Thirteen Days chronicles the Kennedy administration's showdown with the Soviets--and the U.S.'s own hawkish military establishment--during the Cuban missile crisis in '62. South African veteran Trevor Jones scored the film... more » with a measured orchestral score (masterfully performed by the London Symphony Orchestra) that bristles with mounting tension, while seldom straying into clichéd Hollywood bombast. This is a soundtrack surprisingly full of nuances, one that derives its power from the brooding, relentless sense of unease that Jones evokes with powerful string passages, percussive sound washes, and subtle leitmotifs that underscore the film's various conflicts of character, politics, and philosophy. --Jerry McCulley« less
Thirteen Days chronicles the Kennedy administration's showdown with the Soviets--and the U.S.'s own hawkish military establishment--during the Cuban missile crisis in '62. South African veteran Trevor Jones scored the film with a measured orchestral score (masterfully performed by the London Symphony Orchestra) that bristles with mounting tension, while seldom straying into clichéd Hollywood bombast. This is a soundtrack surprisingly full of nuances, one that derives its power from the brooding, relentless sense of unease that Jones evokes with powerful string passages, percussive sound washes, and subtle leitmotifs that underscore the film's various conflicts of character, politics, and philosophy. --Jerry McCulley
CD Reviews
Jones's THIRTEEN DAYS is orchestral genius.
01/08/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Released near the threshold of the new year, it's hard to say exactly which year should take credit for Trevor Jones's emotional masterwork THIRTEEN DAYS. Regardless, this is one score that many more people should take a serious look at. Jones has been the recipient for a lot of well deserved praise for his works in the past few years. Who can forget the driving tapestry he wove for his portion of THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS, or the magically enticing grandeur and beauty that was MERLIN? I certainly haven't. With THIRTEEN DAYS, Jones proves to me that he deserves equal respect as other big names like Williams, Goldsmith, or Horner. Let me explain why.As most know, the film THIRTEEN DAYS is a retelling of the unstable and potentially destructive events of the Cuban Missile Crisis. The film is staggeringly good, and I was particularly impressed with the score as the film progressed. The opening track, "Lessons of History," gives us the appropriate elements of Americana until one of the most flowingly gorgeous themes I've heard arrives. It is at once heartbreaking and so very memorable. Gratefully, Jones restates the theme throughout to give an emotional ground to the score. This theme aside, due to the content of the film, there is an appropriately serious tone given to a large part of the music. Where some composers could have given us a blandly droning motif during these parts, Jones somehow is able to compose palpable tension that compels one to continue listening. Amid this gripping drama is scattered some breathtaking action cues. None of it is over the top, and all of it is enthrallingly paced. One superb example of Jones's ability to perfectly capture action on screen is housed in the track "Us and the Devil." It is during the action portions of the score that he introduces a multi-layered and strikingly complex motif. I didn't catch how subtle and effective this was until half-way through my second listen. In fact, the entire score deserves to be listened to fully at least twice to appreciate the intricacies Jones poured into it. Most of his works seem to warrant repeat listens before one can take in a great deal of his complex composing traits. As aforementioned, Jones always keeps his lush main theme in mind and gives it one last glorious flourish in the final track "The Will of Good Men." This score ends with a sense of well-earned closure that many other scores don't seem to bother with. One of the many pluses about this release comes in it's lengthy 70 min. duration. Another plus is the fact that it is played by the great London Symphony Orchestra. With so many positive things about THIRTEEN DAYS, there should be no question why Trevor Jones is one of the most talented composers of our time."
A music fan from Sweden
Stephan Borgh | Stockholm Sweden | 02/07/2001
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Well, what can I say. Actually i'm out of words, because this soundtrack score is brilliant. Trevor Jones has made a exellent work, It must be his all time great score. That's at least what I think. As I said, i'm lost for words. The opening track gives pretty much a tale about what the whole album are about to give you. So, this is the score I haft to say is one of the best i've heard in my entire life !!!!!!!!!"
A brilliant score for a brilliant movie
orbit13 | 10/04/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Trevor Jones ("Last of the Mohicans," "In the Name of the Father") contributes an epic score to a momentous film and simultaneously creates a stirring piece of music that stands on its own. The trial of those thirteen days that came to be the Cuban Missile Crisis unfolds with brilliant intensity, and each track carries us through the sharp emotional crests of this episode. Jones relies heavily on strings and percussion and allows the subtle pinches of upper winds and the piano to punctuate the score. He's also careful to avoid the open invitation for melodrama, opting instead for muted tones of gravity, triumph, and hope to stream through. The music exposes the fear and immediacy of the threat, especially in tracks "The Knot of War" and "Our Rules of Engagement." The slower pieces - "Prayer for Peace," "The Sun Came Up Today," and "The Will of Good Men" - at times reflect an apocalyptic calm but also evoke a politically turbulent period where true leaders emerged and sought to restore hope to the national fabric.Jones's work here is reminiscent of James Horner's "Apollo 13" soundtrack; both capture defining moments in our nation's history and make those moments tangible in the way that music can. This soundtrack softens the everyday heroics of great men into tremendous sacrifices by ordinary citizens, much in the way director Roger Donaldson deconstructs the iconic JFK into a human figure, fallible yet equally capable of greatness."
You'll never believe how close we came!
Douglas W. Peschka | Olathe, KS USA | 03/25/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I find it hard to put into words my expereince of instrumental
music, and this is my first attempt to do so.In films, music augments the dialogue and sound effects that
accompany the images on the screen.I am not well veresed in discussing which instruments create
which effects, so I will talk here of what, for me, the music
captures.The CD begins where the film ends, with "The Lessons Of History"
which were heard over the end credits of the film.Then we go into "The Knot of War" that the film began with,
starting with the tragic horror of nuclear explosions that
can wipe all of life off the face of the earth.For me, Trevor Jones' music captures the businesslike awakening
of the Kennedy Administration on a typical morning, which very
soon became anything BUT typical.This soundtrack captures the shock of the discovery of the
threat, the tension of the debates behind closed doors, the
danger of the military bracing for The Doomsday War, thelong agony of waiting for answers form the Soviet leadership,
and finally the Triumph of Peace and the victory of the pravailing of cool heads which led the world away from nuclear
holocaust during those Thirteen Days of October in 1962.I was ten years old when it happened."
Track Listings (12) - Disc #1