “Re-Entry And Splashdown”. Special mention is due Horner’s brilliant musical architecture, opening with trumpet and snares, then mirroring variety of dramatic onscreen events with emotionally overwhelming music before finally cadencing all with haunting simplicity of just solo trumpet alone. Poetic and sublime! Graphic design by Kay Marshall features flipper covers showcasing both film’s striking advance key art campaign, subsequent release style with star Hanks. Detailed notes from John Takis plus “tech talk” from producer Matessino bring additional weight to dramatic package. Horner’s gift for writing magnificent, emotionally rich music has never been on better display. Shawn Murphy records at Todd-AO, Steve Bramson & Horner orchestrate, Annie Lennox provides haunting wordless “End Credits” vocal, James Horner composes, conducts.