Search - Angela Morley :: Watership Down

A must for any "Watership" fan!

fayxx001@tc.umn.edu | Minnesota | 09/29/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This release includes the haunting "Bright Eyes," though it is the album cut and not the version was topped the charts in England in 1979 (the single version has an extra verse, and a more uptempo mix). The album cut is the same version heard in the movie. I've waited years for this CD issue and I'm very glad that it's finally out. My only complaints are minor: The packaging was poorly executed (the artwork looks like a bad scan of the original LP cover) and the liner notes are a bit sparse. I would also have liked it if they had included extra cuts, like the single version of "Bright Eyes," or the three other songs that Mike Batt composed for the film that weren't used. However, the mastering and overall sound quality on the disc are excellent. Angela Morley's soundtrack stands very much on it's own as a beautiful symphonic work. It is a must for any "Watership" fan. -Tim"

Watership Down, a modern classic

John Burkitt (jburkitt@mail.state.t | Nashville, Tennessee | 09/08/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Watership Down original soundtrack album is a masterful blend of lyrical beauty, suspense, excitement and triumph that accurately and movingly captures the spirit of the motion picture and the original book. Assembling a soundtrack album is never easy--music is usually clipped into pieces to be sandwiched into the cinematic sequences--but the tracks were intelligently and sensitively arranged to provide a concert-like effect. The melodies are intelligent and deeply felt, and the orchestral arrangement was strangely appropriate--strong when it needed to be but disarmingly simplistic in keeping with the pastoral setting of the film. One of my all time favorite albums when I am in a thoughtful mood."

Quite possibly the best soundtrack in the world ever!

devolution | UK/USA | 09/02/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Forget 'Lord of the Rings', ignore 'Titanic', disremember '2001: A Space Odyssey'.

The soundtrack to the wonderful Watership Down animated film, is one of the greatest soundtracks, if not the greatest original soundtrack ever composed.



Featuring music from Malcolm Williamson - the Queen's official composer (who sadly passed away last year), Angela Morley, and Mike Batt, this is some of the most moving and touching music you will ever hear in a film.



At every point in the film, the music superlatively captures the mood, and affects the viewer.

Even the much-teased Bright Eyes theme, composed by Mike Batt, and sung in an ambient-dream style by Art Garfunkel (which was a British Number One for a number of weeks), never fails to leave most people without a dry eye.



Drama, fear, sadness, death, life, hope - all of these and much much more are wonderfully portrayed through the many different songs. And at the same time, a common motif - now eternally associated with Watership Down and rabbits - plays through the soundtrack. Sheer Brilliance!



This soundtrack is proof that film-makers don't have to follow the over-used formula of just mixing some chart rubbish with a couple of pedestrian original scores.



Although now hard to find, this soundtrack is an absolute must if you appreciate music that moves you..."