Night Crossing

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

After you've heard practically there is to be heard of Jerry Goldsmith, you still are in awe the moment you hear a long forgotten score, due mainly to the unavailability of its soundtrack release. Yet Night Crossing is a small masterpiece of 1981, the moment he composed nothing else but masterpieces, and frankly, its a mixture of these following classics: Alien, Capricorn One, The Final Conflict, Star Trek: The Motion Picture and of course a sound belonging only to Night Crossing. Still, this score will please a lot of Goldsmith fans and no wonder Intrada did so much to make sure it received a release, because its frankly a lot more interesting then most scores of Goldsmith coming out today as the newly found aging deluxe edition. Of course, it takes a while to get into the darker flow, and for that a couple of listens is required. What isn't required is the stunning flying music where Goldsmith lets loose everything of his famous film music extravaganza there is to know. It however starts as said with the darker tense music, and nothing uncommon it takes the style of Capricorn One and Holst 'The Planets for good measure, low drums in 'Prologue' and repeated with Capricorn horns in 'Main Title', but more The Planets is also noticeable in its sound. Its however a promising opener. The first tracks perhaps don't amount to much interesting music, they make a mood appear, and in 'All in Vain' a lonely piano and eerie mood is strengthened by the brass and strings growing in tense atmosphere, the brass ala Holst and Capricorn One close off the track. One of the lighter tracks, if only for minutes is 'The Picnic' and an accordion sets an immediate gentle tone, but soon this changes into a marching European drum rhythm and Alien like strings. And frankly, this mood never changes much in the following tracks. Its only until 'Success' the score gets the Goldsmith wonder his classics received during that time, whirling strings and dangerous brass make way for a thundering fanfare, blowing you out of your seat for good.

And from then on the game is set, with 'First Flight' more then 10 minutes even! It starts with the picnic accordion, before the main theme (which is the fanfare) is heard with whirling strings, its magic is all around basically. The light tense music starts to build up, eerie strings ala Star Trek, the brass starts making suspense waves like Poltergeist did and while the last minutes are darker, its really a great track. From then on, the score is back to some less blockbuster tracks, 'The Car' where horns especially make the frenzy happen along with the whirling strings, 'The Patches' has the main theme with an especially soothing finish with emotional strings while 'Short of Time' has drums leading to light suspense music all the same. 'No Time to Wait' has again the suspense music (after the theme), but these are blessed through the trumpet rage of Capricorn One near the end, which is excellent. The blast is still for the finishing tracks, like 'Final Flight' with an immediate explosion of the flying wondrous main theme, string themes falling like rain, the Capricorn influence along with Star Trek, meaning the classic tone of the score. And 'In the West' has the main theme returning in string bliss with added brass, signing off a happy but above all powerful ending. The surprising 'End Credits' is a brief waltz of the picnic theme and shows Goldsmith's more creative mind. Night Crossing is a fantastic score when the music really lifts the spirits with the wonderful fanfares and flying moments, however there is also a darker side to be heard (perhaps now a bit reminiscent of The Secret of NIMH), but still together they mesh well and deliver a really interesting listening experience, more its especially thrilling the entire score through and while it takes a bit of time to get into the flow, its classic Goldsmith again when he brings the everlasting magic upon us. And Night Crossing is an example the way it should be done in the first place.

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Tracks

Single Disc

1. Prologue (0.51)

2. Main Title (1.51)

3. The Market (1.03)

4. All In Vain (3.22)

5. The Picnic (4.02)

6. Plans (5.06)

7. First Test (0.40)

8. Too Much Work (1.30)

9. Success (3.43) Excellent Track

10. First Flight (9.38) Excellent Track

11. The Car (2.17)

12. The Patches (2.49)

13. Short Of Time (2.43)

14. Tomorrow We Go (1.02)

15. The Chemist (1.29)

16. No Time To Wait (5.53)

17. Final Flight (6.12) Excellent Track

18. In The West (3.31) Excellent Track

19. End Credits (1.11)

Total Length: 58.43

The use of artwork or photos is posted for non profitable reasons

=== Link to Composer Site: Jerry Goldsmith ===