| Moonrise Kingdom (Original Soundtrack) | |
| Type: | Soundtrack |
| Artist: | Various artists |
| Cover: | Moonrise Kingdom (soundtrack) cover.jpg |
| Released: | May 15, 2012 |
| Length: | 1:04:11 |
| Label: | ABKCO |
Moonrise Kingdom (Original Soundtrack) is the accompanying soundtrack album for the identically named 2012 coming-of-age comedy-drama film released on May 15, 2012 through ABKCO Records.[1] [2] The soundtrack album featured original compositions from Alexandre Desplat and supplemented existing music by Benjamin Britten, as well as classical songs from Hank Williams, Leonard Bernstein, Frank Schubert and Françoise Hardy.[3] [4] Both Anderson and Randall Poster compiled the film's soundtrack.
The soundtrack was positively received by music critics and analysts, and was listed in several year-end and decade-end lists of "best soundtracks". It also topped the Billboard Classical Albums chart upon release. Desplat's score suite which was separated into five different tracks, and Mark Mothersbaugh's theme was bundled into a separate score album, that was released on June 19, 2012 by ABKCO.
The soundtrack to Moonrise Kingdom featured compositions from Benjamin Britten, who was notable for many children's musicals.[5] Anderson, who has been heavily interested in Britten's music, since early-2000s had thought about Britten's numerous compositions that were written for children. He supplemented those tracks, with the help of music supervisor Randall Poster, in their seventh collaboration; they worked together since Anderson's feature directorial debut Bottle Rocket (1996).[6] [7] The use of Britten's music had matched Anderson's sensibilities as an auteur, as according to him, "they are classical pieces that are meant to have an audience of children, but are not written down to children — they're meant to educate children in what classical music really is. Britten seemed really motivated by that."[8] Several classical songs from Hank Williams, Leonard Bernstein, Frank Schubert and Françoise Hardy being used.[9]
The lead protagonists Sam (Jared Gilman) and Suzy (Kara Hayward) met first at a rehearsal for stage production of Britten's Noye's Fludde ; the opera served as an integral part of the story as Anderson was nearly ten or eleven, when he first performed the choir for Noye's Fludde. In an interview to Pitchfork, Anderson had stated the use of Noye's Fludde, saying "when people write rock'n'roll music they're writing it for their band or themselves — it's generally not written for somebody else to do. That's been the predominant mode for some time [...] Britten conducted and produced and directed the first production of Noye's Fludde, but after that, it becomes something where a group of people in Texas can get all these pieces of sheet music, and this instruction manual, and do their own take on it. I bet it's a fun thing to experience different versions of what you've written."[10]
For Bruce Willis' character, Anderson used a collection of Hank Williams' during the editing process. He stated "when we edited together the first scene with him, my editor (Andrew Weisblum) and I thought that something needed to be on the radio and our editing room was downstairs from our apartment so I got a few things and tried them. I tried some Hank Williams and that seemed right and next thing we knew we were putting it in every time he appeared and it became his sound."[11] Alexandre Desplat also conducted few incerpts from Britten's music in separate sections, which Anderson had said "the orchestra functions as a metaphor for the way a movie works, or something like that. I think it all involved out of Britten’s idea of taking this thing apart this way." Apart from the compilation songs, the album also featured score cues composed by Desplat.[12] Five of the original score tracks were featured in the soundtrack, and was later released separately in a score album by ABKCO on June 2012.[13]
Steven Hyden of The A.V. Club called the Moonrise Kingdom soundtrack "as tasteful and impeccably curated as you'd expect".[14] Alarm
Paul Taylor of LemonWire stated "The use of classical music in “Moonrise Kingdom” is closely connected to the two young protagonists. They meet during a church production of Britten’s “Noye’s Fludde”. While it seems like a strange choice for a film. And you won’t see many other soundtracks like this one. But the presence of classical music in particular brings a sense of romantic adventure to the film" and concluded it as "another soundtrack that works better when heard with the film".[17] Faded Glamour wrote "the soundtrack is a classic Anderson compilation of 50s rock and roll and classical music with a trademark French track nestled in for extra flavour."[18] The Hollywood Reporter
The use of Benjamin Britten's music has been subjected to critical analysis. The Guardian
The musical composition, The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra is played in the opening sequence. Kristian Lin of Fort Worth Weekly, had said:[28]
The music compartmentalizes different sections of the orchestra, which chimes with the way Anderson introduces Suzy and the members of her family. They’re shown in separate rooms and not communicating with each other, indicative of how emotionally disconnected they are from each other. The measured precision of the music matches Anderson’s extensively mapped-out camera movements and mise-en-scene [...] The film’s end credits include Moonrise Kingdom’s composer Alexandre Desplat’s tribute to the Young Person’s Guide, with a narrator introducing each separate instrument as it makes its entrance.Considering the use of Britten's opera aria, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Lin said "the selection is a choral lullaby sung by the fairies to the four mortal lovers who have fallen asleep in the forest. It’s used in the movie as the background for the great montage of Sam and Suzy writing letters to each other while snippets of their rough lives play out silently. The shifting chromatic harmonies of the piece (not to mention the coolly detached tone of the kids’ letters) helps prevent the innate pathos of Sam and Suzy’s childhood from becoming too pronounced."
Two selections from Friday Afternoons: "Old Abram Brown" and "Cuckoo" play in the film. Lin called the latter as piercing selection, as the track, which based on Jane Taylor's "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" was played twice. Lin stated that "Despite the song’s brighter hues and the lyrics sung from a bird’s point of view, it’s still filled with overtones of wistfulness and loss."
The film's soundtrack album and the score, was intended to be shortlisted for Best Compilation Soundtrack and Best Score Soundtrack for visual media, but ultimately could not get selected.[29]
| Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston Society of Film Critics | December 9, 2012 | Best Use of Music in a Film | Moonrise Kingdom | [30] | ||
| Guild of Music Supervisors Awards | February 20, 2013 | Best Music Supervision for Films Budgeted Under $25 Million | Randall Poster | [31] | ||
| IndieWire Critics Poll | December 18, 2012 | Best Original Score/Soundtrack | Alexandre Desplat | [32] | ||
| St. Louis Film Critics Association | December 11, 2012 | Best Music | Moonrise Kingdom | [33] [34] |
| Peakposition | ||
| US Billboard 200[35] | 158 | |
|---|---|---|
| US Current Albums (Billboard)[36] | 187 | |
| US Classical Albums (Billboard)[37] | 1 | |
| US Soundtrack Albums (Billboard)[38] | 3 |