Search - Krzysztof Komeda :: Rosemary's Baby

I'm happy to have these tracks --- but..... !!!

Matthew L. Severson | Los Angeles, CA | 09/25/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Recently, I purchased one of the CD soundtracks available for ROSEMARY'S BABY. I was rather miffed after discovering that the track listing titles are both out of order and completely mis-named. As some of the tracks were so similar, there was no way for me to "place" which part was which. The CD I purchased had both Komeda's scores for both ROSEMARY'S BABY and THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS. I looked at the customer comments, and was relieved to discover I was not alone in this confusion. So.... Last nightI went through the film scene-by-scene, and correctly placed the tracks in order. I also "renamed" the tracks, and have now put them in the proper order. So, for those who may be interested, here are the results of my little project:



TRACKLISTING ON CD AS IT APPEDARS [w/ misspellings and all -- and my retitling]:

1) Maine [sic] Title (2:30) = Main Title (Lullaby from "Rosemary's Baby") [version used in the film's opening]

2) The Coven (1:00) = Lullaby, Part I (Moving In - Montage)

3) Lullaby - part 1 (0.21) = The Coven Next Door

4) Moment musical (4:03) = The Nightmare ("This is no dream -- this is really happening!")

5) The Coven (2:09) = Music to Read a Book To / Music to Make a Baby To [this music used in 2 sequences; one where Rosemary is laying down on her sofa relaxing and is interrupted by Ruth Gordon; the other when she and Guy make love]

6) Moment musical (1:01) = Lullaby, Part II (Rosemary Is Pregnant)

7) Lullaby - part II (1:59) = Rosemary Throws a Party for "Their Old--I Mean Young" Friends ("You have to be under 60 to get in.")

8) Dream (1:27) = Music for an Old Western [this is the music to an old Western that Guy is watching while Rosemary is having pregnancy pains in the other room]

9) Christmas (1:27) = Pregnancy Pains

10) Expectancy - part 1 (1:12) = The Pain Has Stopped ("It's alive! It's moving!")

11) The Coven (0:45) = Rosemary Makes Steak / Roman Meets Hutch [this music is actually two separate music cures that have been put together on this track -- the two cues are relatively back-toback in the movie, so it works out OK]

12) Lullaby (1:05) = Christmastime: Rosemary Goes to Meet Hutch at the Time-Life Building

13) The Coven (0:33) = The Coven! [It's a match for once!~ Unfortunately, I'm not sure where this music cue is in the film -- anyone that knows -- let me know!)

14) Main Title (1:58) = All of Them Witches [Rosemary plays scrabble by herself]

15) Panic (1:37) = Panic [now this is where the CD soundtrack goes off the rails -- this seems to be a different orchestration of the actual version used in the film -- elements of this are in the film when she begins to freak out and walk through the street and pack her belongings...]

*... Note: at this point in the film -- the CD omits the next 6 or 7 music cues, which is pretty unfortunate, since they are some of Komeda's best and most interesting work on the film -- for instance the scene where Rosemary tries to escape Guy and Dr. Sapperstein and runs away and tries to lock herself in the apartment.

16) Rosemary's party (1:08) = End Title (Lullaby Reprise)

17) Expectancy - part II (0:33) = Raw Liver, Her Own Reflection & Sickness

18) Through The Closet (1:25) = What Have You Done to It's Eyes?!

19) What Have Done To Its Eyes (1:51) = Through the Closet

20) Happy News (0:31) = Hutch in a Coma: Rosemary Begins to Suspect Something's Wrong

21) Main Title (2:20) = Lullaby from "Rosemary's Baby" (Top 40 Single release, 1968)



* * * *



Phew. How's that? Here's my question -- does anyone have the missing 6 or 7 music cues from the film? Can they be found -- maybe on an import?



Finally: The correct sequencing of the tracklisting, as it appears in the film is: 1, 2, 3, 5, 4, 6, 9, 11, 8, 12, 20, 17, 7, 10, 14, 15, 19, 18, 16 -- track 13 I couldn't figure out where it fit; and track 21 was the single released when the film was released."

Komeda delivers one of the best Horror scores of all time

Nix | Temecula, CA USA | 08/28/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"One of the most overlooked and underappreciated scores of all time, Krzystzof Komeda's powerful and chilling score for the film finally gets a CD release. The Lullaby, the films two part theme, is one of the most memorable of all horror film themes, featuring an uncredited Mia Farrow "La-La-La-ing". The theme is redone several times throughout the score, mainly in a light and pretty tone, which masks the darkness soon to come. Soon, the score turns tense and demonic, much like Jerry Goldsmith's later horror attempt, "The Omen". "What Have You Done To It's Eyes!" is a great track, capturing all of Rosemary's horror at what she has discovered about her baby. Not for all, this is a love it or hate it score, but I highly recommend it!"

Well, there ain't nothing like it.

L. S. Slaughter | Chapel Hill, NC | 10/16/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"We were so broke when I was twelve that this is the only item I got for Christmas - the old $5.99 Dot LP version of Komeda's "Rosemary's Baby," that is, the score that, pretty much, ended his life(!). Not your normal kid.



Komeda died of an odd mishap in Hollywood shortly after he recorded this (at the same time the Manson gang went wack on Polanski's poor wife and her friends on Cielo Drive). Komeda was also very depressed at the lack of work that failed to appear after he had scored his Hollywood debut. Hollywood is like that.



So, uh, this is dark, dark music.



And very pretty, jazzy, as Komeda was the foremost of Polish jazz artists, and those Poles know their jazz, and have loved it for a long time. Anyone who has heard "Astigmatic" knows how talented and forward-looking a jazz artist Komeda was.



Is much of that reflected herein? Well, not a lot, really. But it is a score of cues, and, uh, well, interesting. "Moment Musical" is two minutes of dark, disquieting lounge, and I love it, and "Christmas" is sprightly, with an edge, of course.



Mia Farrow's vocalese on "Main Title/Lullaby" is haunting, eerie, heartbreaking; the melody is brilliantly simple, and masterfully orchestrated as well in the DOT records version by Neal Tipton as it is here (I think these are Komeda's actual studio tapes, not the versions re-orchestrated for the 68 DOT records soundtrack. They're fairly similar, anyway. Komeda supervised both sessions).



But be warned: there is something dangerous lurking in this soundtrack, something of its time and the misfortunes that surrounded Polanski and his comic/scary masterpiece. Pieces like "The Coven" and "Panic" get under your skin - the whole darn thing does. I've listened to thousands upon thousands of albums, and I can't play this one much anymore; it's got a sad, sad undertow I just can't abide.



After you've lived this kind of darkness, you just don't revisit it much anymore.



But, as art, it's definitely it's own thing.



'Drink ya tanis root, Rosemary.'"