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[Images: Keir Dullea, in 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Malcolm McDowell, in A Clockwork Orange]
Stanley Kubrick made two films unabashedly science-fiction in nature: 2001: A Space Odyssey, and A Clockwork Orange. I think they’re both classics, but will concede that 2001 is more commonly listed as such by people who’ve seen both; indeed, Clockwork Orange comes across as a little too, well, repellent for many people.
(Understandable: the film’s protagonist/narrator, Alex, is something of a beastly creature — at once sadistic and self-pitying. That he’s also wry, charming, often quite funny, a victim of circumstances, etc… Well, easy enough to overlook all that if you’re so inclined.)
Whatever one thinks of the films, the soundtracks worked very, very well as veritable works of art in their own right. The one from 2001 appears never to have been released — or at least, is no longer available — as a single collection. Luckily, all or most of it came from individual performances (most/all) which are available, sometimes in slightly different arrangements, by the same artists.
Because I’m working on a new SF story, I’ve found myself using these soundtracks quite a bit recently. And I thought I’d share a mini-version of the combined lot here, as a Midweek Music Break.
| # | Composer/Title | Film | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | R. Straus: Also Sprach Zarathustra | 2001 | 1:47 |
| 2 | Rossini: The Thieving Magpie | Clockwork | 5:57 |
| 3 | Tucker: Overture to the Sun | Clockwork | 1:47 |
| 4 | Beethoven: Suicide Scherzo (9th Symphony, 2nd Movement) (abridged) |
Clockwork | 3:09 |
| 5 | R. Straus: The Blue Danube Waltz | 2001 | 11:47 |
| 6 | Freed/Brown: Singin’ in the Rain | Clockwork | 2:37 |
(Note: The playlist goes automatically from start to finish, once you click the little Play button. To skip to the next number, once a song is playing you’ll find a little fast-forward button to the right of its progress meter — and a fast-rewind to the left, for that matter.)
