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The 2001: A Space Odyssey score is an unused film score composed by Alex North for Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film, 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Background Stanley Kubrick actually commissioned the 2001 score from noted Hollywood composer Alex North, who had written the score for Spartacus and also worked on Dr. Strangelove.[1] However, on 2001 Kubrick did much of the filming and editing using, as his guides, the classical recordings which eventually became the music track. In March 1966, MGM became concerned about 2001s progress and Kubrick put together a show reel of footage to the ad hoc soundtrack of classical recordings. The studio bosses were delighted with the results and Kubrick decided to use these "guide pieces" as the final musical soundtrack, and he abandoned North's score. North, unaware that Kubrick had decided not to use the score in his film, was "devastated"[2] at the 1968 New York City premiere screening of 2001 not to hear his work, and later offered this account of his experience: "Well, what can I say? It was a great, frustrating experience, and despite the mixed reaction to the music, I think the Victorian approach with mid-European overtones was just not in keeping with the brilliant concept of Clarke and Kubrick."[2] On hearing the score as it might have been in the film, film scholar Gene D. Phillips argued that "it is difficult to see how North's music would have been an improvement on the background music that Kubrick finally chose for the film."[3] In his notes for the Jerry Goldsmith recording (see below), however, Kevin Mulhall argues that "there is no doubt that 2001 would have been better if Kubrick had used North's music. Even if one likes some of the choices Kubrick made for certain individual scenes, the eclectic group of classical composers employed by the director... resulted in a disturbing melange of sounds and styles overall."[2] The original three-track score masters had been kept at Anvil Studios in England as late as 1980, but were later erased when the Anvil facility closed. All that remained of the original tracks were mono fold down tapes kept by North's family. Original theme music Alex North's main title theme has a striking resemblance to the "Also sprach Zarathustra" piece that would eventually be used in the final film. The original theme was listed on North's original score sheet as "Bones". It would have been used three times in the film, once as the main title music, and again during the opening "Dawn of Man" sequence as an ape smashes skeletal remains (hence the score sheet's title), and finally at the end of the film during the "Starchild" scene. This theme music made its public debut in early 1993 as part of the Telarc compilation CD Hollywood's Greatest Hits, Vol. 2, by Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, and there it was titled "Fanfare for 2001" (it would therefore be the world's first exposure to North's unused 2001 music). It would eventually be recycled by North for his later score to The Shoes of the Fisherman. Jerry Goldsmith recording Shortly after Telarc's release of the theme, the entire original North score was released to the public, also in 1993, in the form of an entirely new recording produced and conducted by film composer Jerry Goldsmith, performed by the National Philharmonic Orchestra and recorded from January 26 to January 30. It was released in CD format from Var se Sarabande Records, with the track list sequenced by co-producer Robert Tounson. CD cover art by Matthew Joseph Peak. Official original recording In January 2007, Intrada Records issued 3000 copies of a limited edition CD featuring North's original recording of the score from 1968. The release was authorized by the family of North, the estate of Stanley Kubrick, Dylanna Music, North's music publishing company, and other entities (the film's current rights holder, Turner Entertainment, did not take part in this CD release).[4] The album features nine tracks from the score, as well as an alternate version of the track "The Foraging." In addition, the album features three bonus tracks, all of additional takes of other tracks on the album. The music is conducted by Henry Brant, who helped North with the orchestration. North had to be taken to the session in an ambulance due to muscle spasms and back pain brought on by the stress of completing the score.[5] The CD also includes liner notes and precise cue points as to where the music would have been found in the film so that viewers can properly track these cues in sync with the DVD/Blu-ray. References External links
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