Jurassic Park (film score)
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| Jurassic Park | |||||
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| Soundtrack by John Williams | |||||
| Released | May 25, 1993 | ||||
| Recorded | 1993 | ||||
| Genre | Score | ||||
| Length | 1:13:13 | ||||
| Label | MCA | ||||
| Professional reviews | |||||
| John Williams chronology | |||||
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Jurassic Park was the twelfth project on which John Williams worked with Steven Spielberg. The score of the film lay as the benchmark for John Williams' modern composing, having just left a more tender era of his scores for such films as Home Alone 1 and 2 and Hook.
The album—produced, composed, and partially conducted by John Williams, (who suffered a back injury and was not fully capable of conducting the entire score due to the pain of the injury) but orchestrated by John Neufeld and Alexander Courage—was released by MCA Records on May 25, 1993. The album contains 16 tracks. In typical John Williams fashion, several of the tracks contain several cues edited together.
Most of the tracks contain unused material and two of the tracks have completely unused cues.
The track list is:
- Opening Titles
- Theme From Jurassic Park
- Incident at Isla Nublar
- Journey to the Island
- The Raptor Attack
- Hatching Baby Raptor
- Welcome to Jurassic Park
- My Friend, The Brachiosaurus
- Dennis Steals the Embryos
- A Tree for My Bed
- High-Wire Stunts
- Remembering Petticoat Lane
- Jurassic Park Gate
- Eye to Eye
- T-Rex Rescue and Finale
- End Credits
Album Notes
The two tracks 'Dennis Steals the Embryos' and 'A Tree for my Bed' are purposely interconnected. While listening to the transition between the two, the final synth-bass note of 'Dennis Steals the Embryos' stretches into the first few notes of 'A Tree for my Bed.'
The track 'End Credits' is the second half of the complete film end credits, which can be heard to completion—including the track 'End Credits' again—in the track 'Welcome to Jurassic Park.'
'Theme From Jurassic Park' is an alternate recording of the cue 'The Dinosaurs,' which can be heard again (without the new introduction) in the track 'Journey to the Island.' The new introduction was written by John Williams during the recording process so the segment could be used as a stand alone theme.
Contents |
[edit] Recording information
Many of the tracks on the album present several cues. Below is a list of every cue recorded. These are the actual slate numbers and original cue titles[citation needed]:
- 1m1a Opening Titles
- 1m1b The Island Incident
- 1m2 The Encased Mosquito
- 2m1 The Entrance of Mr. Hammond
- 2m3 To the Island
- 3m1 Intro to-
- 3m2 The Dinosaurs
- 3m2 The Dinosaurs (alternate Opening)
- 3m2a The Entrance to the Park
- 3m3 Cartoon Display
- 4m1 Hatching Baby Raptors
- 4m2 You Bred Raptors
- 5m1 The History Lesson
- 5m2 Jurassic Park Gate
- 5m3 Goat Bait (Unused)
- 6m1 An Ailing Monster
- 6m2 The Storm is Coming
- 7m1 Dennis Steals the Embryos
- 8m1 The Trouble with Dennis
- 9m1 The Falling Car
- 9m2 The T-Rex Chase
- 9m3a A Tree for my Bed
- 10m1 Remembering Petticoat Lane
- 10m2 My Friend, The Brachiosuaurs
- 10m3 Eggs in the Forest
- 11m1 System Ready
- 11m2 Preparing to Meet the Monster
- 12m1 High Wire Stunts
- 12m2 Hungry Raptor (Partially Unused)
- 13m1 Into the Kitchen (Mostly Unused)
- 13m2 March Past the Kitchen Utensils
- 14m1 T-rex to the Rescue
- 14m2 End Credits Part I
- 14m2 End Credits Part II
Some cues are marked 'Unused' or 'Partially Unused.' Almost every cue has some part of it unused in the film, but these tracks indicate that a large segment was removed.
Most of the soundtrack is available on the album. One of the cues that is not is 'Hungry Raptor.' This can be heard in the end credits of the 'Making Of Jurassic Park' featurette on the DVD. Also heard in this video is the extended ending to 'The Entrance of Mr. Hammond.'
Another cue arranged and recorded specifically for the film was the one source cue heard in the cantina in San Jose. This arrangement of 'Que Milagros Chaparita' has never been released but can be bought in its original version on a few 'Mexican Mariachi' albums.
[edit] Variation of recording techniques
The score to Jurassic Park is purposely allowed to be less balanced than normal recordings. Instead, John Williams purposely deviates from this, allowing for the higher overtones of the strings and brass to shine through, leading to a brighter and more 'live' sound. This brightness contributes to the overall effect of the score and is intended to create a sense of wonder and purity.
John Williams also utilized synth instruments/choir and a real choir in the score to Jurassic Park. Almost every cue has either subtle to grand choir moments or doubling the orchestra by synth. Many of the most memorable moments such as "Journey to the Island" have the main theme doubled by synth instruments, making a grander sound.
[edit] Cue breakdown (as heard in the film)
- Main Title – [0:37] The same as heard on the Album Track 1
- Incident at Isla Nublar -[2:21] The first – 2:13 of Album Track 3 (Clean Ending not possible because of layering)
- The Encased Mosquito – [1:12] Completely Unreleased
- The Entrance of Mr. Hammond – [1:00] Completely Unreleased and partially Unused (ending)
- Que Milagros Chaparitta - [Unknown] Completely Unreleased and partially Unused
- Journey to the Island - [3:17] The first – 3:15 of Album Track 4 (Layered into --
- Intro To - [1:21] Album Track 4 from 3:15 till – 4:33 (Layered into --
- The Dinosaurs - [3:13] Album Track 4 from 4:33 to – 7:31 (Layer into -- Note: Film Version of 'The Dinosaurs' is taken from the Alternate which is Album Track 2
- The Dinosaurs (Alternate Intro/different take) – [3:30] Album Track 2
- The Entrance of the Park - [1:20] Album Track 4 from – 7:31 to end
- Cartoon Display – [2:32] Unreleased
- Hatching Baby Raptors - [2:00] About the first – 2:00 of Album Track 6
- You've Bred Raptors – [0:31] Unreleased
- The History Lesson – [1:29] Unreleased
- Jurassic Park Gate – [2:03] Album Track 13
- Goat Bait - [2:20] The first – 2:20 of Album Track 14
- An Ailing Monster - [2:34] The first – 2:34 of Album Track 8 (There is a minor deletion in the film)
- The Storm is Coming – [1:19] Unreleased and Partially Unused
- Dennis Steals the Embryos – [4:55] Album Track 9
- The Trouble with Dennis – [1:10] Unreleased
- The Falling Car - [3:06] Album Track 3 starting at – 2:21
- The T-rex Chase – [1:34] Unreleased and partially Unused in the film
- A Tree for my Bed – [2:12] Album Track 10
- Remembering Petticoat Lane – [2:48] Album Track 12
- My Friend the Brachiosaurus - [1:48] Album Track 8 starting at – 2:34
- Eggs in the Forest - [1:22] Album Track 6 starting at – 2:00
- System Ready – [0:43] Unreleased
- Preparing to Meet The Monster - [4:11] Album Track 14 starting at – 2:20
- High Wire Stunts – [4:08] Album Track 11
- Hungry Raptor – [1:40] Unused first portion, unreleased second portion. Note: The film version of 'Raptors in the Shed' is tracked to replace the unused music. The ending of the track is replaced with music tracked from Album Track 5.
- Into the Kitchen – [2:49] Album Track 5
- March Past the Kitchen Utensils - [4:11] The first – 4:11 of Album Track 15
- T-rex to the Rescue - [3:30] The last – 3:30 of Album Track 15 Note: A portion of 'Theme from Jurassic Park' is tracked into this cue in the film when the Tyrannosaurus appears, saving the group from the first Velociraptor.
- A segment from "Remembering Petticoat Lane" is tracked for the 'Looking Back' moment but is not another cue.
- End Credits Part I - [4:32] The first – 4:32 of Album Track 7
- End Credits Part II – [3:25] The rest of Album Track 7 or Album Track 16
[edit] Concert suites
The score to Jurassic Park has two commonly heard concert suites.
- 'Theme from Jurassic Park,'
-This usually incorporates the solo horn opening that can be heard on the album track of the same name or as "The Dinosaurs Alternate" on the complete cue list.
- 'My Friend, the Brachiosaurus.'
Both of these are available on several recordings by many reputable orchestras.
[edit] Motific development
Jurassic Park has several key motifs and themes.
- 'Carnivore Motif' is the first motif heard in the film. This four note motif is played to completion by the ethnic flute at the end of 'Main Title'.
-The next rendition is heard in the unused/unreleased ending to 'The Entrance of Mr. Hammond'. Here the horns play the first two notes over a dissonant, throbbing string cord.
-The motif is heard in its full glory during 'The T-Rex Chase.' While the jeep is being chased by the Tyrannosaurus Rex, the motif plays loudly throughout the brass. It can also be heard in the track 'Hungry Raptor.'
- The 'Danger Motif' can be heard throughout the film. Most prominently, this motif plays during the beginning of 'Incident at Isla Nublar,' and also in the unreleased opening to 'T-Rex Chase.'
-The track 'Raptor Attack' plays these two motifs most prominently. While this track lay almost completely unused in the final film, it most definitively portrays these two dark motifs in their most spine tingling rendition.
-In the film, this motif has several variations head in almost every cue. "The Falling Car (9m1)" is a good example of this. In the second half of this cue while Ellie and Muldoon are standing in the road looking for the other car, the music that plays is slightly different version of the motif but reflects that same growing danger. This is also heard again in "High Wire Stunts (11m3)."
- 'The Dinosaurs' is another motif that permeates much of the more tender moments of the score. This theme captures the elegance and beauty of the animals and is heard on the first viewing of the Brachiosaurus and Parasaurolophus.
- 'Island Theme' is the motif heard at the arrival of the island and during the end credits. This is the triumphant horn fanfare also heard when the Tyrannosaur saves the group in the rotunda at the end of the film.
- The 'Herbivore Motif' is heard during the more tender moments during the Triceratops encounter and the Brachiosaurus encounter in the tree. This is another four note motif that is in essence, the carnivore motif backwards. It's heard most prominently in the opening of the alternate recording of 'The Dinosaurs,' Album Track 2.
- Another theme most often ignored is the 'Jurassic Park March.' This plays but once in the film as the jeeps arrive at the Jurassic Park Visitors Center, but is reused again in Jurassic Park 3 by Don Davis.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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