Search - Johann Sebastian Bach, Vladimir Golschmann, Pablo Casals :: Music from Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five

And So It Goes

John M. Baker Jr. | New Hampshire Seacoast | 01/21/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Well patience won out on this one: my parents had this soundtrack on vinyl in the 1970's and I think their copy may have been left in Tehran when they left in a hurry following the Shah's departure and the subsequent revolution. Anyhow, I searched high and low, gave up for a time, and found it was re-released. THANK YOU SONY BMG!



This is a terrific soundtrack, providing an intimacy and detachment that carries through the movie of a man unstuck in time. Recorded I am told to Mr. Gould's specs, which required many (many) re-takes of small parts so they were 'just right.' The dynamic between piano and orchestra varies from line to line in some places, which increases a dreamlike (unreal) aspect to the recordings. Played with all of Gould's precision and attention to attack... and WITHOUT A SINGLE SIGH, 'HMMMMMM' OR OTHER SOUND from the musician himself. Thank goodness. I actually didn't know about Gould's habit of humming along to his playing for at least 25 years after I first heard this record, and I was horrified...



Anyway, if you like Bach for piano and orchestra, and/or like Gould, and/or like Vonnegut, you should purchase a copy of this CD. And if you haven't seen the film, go see it and then if you thought the film was any good at all, come back and purchase a copy."