Varèse Sarabande Records is thrilled to unveil its October 2020 CD Club titles: How to Train Your Dragon (The Deluxe Edition) by John Powell and Village of the Damned (The Deluxe Edition) by John Carpenter & Dave Davies, which are now available exclusively on VareseSarabande.com. The CD Club launched its official start in 1989 and has been a staple of the label ever since, relaunching titles from renowned composers such as John Williams and Ennio Morricone.
How to Train Your Dragon (The Deluxe Edition): How to Train Your Dragon was composer John Powell’s first solo score for a DreamWorks animated feature, having co-scored numerous soundtracks, including The Road to El Dorado, Kung Fu Panda, Antz, Chicken Run and Shrek. Powell made a memorable impression with his How to Train Your Dragon score, which earned him his first Academy Award® nomination. The 2-CD Deluxe Edition includes the score as heard in the film along with alternate versions and demos. Extensive liner notes from film music journalist Tim Greiving are also included.
The film rights to Cressida Cowell’s first book How to Train Your Dragon—about a wimpy young Viking named Hiccup, son of the brawny village chief, who captures and trains a dragon he calls Toothless—were purchased by DreamWorks. The studio released the Academy Award®-nominated animated feature from directors Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders in 2010.
Regarding his initial creative approach, Powell took the Viking milieu literally and started researching Scandinavian folk tunes and musical traditions, which he says are “wonderfully cold and warm at the same time.” DreamWorks’ Jeffrey Katzenberg advised him to “throw some Enya at it” [Enya is a prolific Irish singer, songwriter and record producer].
In the film, the adults all speak with a Scottish brogue, whereas the kids have American accents, which Powell saw as a subtle symbol of generational shifts: “So there’s this kind of mismatch of Viking theory going on. But what I got from that comment, about ‘throwing some Enya at it,’ was that Irish, Scottish, and to a certain extent Old English folk songs can have a warmth to them that perhaps I wasn’t utilizing, because I was being a bit too intellectual. I thought, okay, I’m just going to go back to my roots, as it were. And those roots are maybe deeper than I’d realized—and before I knew it, I had bagpipes. Even though I laughed, in my head a lot of doors opened.”
Director Dean DeBlois: “Chris [Sanders] and I quickly realized that John has a very strong story sense in his own right. And when it came to filling the movie with tunes and motifs, he was finding his own way through the story that was almost like a harmony to the main themes that we were tackling on the surface with dialogue and visuals. It’s a really unique ability, and something that I’m thankful for. Because the music itself is not just supporting the storytelling—it’s deepening it.”
Additionally, we’re excited to share the news that Omni Music Publishing (in association with 5 Cat Studios) has released the full score of How to Train Your Dragon that includes every single cue from the film, matching The Deluxe Edition album. The book can be purchased here!
The film rights to Cressida Cowell’s first book How to Train Your Dragon—about a wimpy young Viking named Hiccup, son of the brawny village chief, who captures and trains a dragon he calls Toothless—were purchased by DreamWorks. The studio released the Academy Award®-nominated animated feature from directors Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders in 2010.
Regarding his initial creative approach, Powell took the Viking milieu literally and started researching Scandinavian folk tunes and musical traditions, which he says are “wonderfully cold and warm at the same time.” DreamWorks’ Jeffrey Katzenberg advised him to “throw some Enya at it” [Enya is a prolific Irish singer, songwriter and record producer].
In the film, the adults all speak with a Scottish brogue, whereas the kids have American accents, which Powell saw as a subtle symbol of generational shifts: “So there’s this kind of mismatch of Viking theory going on. But what I got from that comment, about ‘throwing some Enya at it,’ was that Irish, Scottish, and to a certain extent Old English folk songs can have a warmth to them that perhaps I wasn’t utilizing, because I was being a bit too intellectual. I thought, okay, I’m just going to go back to my roots, as it were. And those roots are maybe deeper than I’d realized—and before I knew it, I had bagpipes. Even though I laughed, in my head a lot of doors opened.”
Director Dean DeBlois: “Chris [Sanders] and I quickly realized that John has a very strong story sense in his own right. And when it came to filling the movie with tunes and motifs, he was finding his own way through the story that was almost like a harmony to the main themes that we were tackling on the surface with dialogue and visuals. It’s a really unique ability, and something that I’m thankful for. Because the music itself is not just supporting the storytelling—it’s deepening it.”
Additionally, we’re excited to share the news that Omni Music Publishing (in association with 5 Cat Studios) has released the full score of How to Train Your Dragon that includes every single cue from the film, matching The Deluxe Edition album. The book can be purchased here!
Full Orchestral Score Book:
https://omnimusicpublishing.com/product/john-powells-how-to-train-your-dragon-full-orchestral-score/
https://omnimusicpublishing.com/product/john-powells-how-to-train-your-dragon-full-orchestral-score/
*Limited Collector’s Edition of 3,000 copies
Village of the Damned (The Deluxe Edition): The 1995 remake of Village of the Damned comes from influential horror director John Carpenter (The Fog, Halloween), who also co-scored the soundtrack with his friend Dave Davies of the British band The Kinks. The 2-CD Deluxe Edition includes the score as heard in the film, the separate mix that Carpenter did for the 1995 soundtrack album, three film mixes that were not included on the 1995 album, and an alternate take on the climactic “March of the Children” track. John Carpenter almost always created a separate mix of his film score for the album release, which is what is heard on the 1995 soundtrack album. The album includes all-new original art direction, classic film stills, and new liner notes by film music journalist Randall D. Larson.
Carpenter and Davies worked for five weeks to create and produce a score that merged electronic synthesizers with live instruments. Carpenter described their score as one of the most full, romantic scores he’d ever done. “My job as a composer is to support the drama, unify sequences, and heighten suspense,” he wrote in the previous album liner notes. “Together, Dave and I tried to bring emotional life to the story of a small town invaded by children with unusual powers and a total lack of humanity.”
In Village of the Damned, a strange phenomenon causes the townspeople of coastal Midwich to fall asleep for six hours. When they recover, ten of the town’s women are unaccountably pregnant. When the “blackout children” are born and grow, they demonstrate unusual intellect and possess psychic powers which they use to control the townsfolk. Being able to read people’s thoughts, they use their mind-control powers to eradicate those who pose a threat to their domination.
*Limited Collector’s Edition of 2,000 copies
Founded in 1978, Varèse Sarabande is the most prolific producer of film music in the world, releasing the highest quality soundtracks from the world’s greatest composers. From current box office hits and top television series to the classics of Hollywood’s Golden Age, Varèse Sarabande’s catalog includes albums from practically every composer in every era, covering all of film history; from Bernard Herrmann, Alex North and Jerry Goldsmith to Alexandre Desplat, Michael Giacchino and Brian Tyler. Varèse Sarabande Records, LLC, is a Concord company. [varesesarabande.com]
Carpenter and Davies worked for five weeks to create and produce a score that merged electronic synthesizers with live instruments. Carpenter described their score as one of the most full, romantic scores he’d ever done. “My job as a composer is to support the drama, unify sequences, and heighten suspense,” he wrote in the previous album liner notes. “Together, Dave and I tried to bring emotional life to the story of a small town invaded by children with unusual powers and a total lack of humanity.”
In Village of the Damned, a strange phenomenon causes the townspeople of coastal Midwich to fall asleep for six hours. When they recover, ten of the town’s women are unaccountably pregnant. When the “blackout children” are born and grow, they demonstrate unusual intellect and possess psychic powers which they use to control the townsfolk. Being able to read people’s thoughts, they use their mind-control powers to eradicate those who pose a threat to their domination.
*Limited Collector’s Edition of 2,000 copies
Founded in 1978, Varèse Sarabande is the most prolific producer of film music in the world, releasing the highest quality soundtracks from the world’s greatest composers. From current box office hits and top television series to the classics of Hollywood’s Golden Age, Varèse Sarabande’s catalog includes albums from practically every composer in every era, covering all of film history; from Bernard Herrmann, Alex North and Jerry Goldsmith to Alexandre Desplat, Michael Giacchino and Brian Tyler. Varèse Sarabande Records, LLC, is a Concord company. [varesesarabande.com]
Jeremy [Six Strings]
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