I was gaping out with my classical CDs and I thought I would bring some memories back of 2001 : A Space Odessy.
So I listened to some Strauss and Khachaturian.

I bet Kubrick was knowledgeable about JOHANN STRAUUS, JR. (1825-1899) "Perpetuum Mobile" Opus 257 Perpetual Motion Musikalischer Scherz/ A Musical Joke. This little 2 minute and 57 second
piece speaks volumes longed for and the title would have been "made for the movie" if the tune was catchy and decent.

The first time I viewed 2001 : A Space Odessy was on the road passing through a small town. I came across this sacred art-deco movie theater with 2001 : A Space Odessy showing that early evening. I needed some diversion before I continued to my destination and the word out I heard was "the movie is fantastic, super flick".
The theater looked something like the Paramount in Oakland, California

.
The interior was elegant with vaulted ceilings and arched wall casings like that of a Gothic Cathedral. The lighting was subdued and came from scalloped wall lamps with there cream colored marbleized lenses edged in gold castings . The same design continued with the chandeliers. All the furnishings were in tones of red, the carpet, the hall wall curtains, except for the walls that were an off yellow cream and pinstriped velour wallpaper. The wood trim throughout and the viewing stage, looked like they were done in rosewood.

It was just the right atmosphere from the building and it was working on my senses. So I got a coke and tub of popcorn and made my way through foyer to the entrance. There was this dapper old guy in concierge uniform with flashlight in hand to guide me to my seat.

I sat down and took off my shoes, got comfortable, and waited with impatient expectancy. Finally the music intro started and the house lights dimmed.
Slowly, that regal stage curtain inched open and I was on my first incredible Space Journey.

I was amazed.

It was such a pristine Sci-Fi flick, the music and the story action were meant to be and so it was. Yes!!!, The tripping sixties with this unbelievable Space Film, a movie that was my most memorable and mind-blowing experience ever. Nothing has topped it since. The popcorn was fab too, large buttery pops with just the right shake of salt to taste.

So 2001 has passed and it still is :A Space Odessy. The icecream in the cone has melted away and dropped to the floor.
I want to go back to being an infant again.
I want my icecream now !

regards,

>>Stanley Kubrick always had a reputation for individuality in his film-making. He invariably created films which stretched the boundaries of established practice in terms of concept, story, camera work and direction.
With 2001: A Space Odyssey he also confounded expectations in the soundtrack department. Although he had commissioned a soundtrack from no less a composer than the venerable Alex North, he chose instead to ignore North's specially composed music and stick to his original "temp track" consisting of classical works of his own choosing. The rest as they say is history.
His choices of music ranged from the conventional to the positively weird, taking some courageous risks with his
creation, but those choices complemented the storyline perfectly and created a soundtrack legend along the way.

The title track is the opening music from "Also Sprach Zarathustra" by Richard Strauss. Always associated during the film with the black monoliths and eclipses (fittingly since the original symbolises sunrise), this music comes to represent monumental events in the history of mankind as orchestrated by these mysterious forces. By association, this music came to signify humanity's efforts in boldly going where no-one had gone before, and was used in similar situations such as the TV coverage of the Apollo Moon missions and landings in the late 1960s and 1970s. The particular recording used was the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Herbert von Karajan. If you're interested in hearing more of this great work, then Karajan has a number of definitive recordings of Also Sprach Zarathustra and other works by Richard Strauss.

More unusual is Kubrick's choice for the space scenes between the Earth, the Space Station and the Moon. Though
scientifically accurate in his lack of rocket sound effects in the vacuum of space, this void with little dialogue needs to be filled.
"The Blue Danube" seems comical at first in this situation but, being the most famous Waltz by the master of Viennese waltzes Johann Strauss Jr., it certainly suggests the dance of space craft under the slow inexorable influence of Newtonian mechanics.
The Space Station pirouettes as the shuttle yaws into alignment, while inside a member of the cabin crew demonstrates walking under zero gravity conditions while objects like pens float off. This whole sequence is light and relaxed in mood signalled by an ape's bone turning into a space craft - a million years is just a brief instant to the mysterious monoliths.

The next section of the movie has a deep space craft travelling towards a signal's source from near Jupiter (Saturn in Arthur C. Clarke's book).
Most of the crew travel in suspended animation while the craft covers millions of miles under the control of its on-board computer, HAL. While the camera again makes a leisurely journey exploring this situation, the music aptly depicts the vast eerie emptiness of space, the bleak loneliness of the crew within and the huge distance from Earth. The music is an Adagio from the ballet "Gayne" by Armenian composer Aram Khachaturian. This ballet also includes the famous "Sabre Dance", and another of his ballet's Spartacus has another well-known Adagio used in the TV Series "The Onedin Line". The choice of the Gayne Adagio for this sequence in the film is absolutely perfect and set the standard for many space movies to come such as the Alien series.

One further composer whose music is used extensively on the 2001 soundtrack is Gyorgi Ligeti. His contribution is a number of largely atmospheric pieces which are also associated with the black monoliths, and the inexplicable effects they create. This includes the primeval
landscapes inhabited by the apes, the inspection of the mysterious artifact found on the Moon and the last section with its strange visual effects and dreamlike scenes. A Hungarian Jewish composer who survived World War II in a labour camp, Ligeti went on to work with Stockhausen and quickly joined the avant-garde where he led explorations into micropolyphony, or music without pulse and harmony, and especially
atmospheric music such as "Atmospheres". The strange textures in "Lux Aeterna" or "Eternal Light" is created solely by unaccompanied voices. Ligeti's works create the suitably weird sound effects for the more "far out" trips of the movie.

This is a classical soundtrack in all senses of the word. Just as the movie came to redefine the Science Fiction Film concept, the soundtrack also
rewrote the book on Sci-Fi Soundtracks. This is a special re-release of 2001
The fulltrack listing is as follows:

The Music as it appears in the Film:

Overture: Atmospheres - Gyorgi Ligeti
Main Title: Also Sprach Zarathustra (Thus Spake Zarathustra) - Richard Strauss
Requiem for Soprano, Mezzo Soprano, Two mixed Choirs & Orchestra - Gyorgi Ligeti
The Blue Danube (excerpt) - Johann Strauss
Lux Aeterna - Gyorgi Ligeti
Gayne Ballet Suite (Adagio) - Aram Khachaturian
Jupiter and Beyond - more from "Requiem", "Atmospheres" and "Adventures" (altered for film) by Gyorgi Ligeti
Main Title: Also Sprach Zarathustra (Thus Spake Zarathustra) - Richard Strauss
The Blue Danube (reprise) - Johann Strauss

Supplemental Material (not included on the original soundtrack):

Main Title: Also Sprach Zarathustra (Thus Spake Zarathustra) - Richard Strauss
Lux Aeterna - Gyorgi Ligeti
Adventures - (unaltered this time) by Gyorgi Ligeti
Hal 9000 - dialogue including "Daisy, Daisy" sung by Hal <<