If you remember his choice of music for his other films, you will not be
surprised that Kubrick opted for a wide range of source music together with
vivid and varied original music by Jocelyn Pook. Her contribution is limited
to four remarkable cues. 'Naval Officer,' the subject of Nicole Kidman's
erotic fantasies, is very interesting and technically accomplished writing
for a modest string ensemble. It has a quality of spaciousness, vast sea
vistas and rolling waves over deep waters - and loneliness. It is a highly
evocative, polytonal, mini tone poem. 'The Dream' seems to be an extension
of 'Naval Officer' with a high-pitched eerie tone and uncomfortable string
glissandos that imply that this is not a pleasant or logical dream. It begins
with a most uncomfortable chord that one recognises as the wiry humming noise
one experiences in the head as one regains consciousness after a fainting
spell. Extraordinary and disturbing. So, too, is 'Masked Ball' which introduces
timps at the beginning of what sounds like an orchestral tuning up session,
before a ghostly bass voice enters moaning in some arcane tongue to be joined
by a tenor later with strings commenting darkly beneath. This is the music
underscores the mysterious crimson-cloaked and masked figure that directs
the ring of masked naked females out of the ring to their partners for the
night in the Orgy scene and very effective it is too. 'Migrations' (composed
by Jocelyn Pook and Harvey Brough), again for the orgy scenes, is a more
exotic, strongly but insistent rhythmic, ethnic creation for colourful
percussion, bass guitar and soprano with North African-type wailings from
a tenor voice.
The source music. As for 2001, A Space Odyssey, Kubrick, chooses György
Ligeti, but this time for some piano music called Musica Ricercata II
(Mesto, rigido e cerimoniale). This is just a 'high-falutin' name for
a collection of well-spaced, one-chord keyboard hammerings and what sounds
like basic piano exercises but again, they are disturbingly and chillingly
effective in the context of the film. Much more impressive (as music) is
Shostakovich's Waltz 2 from his Jazz Suite played with sardonic
élan by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra conducted by Riccardo Chailly.
The other piece of classical source music is Liszt's Grey Clouds performed
by Dominic Harlan (who also plays the Ligeti piece. There is also jazz from
Chris Isaak - 'Baby did a bad thing,' plus the strict tempo of 'When I fall
in love,' as performed by The Victor Silvester Orchestra and Duke Ellington's
'I Got it Bad' as performed by the Oscar Peterson Trio.
Other source music: 'If I had You,' performed by Roy Gerson; 'Stranger's
in the Night,' performed by the Peter Hughes Orchestra; and 'Blame it on
my youth' played by Brad Mehldau;
For Pook's music -
Reviewer
Ian Lace
OST 
