The Phantom Project Forum

Christine's Arrival
This is the main title music from part one of Tony Richardson's mini-series. The core themes of John Addison's score, as well as the traditional folk song "Laissez-moi Planter Le Mai", figure in this cue. In my humble opinion, Addison contributed the finest instrumental score for a Phantom film, and it's a crying shame that it's now out of print. If you find it anywhere then seize it up, if only for this track and the fine recordings of pieces from Faust.

Piano Concerto - The Lullaby Of The Bells
This piece, originally composed by Edward Ward for the 40s technicolor Philm starring Claude Rains, is taken from a CD called "Piano In Hollywood", and performed by Santiago Rodriguez. It's still available on Amazon, and it's well worth checking out if you're a fan of movie scores, Rodriguez's performance of music from "Spellbound" is especially awesome.

End Title
This is the end credits music that Misha Segal composed for that slasher flick starring Robert Englund, and is basically a medley of all the core themes, although the "Don Juan Triumphant" melody dominates the proceedings, here given a lush triumphant arrangement for strings.

Maddie
Ride To Cemetery
Graveyard Violin
These are also Misha Segal cues, underscoring the scenes where Erik sleeps with a prostitute and where Christine visits the grave of her father... Erik's violin serenade is an achingly melancholy arrangement of the "Don Juan Triumphant" theme... these are probably the most conventionally melodic pieces on the album, although the straightforward horror pieces aren't without interest. Segal's score is still in print and available through Amazon. I'd say it's worth checking out even if you didn't like the movie.

Circunderant Me Fluctus Mortis
Sighs & Sighs
These pieces are taken from Ennio Morricone's soundtrack to Dario Argento's infamous 1998 version... infamous because the plot made no sense, the characterisation was wildly inconsistent, the dialogue was laughable, the costumes were extremely camp, the lighting was awful, the three lead actors were all miscast, the violence wasn't scary at all, the sex wasn't sexy, the comic scenes weren't funny... the only thing this movie did right was the score and these two exquisitely beautiful love themes are far above and beyond what the movie deserved, their quality in the midst of all the other crap associated with the production is a testament to Morricone's outstanding professionalism.

Angel Of Music
This is an arrangement of Andrew Lloyd-Webber's melody for flute, played by James Galway - it can be found on the first volume of his greatest hits, released through RCA Victor records. It's available to download from iTunes.

Young Phantom's Piano Etude
Extremely brief, but quite pretty piano ditty, taken from Misha Segal's Phantom soundtrack.

Burlesque
This sprightly comic piece by Ennio Morricone accompanies the scene in Argento's version where the ratcatcher and his midget assistant are careening through the cellars in their custom built go-cart taking potshots at The Phantom's rodent friends. It's a very catchy tune, even if it was composed in service of one of the most extraordinarily idiotic films I've ever had the misfortune to watch in my life.

Toccata & Fugue In D Minor
Probably the most famous orgain piece ever, it was featured in the 60s Hammer Horror version of the story.

Laissez-moi Planter Le Mai
This is the traditional folk piece that is referenced frequently in the mini-series... it's sung by Christine as a child... and when she's exploring the opera house at night... and it features in John Addison's instrumental underscore. The version I put on this playlist is performed by Australian singer David Hobson, and features on his album "The Exquisite Hour", which is available through iTunes.

The Jewel Song
Faust has figured large in many versions of the Phantom, going all the way back to Leroux's original novel. I put Nancy Montana's version of "The Jewel Song" from the Englund film here on my iPod playlist just cause that was the version I had closest to hand at the time.

Je Crois Entendre Encore
This would later be arranged as "While Floating High Above", for Ken Hill's stage musical version of "Phantom". I've had a devil of a time trying to get a hold of the full cast recording for Hill's version, so for the moment I've had to content myself with the classical source material. The version I put on this playlist was Alison Moyet's version, which according to iTunes is the most popular... I wouldn't say it's the best version I've ever heard technically, but there is a genuine emotional power to her delivery and it is a decidedly eerie rendition.

Home
My True Love
My favourite songs from the Kopit/Yeston musical, the cast recording of which is fortunately much easier to get a hold of than the Ken Hill version.



Anyone else here got some Phantom-related iPod playlists they'd like to talk about?

This is a fabulous list! While I have the musical soundtracks, I don't have the soundtracks to the films most of the time (I'm on a budget, sadly). But if some of them are kicking around on iTunes, I might just be able to snag single tracks. Hmm... I've been meaning to make a full album of the musical pieces used in Leroux's novel, as well...