Alexandr Nevsky?


Am I the only one - but does some of the soundtrack sound like it was lifted from Prokofiev's score to Sergei Eisenstein's "Alexandr Nevsky"?

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You are not hearing things. This movie's "composer", Tom Jonson, lifted huge chunks from "Nevsky", as well as other Prokofiev works such as "Romeo and Juliet" and "Cinderella". In addition, the main theme is the Shostakovich Fifth Symphony, repeated ad nauseum. Also, the Prelude to Act III of "Tristan und Isolde" by Wagner is used repeatedly. If you can find a copy of "Son of Golden Turkey Awards" by the Medved brothers, this wins in the category of "Worst Use of Classical Music in Movie History". Hilarious.

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I've been racking my brain to try to figure out what the main title music is. Any thoughts? It's driving me mad I tell you. Thanks I'm going back to my box now.

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You've got a good ear. By the end of the movie I was convinced that some of the more dramatic, climactic moments in the score (which occur at absolutely random moments in the film) are far too good to be by the hack credited with "original score" ("Tom Jonson" (sic)). This probably fictitious composer has no other credits on IMDB, by the way. I kept veering between Prokofiev and Shostakovitch, particularly Shostakovitch's 5th Symphony. It might be Nevsky. I'll look into it.

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Definitely used some parts of the "Battle on the Ice" portion of Alexander Nevsky film score by Sergei Prokofiev. I recognized it immediately.

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Most of what you hear is from the 1st movement of the Shostakovich Symphony #5, especially in the last half of the film.

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I guess no one was ever able to figure out where the main title music came from. Now its driving me crazy too.

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I think there was some Bordin and Rimsky-Korsakov in this too. The "composer" must have had a copy of a Russian classical favorites record.

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In addition to his Fifth, the First and Tenth Symphonies of Shostakovich were used in the soundtrack. The reason so much of the score was lifted from Soviet composers is that the US and the USSR had no copyright agreement, and so there was no enforceable penalty for using the music without paying royalties. What would cheapjack film companies have done without Shostakovich and Prokofiev?

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