Anyone know what the theme music to this series is?
It's stuck in my head and I need to find it!
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MovieChat Forums > War & Peace (1973) Discussion > Anyone know what the theme music to this...
Am snagging your thread in hopes someone else will pipe up with information about the music.
Have been searching for days and can find no information about the soundtrack for this series. We have the DVD and I keep hoping it will show up in the credits but so far no luck.
The piece I'm looking for is played during the "Reunions" episode on the second disk. Denisov plays it at the Rostov home when Dolohov begins putting the moves on Sonya--and then it's taken up at the ball given by the dancing master.
Very haunting melody, sweet and sad.
Sara ToeNin says:
Am snagging your thread in hopes someone else will pipe up with information about the music.
Have been searching for days and can find no information about the soundtrack for this series. We have the DVD and I keep hoping it will show up in the credits but so far no luck.
The piece I'm looking for is played during the "Reunions" episode on the second disk. Denisov plays it at the Rostov home when Dolohov begins putting the moves on Sonya--and then it's taken up at the ball given by the dancing master.
Very haunting melody, sweet and sad.
Yes, I am on here for the same purpose. Someone starts playing it on the virginals, then the scene shifts to a dance floor, where a chamber orchestra is playing it, and people are dancing to it.
It is annoying. I have never heard it before. It does not sound Russian. The chorus has the same structure as Greensleeves, so that set me looking for it in Italian 16th century music, but I have not found it.
As you say, it is a very haunting air, and I am surprised no one has heard it before. share
The series theme is indeed an understated rendition of the Imperial Russian Anthem (God Preserve The Tsar). Thank you JSCB for pointing out how Tchaikovsky incorporated the Anthem's theme into two of his most famous works. Check out this YouTube with three versions of the Anthem, including the one used for the opening and closing theme for War & Peace (starts @ 3:30):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emNUP3EMu98
However, the tune saraToeNin and loza-1 asked about is an entirely different song. Here's a link to that episode on YouTube (starts at 22:51).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGfxEkq6G5M
I've heard it before but can't identify. Perhaps someone else can, now that I've posted a link? It doth sound 16th century, but more along the lines of Anglo-Saxon folk, not Italian.
Hi ginahoy
Yes, we are all talking about the same piece, which is in the youtube posting you quote. You say:
I've heard it before but can't identify.
Well that is good news. If you have heard it before, then that means it predates when the scene is set. There was always the possibility that the thing was composed specially for the series. It would be good if we had a composer's name to go with it. I have given up on Italy for now, and looked at French music instead.
I have been looking for this piece also. The one in the episode "Reunions", first played by Denisov on the piano and then in the next scene in the ballroom. They mention "something slow and stately" and "anglais" but this is obviously the type of tune and not a name... This is driving me mad! heehee. Anyone any further forward on this? Thanks in advance for any help!
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Ok, LOL, I sound a bit "behind" with technology here, but I don't have a smart phone, just a regular one... :-(
shareIt's the Russian national anthem.
shareAs another poster advised: It's the Russian national anthem - specifically, the Imperial Russian Anthem, God Preserve The Tsar.
Tchaikovsky incorporated it into the 1812 Overture (happy thoughts about the ending of V for Vendetta) and Marche Slave.
The current Russian national anthem uses the same tune as the Soviet one, but with a third set of words (previous words used 1944-1956 and from 1977-1991).
When Vlad the Whim Jailer proclaims himself Tsar, they may use the original again!
The old Czarist national anthem is played at the beginning and end.
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