Search - Christopher Gordon, Sydney Philharmonic Choir, Philip Hartl :: On The Beach: Original Television Soundtrack (2000 TV Movie)

Beautiful music for a most unpleasant topic

Daniel Waitkoss | St. Charles, Missouri USA | 07/14/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The soundtrack to this Australian miniseries appears to meet the two points that any good soundtrack should--it aids the film in telling its story while being able to stand alone as a piece of fine music. Christopher Gordon's soundtrack does both. It aids the viewer to feel the quiet horror of the end of the world and humanity's attempt to hang on to life until the radiation makes it unbearable. The music, itself, is outstanding--the music moves from powerful and dramatic ("The World at War") to the soft and dream-like ("On the Jetty") to Julian's last drive through Melbourne ("The Beginning of the End"). The music during the boat race can easily stand by itself. And, the main theme--also found in "On the Jetty" is as haunting a melody as you are likely to find anywhere. I look forward to hearing other works by Christopher Gordon."

A Remarkable Epic Score for On The Beach

Petar Vodogaz | Sydney, NSW Australia | 02/23/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is the official original 2000 Television soundtrack for the joint Australian/American mini-series that deals with 2 facets of humanity, the destructive nature of our technology that is open to abuse by our own hands and the other facet is the love and devotion and restraint we find ourselves as individuals and as a collective in hard and dire times.



The music was composed and directed by a very talented musician, Christopher Gordon who has created a score that matches every mood of the Tele-movie. The movie deals with a topic that we don't really ever want to go through - a nuclear war that is slowly but surely rendering humanity exinct.



The music is wonderful, and the real high impact music pieces are both touching and bring a sence of impending doom. Tracks 22 through to 26 are some of the best music I have ever had the pleasure to listen too and I could not help but shed some tears on Lacrimosa and Lux Perpetua. The female vocalist has a utterly amazing voice.



A great score remarkable and thought provoking made for one of the best mini-series ever shown on TV. On The Beach is a warning of what will happen if we ever unleash our weapons on each other."

Gorgeous, epic main theme, beautiful orchestral score

James Luckard | Los Angeles, CA | 06/05/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For this little-seen miniseries remake of the anti-war classic, Christopher Gordon has composed a full, grand, old-fashioned orchestral score. It's as good as anything composed for Hollywood epics with ten times the budget, and really harkens back to the classic orchestral scores of the 50's and 60's with its sweeping themes and lush orchestrations.



The gorgeous main love theme for Rachel Ward and Armand Assante's characters is awesomely powerful in its unabashed emotions and worth buying the CD for alone. It appears in tracks 8-12, the On The Beach suite, and again, most powerfully, in track 22. It's simply stunning. The sweep and hopefulness of this unforgettable tune capture the mood of the story even better than the, at times, quite uneven film.



9/5/04 - An updated note. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY BUYING FROM EXTORTIONATE USED DEALERS. This CD may no longer be available through amazon, but its producer, Varese Sarabande, still lists it for order at their site, www.varesesarabande.com"