''Alien: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack'' The iconic,

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

score to the film '' Alien'' was composed by

Jerry Goldsmith Jerrald King Goldsmith (February 10, 1929July 21, 2004) was an American composer and conductor known for his work in film and television scoring. He composed scores for five films in the ''Star Trek'' franchise and three in the ''Rambo'' franch ...

and is considered by some to be one of his best, most visceral scores. Rather than focusing on themes, Goldsmith creates a bleak and dissonant soundscape that fits the film's dark and intense atmosphere, with only a few "romantic" cues.

Background

The music was performed by the

National Philharmonic Orchestra The National Philharmonic Orchestra was a British orchestra created exclusively for recording purposes. It was founded by RCA Records producer and conductor Charles Gerhardt and orchestra leader and contractor Sidney Sax. The orchestra was creat ...

and conducted by

Lionel Newman Lionel Newman (January 4, 1916 – February 3, 1989) was an American conductor, pianist, and film and television composer. He won the Academy Award for Best Score of a Musical Picture for '' Hello Dolly!'' with Lennie Hayton in 1969. He ...

. However, the music was not originally used or heard as intended. The score was substantially cut for the film's released versions, and some recordings from other sources were added, notably portions of Goldsmith's original score for the 1962 film '' Freud'' (which were that film's ''Main Title'', as well as the tracks ''Charcot's Show'' and ''Desperate Case''), and the first movement ( adagio) from

Howard Hanson Howard Harold Hanson (October 28, 1896 – February 26, 1981)''The New York Times'' – Obituaries. Harold C. Schonberg. February 28, 1981 p. 1011/ref> was an American composer, conductor, educator, music theorist, and champion of American class ...

's 1930 "Symphony No. 2, Romantic" for the film's end credits. The complete intended score was first released as an isolated track on a 1999 20th Anniversary DVD edition on

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment 20th Century Studios Home Entertainment (commonly referred to as 20th Home Video, or 20th Home Entertainment, formerly known as 20th Century-Fox Video, CBS/Fox Video, Fox Video, and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment) is a home video label of Wa ...

(it has subsequently appeared on budget DVD and Blu-ray releases of the film). On November 15, 2007,

Intrada Records Intrada is an American record company based in Oakland, California, owned and managed by Douglass Fake. The company specializes in movie and television soundtracks, notably those by the late Jerry Goldsmith. Intrada was founded in 1985 by owner ...

released this same intended score with additional alternate score tracks and the original LP program in a 2-CD set. This release is the first to publish Jerry Goldsmith's complete score remixed and remastered from the original 1" master tapes.

Track listing

Original track listing

Complete edition track listing

:Disc 1 #"Main Title" (4:12) #"Hyper Sleep" (2:46) #"The Landing" (4:31) #"The Terrain" (2:21) #"The Craft" (1:00) #"The Passage" (1:49) #"The Skeleton" (2:30) #"A New Face" (2:35) #"Hanging On" (3:39) #"The Lab" (1:05) #"Drop Out" (0:57) #"Nothing To Say" (1:52) #"Cat Nip" (1:01) #"Here Kitty" (2:08) #"The Shaft" (4:31) #"It's A Droid" (3:28) #"Parker's Death" (1:51) #"The Eggs" (2:24) #"Sleepy Alien" (1:04) #"To Sleep" (1:56) #"The Cupboard" (3:05) #"Out The Door" (3:13) #"End Title" (3:09) #"Main Title" (Rescored Alternate) (4:11) #"Hyper Sleep" (Rescored Alternate) (2:45) #"The Terrain" (Rescored Alternate) (0:58) #"The Skeleton" (Rescored Alternate) (2:31) #"Hanging On" (Rescored Alternate) (3:08) #"The Cupboard" (Rescored Alternate) (3:12) #"Out The Door" (Rescored Alternate) (3:02) :Disc 2 #"Main Title" (3:37) #"The Face Hugger" (2:36) #"Breakaway" (3:03) #"Acid Test" (4:40) #"The Landing" (4:31) #"The Droid" (4:44) #"The Recovery" (2:50) #"The Alien Planet" (2:30) #"The Shaft" (4:01) #"End Title" (3:09) #"Main Title" (film version) (bonus) (3:44) #"The Skeleton" (alternate take) (bonus) (2:34) #"The Passage" (demonstration excerpt) (bonus) (1:54) #"Hanging On" (demonstration excerpt) (bonus) (1:08) #"Parker's Death" (demonstration excerpt) (bonus) (1:07) #"It's A Droid" (unused inserts) (bonus) (1:27) #"Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" (source) (bonus) (1:49)

Credits

credits for the original edition by 20th Century Fox RecordsJerry Goldsmith: Alien (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
/ref> *Conductor – Lionel Newman *Engineer ixing Engineer– Eric Tomlinson *Orchestra – The National Philharmonic Orchestra *Orchestrated By – Arthur Morton *Producer, Composed By – Jerry Goldsmith *Remix, Edited By – Len Engel

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alien (Soundtrack) Alien (franchise) soundtracks 1979 soundtrack albums Jerry Goldsmith soundtracks Intrada Records soundtracks