Search - Maurice Jarre :: Shogun

Both epic and international, Shogun (1980) was from the very beginning a project crying out for Maurice Jarre's particular blend of talents. Loosely inspired by the life of Will Adams (fictionalized as John Blackthorne), the story tells of an English shipbuilder who sailed to the Japans at the dawn of the 17th Century and became a samurai. Shogun, written by James Clavell and third in his Asian saga, was one of the most successful novels of 1975. Producers were daunted by the scope it would take to film the extensive story, but with the proven success of the miniseries Roots in 1977, they found the confidence to proceed and thus was born the age of the miniseries. Starring Richard Chamberlain in the title role, Shogun proved a hit with viewers. The role of music in Shogun was made even more important as a consequence of Clavell's decision to shoot the film mostly in Japanese, without subtitles and only with sparse narration. Furthermore, the exotic setting and clash of cultures had to be convincingly, and authentically addressed. Jarre's main theme features both a swashbuckling setting for uptempo action sequences as well as a romantic theme assuming a gentler, more yearning persona. There is also a secondary theme, where Jarre take the rhythmic and melodic shape of the main theme and tweaks it to better fit the tones of a minor pentatonic scale (traditional in East Asian music). In stark contrast to the romance and adventure is some powerful music featuring Japanese instruments mixed with orchestra, giving a weighty presence to the feuding warlords. It's all here musically - 17th Century Japan with clashing cultures and feuding warlords. While an LP was released at the time of the original airing in 1980, this is the premiere release of Shogun on CD and features the contents of the original LP release, remastered for optimal sound. This release is limited to 3000 copies.