Hail, Caesar! (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack to the 2016 film Hail, Caesar! directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. The album features an original score composed by Carter Burwell and musical numbers. The soundtrack was released through Back Lot Music on February 5, 2016.
| Hail, Caesar! (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Soundtrack album by | ||||
| Released | February 5, 2016 | |||
| Recorded | 2014–2016 | |||
| Studio | Sony Scoring Stage, Culver City, California | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 42:44 | |||
| Label | Back Lot Music | |||
| Carter Burwell chronology | ||||
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Development
editHail, Caesar! features a film-within-a-film narrative of multiple films from various genres as the film's story takes place in a Hollywood backlot and featured various musical sequences, including a tap dance number.[1][2] According to Burwell, "the themes that I'm writing for the movie have to relate to the themes of the movies within the movie" and tying all those themes to become the music of a single film, was a challenge.[3][4] Scoring all the films had led Burwell researched a lot regarding the musical structure and narrative. He studied Miklós Rózsa's scores for Quo Vadis (1951) and Ben-Hur (1959), who felt that he invented his idea of music around the time of common era. The approach for his score needed to have a recurring melody that appear in different guises in the films that threads the storylines even though it appeared in individual subplots of the film.[4] The score was recorded in multiple phases in New York and Los Angeles. Henry Krieger and Willie Reale wrote the original song "No Dames" performed by Channing Tatum.[5]
Release
editBack Lot Music, the in-house label of Universal Pictures, announced the soundtrack on December 2015.[6] The album featured 26 tracks, that included musical numbers and was released day-and-date with the film on February 5, 2016 on digital download and physical formats.[7] Mondo released the vinyl edition of the album on May 6, 2016.[8]
Reception
editPeter Suderman of Vox wrote that Burwell "gives Hail, Caesar! a vibe that is both contemplative and ironic".[9] Dan Jolin of Empire also complimented Burwell's contribution to the film as one of an "astonishing technical achievement".[10] Charlotte O'Sullivan of Evening Standard stated that "Carter Burwell pushes the envelope with a cracking show tune as well as a typically soulful, bluegrass dirge."[11] Ryan Lambie of Den of Geek wrote "Carter Burwell’s music has a similarly widescreen quality which runs amusingly counter to the movie’s slapstick cynicism".[12] Jake Cole of Slant Magazine described it as "alternately epic and jazzy score".[13]
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Performer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Fiat Lux" | 1:19 | ||
| 2. | "5Am" | 0:57 | ||
| 3. | "Hail Caesar!" | 2:56 | ||
| 4. | "Baird Hijacked" | 0:38 | ||
| 5. | "Hobie and Whitey" | 0:52 | ||
| 6. | "Jonah's Daughter" | 2:54 | ||
| 7. | "Comrades Convene" | 0:58 | ||
| 8. | "The Cattle Call" | Tex Owens | Eddy Arnold | 2:54 |
| 9. | "Malibu Safe House" | 0:28 | ||
| 10. | "No Dames" | Channing Tatum | 4:24 | |
| 11. | "The Hands of Communists" | 0:36 | ||
| 12. | "Little Eddie" | 0:39 | ||
| 13. | "Our Father" |
| Ascention Church Choir (conducted by Feodor Stroganov and Svetlana Serafimovich) | 2:05 |
| 14. | "Lazy Ol' Moon Overture" | 0:32 | ||
| 15. | "Lazy Ol' Moon" | 1:13 | ||
| 16. | "The Glory of Love" | 2:15 | ||
| 17. | "Song of India" | 1:08 | ||
| 18. | "In Pursuit of the Future" | 2:04 | ||
| 19. | "Slavery and Suffering" | Traditional | The Red Army Choir | 4:14 |
| 20. | "Soviet Man" | 1:01 | ||
| 21. | "Denizens of the City" | 1:02 | ||
| 22. | "Silverman Sax" | 0:41 | ||
| 23. | "Faith God Damn It" | 2:35 | ||
| 24. | "Back to the Backlot" | 0:25 | ||
| 25. | "Behold" | 0:52 | ||
| 26. | "Echelons Song" | Alexander Vasilyevich Alexandrov | The Red Army Choir | 3:02 |
| Total length: | 42:44 | |||
Accolades
edit| Award | Category | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| International Film Music Critics Association | Best Original Score for a Comedy Film | Nominated | [14] [15] |
| World Soundtrack Awards | Soundtrack Composer of the Year | Won | [16] [17] [18] |
References
edit- ^ "Carter Burwell Talks Coen Brothers' Upcoming Hail, Caesar!". Empire. April 22, 2015. Archived from the original on December 30, 2020. Retrieved June 9, 2024.
- ^ "Love The Music Of Coen Brothers Films? You Can Thank Carter Burwell". National Public Radio. February 7, 2016. Archived from the original on February 14, 2016. Retrieved June 9, 2024.
- ^ Lee, Ashley (April 2, 2015). "New Plot Details From Coen Brothers' 'Hail, Caesar!' Revealed". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on September 1, 2017. Retrieved July 13, 2015.
- ^ a b Wray, Daniel Dylan (February 23, 2016). "Carter Burwell on writing the soundtrack to the Coen brothers' career". Little White Lies. Archived from the original on May 9, 2018. Retrieved June 9, 2024.
- ^ "Odds & Ends: Bombshell Set for Early Arrival, Hollywood Sings for Krieger & Reale & More". Broadway.com. January 13, 2015. Archived from the original on January 14, 2015. Retrieved January 28, 2016.
- ^ "Back Lot Music to release Hail Ceaser Soundtrack". Film Music Reporter. December 23, 2015. Archived from the original on February 19, 2016. Retrieved January 28, 2016.
- ^ "Hail Ceaser, Soundtrack Details". Film Music Reporter. January 7, 2016. Archived from the original on October 11, 2016. Retrieved January 28, 2016.
- ^ "Hail, Caesar! – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack LP". Mondo. Archived from the original on August 9, 2020. Retrieved June 9, 2024.
- ^ Suderman, Peter (February 10, 2016). "What makes the Coen brothers' movies so great — and hard to classify". Vox. Archived from the original on April 14, 2016. Retrieved June 9, 2024.
- ^ Jolin, Dan (February 29, 2016). "Hail, Caesar!". Empire. Archived from the original on March 31, 2024. Retrieved June 9, 2024.
- ^ O'Sullivan, Charlotte (March 4, 2016). "Hail, Caesar! – O brother, what are those Coen brothers up to now?". Evening Standard. Archived from the original on June 9, 2024. Retrieved June 9, 2024.
- ^ Lambie, Ryan (March 3, 2016). "Hail, Caesar! review". Den of Geek. Archived from the original on July 30, 2021. Retrieved June 9, 2024.
- ^ Cole, Jake (June 7, 2016). "Review: Joel and Ethan Coen's Hail, Caesar! on Universal Blu-ray". Slant Magazine. Archived from the original on January 22, 2021. Retrieved June 9, 2024.
- ^ Levy, Dani (February 9, 2017). "'Arrival,' 'La La Land' Among Film Music Critics Nominees". Variety. Variety Media, LLC. Archived from the original on September 27, 2017. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
- ^ IFMCA (2017). "2016 IFMCA Awards". IFMCA. Archived from the original on October 13, 2018. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
- ^ World Soundtrack Awards (October 19, 2016). "Winners of the 16th World Soundtrack Awards". World Soundtrack Academy. Archived from the original on October 19, 2016. Retrieved October 19, 2016.
- ^ "IFMCA, World Soundtrack Awards, collaborate on 2016 WSA Public Choice Award". International Film Music Critics Association. July 1, 2016. Archived from the original on August 15, 2016. Retrieved July 29, 2016.
- ^ "Carter Burwell Named Film Composer of the Year at World Soundtrack Awards". Film Music Reporter. October 19, 2016. Archived from the original on December 21, 2016. Retrieved October 30, 2016.