Veröffentlichung MSM: Michael Kamens BACK TO GAYA

[Gast Stefan Jania]

MOVIESCORE MEDIA TO RELEASE MICHAEL KAMEN’S FINAL OPUS

Swedish label to share revenues from ’Back to Gaya’ with Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation

(January 5, 2012- Göteborg, Sweden) – Dedicated to the memory of one of the most gifted and popular film composers, Michael Kamen, the original orchestral score from the German fantasy animation Back to Gaya will be released on CD and online by Swedish soundtrack label MovieScore Media on January 24, 2012. In honour of the late maestro, MovieScore Media will share a portion of revenues generated by the album with Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation, which was founded by Michael Kamen in 1996 as his commitment to the future of music education.

The completion of the score for Back to Gaya was an extraordinary achievement by Michael Kamen’s team of producers, orchestrators and additional composers. Tragically and suddenly, in the midst of composing the music for the film, Michael Kamen passed away. Committed to fulfil the vision of Kamen, complementing the music he had written specifically for Back to Gaya with a selection of his unused compositions from previous film projects, a team headed by Kamens long-time associates Steve McLaughlin (producer/recording engineer) and Christopher Brooks (producer/music editor) finalized the score to fit the film perfectly.

”Although Michael had been suffering from MS for a few years before he passed away, his death came as a terrible shock and surprise,” McLaughlin said. ”He had only completed a few sketches of the Gaya score, and we hadn’t had a chance to talk about how he thought it would be produced. I had an idea of how we might finish it. Over the years I worked with Michael, I remembered many sketches that Michael thought had value, but that we’d never used, or given any prominence to, in a film. I thought we might find more music for Back to Gaya in that archive.”

Elaborate research and skilful additional composition, arranging and orchestration by team members such as Ilan Eshkeri (now a prominent film composer in his own right with films such as Young Victoria, Stardust and Coriolanus to his credit) and Robert Elhai (Kamen’s lead orchestrator for many years) resulted in a soundtrack that is pure Michael Kamen, according to the album producer, Mikael Carlsson. ”Although Michael wasn’t there to actually tailor the music to the picture, you can hear his voice in every single bar, every nuance, every phrase of the score. It is very melodic, highly emotional, elegantly orchestrated with extremely clear voice leading, sometimes intensely energetic but also often restrained and refined.”

The recording of the Back to Gaya became a very emotional and memorable experience for everyone involved. Performed by Michael Kamen’s favourite orchestra, the London Metropolitan Orchestra, the crisp recording brings forward Michael Kamen’s orchestral voice at its absolute best. ”All the principals of all the great London orchestras had come to play, and had brought their best instruments. The musicians loved Michael, and they’d come to pay their respects,” said Steve McLaughlin.

Featuring over one hour of music, the Back to Gaya album is the 11th entry in MovieScore Media’s ’Discovery Collection’ (previous titles includes Patrick Doyle’s Man to Man, Basil Poledouris’ The Legend of Butch and Sundance and Dario Marianelli’s I Capture the Castle). ”We are, of course, very proud to be able to bring this exquisit score to the attention and enjoyment of a world-wide audience. Michael Kamen’s music reached the heart of thousands of people and his music was very popular among soundtrack aficionados. Back to Gaya is a beautiful addition to any soundtrack collection and a wonderful tribute to one of the finest film composers ever,” said Mikael Carlsson, who has edited and produced the album and spent four years working on acquiring the rights to release it.

Honouring Michael Kamen’s initiative to support music education in American schools, a portion of the Back to Gaya revenues will go directly to the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation. ”Just as MovieScore Media has produced this beautiful completion to Michael Kamen's musical vision through Back to Gaya, the team at The Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation works tirelessly to extend his legacy through putting instruments into the hands of kids across the country. By giving children access to music education, they will grow in many ways, which Michael knew better than anyone. We are honored to benefit from the sale of this beautiful score - it will help to drive the mission which Michael Kamen so wisely and so passionately established,” said Felice Mancini, executive director of The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation.

Michael Kamen composed the music for over 60 feature films. Among his best known scores are the first three Die Hard films, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Brazil, X-Men, The Iron Giant, the four Lethal Weapon movies, Open Range, 101 Dalmatians, Mr. Holland’s Opus, What Dreams May Come, Last Action Hero and Hudson Hawk. He was nominated for two Oscars in the ’Best Song’ category, for ’Everything I Do I Do It For You” (Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves) and ”Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman” (Don Juan DeMarco, both co-written by Bryan Adams and Robert John Lange. Outside the world of film, Michael Kamen was a versatile arranger and conductor who started out as the co-founder and leader of the New York Rock Ensemble and subsequently worked with such pop artists as Kate Bush, Pink Floyd, Metallica, Queen, Eric Clapton and David Sanborn. Classically trained at Juilliard School in New York, Kamen’s extensive knowledge of the classical repertoire was often reflected in his film scores.

Back to Gaya is an animated fantasy adventure where creatures known as the Snurks face imminent danger as someone has stolen the Dalamite, a magic stone without which Gaya is doomed. Two Snurks, Boo and Zino, embark on an exciting and dangerous journey to recover the stone. Produced and directed by Holger Tappe and Lenard Fritz Krawinkel, Back to Gaya was released by Warner Bros in Germany in 2004. The international version, entitled Boo, Zino and the Snurks, featured the voice talents of Patrick Stewart and Emily Watson. The film was dedicated to Michael Kamen.

MovieScore Media will release Back to Gaya (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) on CD and digitally online on January 24, 2012. The first CD edition is limited to 1000 copies.

[Souchak]

”Although Michael wasn’t there to actually tailor the music to the picture, you can hear his voice in every single bar, every nuance, every phrase of the score.”

[Handstand]

Eine sehr schöne Geste, auch wenn sich wohl jede und jeder hier ausmalen kann, dass die Zuwendung zwangsläufig monetär sehr bescheiden ausfallen wird - egal, wie hoch der Anteil ist.

[Mink]

Freut mich sehr. Ist jetzt nicht der Kamen auf den ich immer gewartet habe (grade weil wohl wirklich nicht besonders viel von ihm selbst dabei ist), aber es ist schön, dass sich jemand dieses Scores angenommen hat.

[Souchak]

Warum isn da kein release date?

Erster Absatz, zweiter Satz:

Back to Gaya will be released on CD and online by Swedish soundtrack label MovieScore Media on January 24, 2012.

[ronin1975]

na da flippt doch Mink langsam aus oder? das wird dein Kamen Jahr! :-)

"Kamen Sie gut ins neue Jahr?" "Auf jeden Fall..."

[TheRealNeo]

Da werden die tausend aber bestimmt auch schnell weggehen bei einem "Kamen".

[Mink]

Erster Absatz, zweiter Satz:

auch noch gesehen

na da flippt doch Mink langsam aus oder? das wird dein Kamen Jahr! :-)

"Kamen Sie gut ins neue Jahr?" "Auf jeden Fall..."

Haha, der ist gut! Wollen wirs hoffen!

[scorefun]

Schöne News - stand dieser Titel nicht bei vielen Fans ziemlich weit oben auf der Holy-Grail-Liste?

[scorefun]

Edit: Hörpoben & Tracklisting gibt es schon bei SAE

http://www.screenarc...l.cfm/ID/16923/

1. Main Title 1:30

2. Snurks 1:27

3. Flying 1:59

4. The Kiss 1:21

5. Fireworks 1:36

6. The Professor 2:32

7. The Race 2:29

8. Baby Chase 2:57

9. The Vortex 3:04

10. Wrecking Ball 0:44

11. The Toy Store 1:41

12. Balloon Crash 2:25

13. Rat Chase 2:42

14. The Sewer 3:00

15. Find a Way In 1:32

16. In Charge 1:42

17. Switched On 1:46

18. So Unusual 1:43

19. Free Will 3:43

20. Night Flight 1:39

21. Big Dumb 5:18

22. Robot Chase 3:05

23. Climb 2:24

24. Catching Dolomite 1:39

25. Manual Targeting 1:21

26. We're Free! 4:01

27. The Mayor Runs 1:38

28. Back to Gaya (Last Cue) 1:22

[BigMacGyver]

Ja wie geil ist das denn?! Holy Grail seit ich die musik im film gehört habe! Wer hätte gedacht, dass das release des jahres schon in der ersten januarwoche kommen würde?

[Mink]

Und bestellt! BAM!

[Souchak]

Soviel gute Laune & die erste Woche des Jahres ist noch nicht mal vorbei. Nun, ich freu mich, dass ihr euch freut

[TheRealNeo]

Hab auch mal bei SAE vorbestellt, wer weiß wie schnell (oder nicht) die 1000 von einem Kamen weg sind.

[Gast Stefan Jania]

Die CD ist nicht auf 1000 Exemplare limitiert, nur die erste Pressung. Ähnliches gilt für Man To Man.

Sweet. That's awesome. Have been waiting for years. More Kamen is always a treat.

What does "First edition limited to 1000 copies" mean? Does MSM have a new policy?

Yes. Following a very intelligent contribution to the discussion on the "limited release" hype of late, Douglass Fake discussed this a couple of months ago and inspired MSM to do the following. Implementing a new policy and hoping to contribute to a new industry standard, MovieScore Media will denote the number of the manufactured edition on the CD.

This doesn't necessarily mean that the first edition is going to be the only one - if there is demand for another pressing, we will do one. It's very difficult to predict the soundtrack buyer's market.

[Scorist]

Die paar Samples erinnern mich ganz schön schwer an Band of Brothers. Gefällt mir

Den Film hab ich eigentlich ganz gut in Erinnerung, vlt. gönn ich mir das mal.

[ronin1975]

klingt nett...

[BigMacGyver]

Es hat dem score sicher nicht geschadet, dass man ihn mithilfe von versatzstücken (oder auch unbenutztem material) älterer kamen arbeiten vervollständigt hatte, wie es im ankündigungstext geschrieben wurde. So kam der score schon im film rüber wie ein "best of michael kamen" konzert. Man wird vieles wiedererkennen, unter anderem band of brothers, robin hood, etc. Kamens "unvollendete" ist im ergebnis ein extrem abwechslungsreicher und unterhaltsamer score geworden.

Es ist verwunderlich, dass es so lange brauchte bis ein kleines filmmusik label wie MSM sich diesen re-use fees freien score angenommen hat. Dieses release ist mehr als überfällig.

[mixolydian]

Hat von euch schon jemand ein Exemplar erhalten?

[TheRealNeo]

Ich hab nicht mal eine Versandmitteilung bisher bekommen.

[Gast Stefan Jania]

Hat von euch schon jemand ein Exemplar erhalten?

Die CD kam erst vor vier Tagen raus. Somit ist das reichlich unwahrscheinlich.

[TheRealNeo]

Mittwoch kam die Versandmail von SAE, heute war die CD da.

[mixolydian]

Hmm, meine CD ist immer noch nicht eingetroffen.

[horner1980]

Hmm, meine CD ist immer noch nicht eingetroffen.

Meine ebenfalls nicht.. anscheinend gab es Verspätungen in der Auslieferung .. aber mir wurde gesagt, das in den nächste Woche wohl die CD eintreffen sollte

[Gast Stefan Jania]

Hängt immer von einer Frage ab: wo bestellt? Mir fällt es zur Zeit auf, dass deutsche Händler aktuell leider ziemlich lange auf bestimmte Lieferungen warten müssen. Ich hatte eigentlich auf Bestellungen in Deutschland umgestellt, weil ich durchaus bereit bin mal ein paar Euro mehr zu zahlen oder auch eine Woche länger zu warten. Wenn ich nun aber sehe, dass ich noch auf Auslieferung von Bestellungen vom Anfang Januar warte, beginne ich doch meine Politik wieder zu überdenken. So lange hat es auch bei US-Bestellungen nur im worst-case gedauert. Meine direkt bei Intrada bestellte A Troll In Central Park war auch in etwas mehr als einer Woche hier. Hmmm. Nicht gut. Ich wanke.