2001: A Space Odyssey | Soundtrack Suite (Alex North) [Rejected Score]

[@notaire2]

Außerirdisch schöne Filmmusik! Ich kann nicht verstehen, warum solch eine einzigartig und fein komponierte Suite abgelehnt wudre.

[@parzooman]

Since Jerry Goldsmith worked with North and was his protege, I am convinced he used many of the ideas here for the Planet of the Apes soundtrack.

[@arlettesalomon8641]

Paul Abdallah u de h Cnoruw Chorus dombasle chorale chorus 2000

[@arlettesalomon8641]

Merci à mon tour de vous remercier pour vos chants choisis

[@arlettesalomon8641]

0chor Choru s 2000

[@jamesdownard1510]

To some extent, though Goldsmith explicitly wrote Apes score in serial style, which I don't recall North embracing.

[@MikeNichols50]

Alex North was reported to have been very supportive of younger talent: like Goldsmith, John Williams, Dominic Frontiere [who said Alex & Alfred Newman caught him in the basement going thru one of Alex North's scores.. According to Frontiere, North told him essentially, "Go ahead kid, take it home with you, make it your own..."]

[@Zooba57]

I'm glad that after this was rejected, North incorporated much of the style and soundings into the scores of THE SHOES OF THE FISHERMAN and WILLARD. And so much of it is so reminiscent of the dark passages in CLEOPATRA. Echoes even of THE BAD SEED and of works to come like SHANKS and THE PENITENT. It's all pure ALEX NORTH.

[@maxschon7709]

True. I hear really parts of The Shoes of The Fisherman.

[@josephcarlbreil5380]

As well as "Dragonslayer".

[@CarlGrillo-v1t]

Again; as I stated; supra, that Fiserman followed 2001 - not the other way around...

[@deckofcards87]

Beautiful work. I read North was frustrated and angered when Kubrick abandoned his score for Strauss and Ligeti.

[@applescruff1969]

I would be too. Worked hard on a score only for Kubrick to remove it.

[@MrGeoffHilton]

Hurting North's feelings or producing a sub standard film, no brainer, good score though in my opinion.

[@hastobe303]

I would be quite upset too, especially since he didn't even tell him. However, I have a feeling my thoughts might've changed once I saw the movie. The Ligeti compositions work so well you could almost believe that they were made for the movie. An absolute dick move with extraordinary results. Typical Kubrick.

[@samuelweir5985]

It's fine work but Kubrick made the right choice in going for the music that he selected. And lots of people usually end up disappointed by a director's choices to cut out scenes and drop music choices, etc.. In fact, I think that Kubrick cut out an art class scene which had his own daughters in it.

[@jslasher1]

@@hastobe303 Ku"prick" was just about the most inconsiderate person around. Cared nothing about those who worked for him.

[@boneeatingsilicate580]

You can hear Alex trying to appease Kubrick by writing a similar 3 stanzas for the Main Title, each stanza more climactic than the previous and concluded the cue with an organ chord just like the Strauss.

[@GaryHayes]

Yes - I got a sense he realised Kubrick was already pretty glued to his temp tracks

[@Korgi_Polymer]

It sounds fantastic, but I'm not so sure that I would had preferred this over the chosen sound track.

[@brianarbenz7206]

I like the fluttering rhythm during the Pan Am shuttle's approach and docking with the Orbiter Hilton, but for the rest of the movie, the Kubrick choices are far better.

[@Jimkalski]

I just finished sculpting a small 'Moonwatcher' Man-Ape from the film, was looking for something different to paint him too, another nice suite Frederik :)

[@merrycynic]

It's certainly by no means bad, but seems more suited for an adventure movie like Indiana Jones or an epic like Lawrence of Arabia.

[@applescruff1969]

Hard to picture Space Station Docking or Bones in an Indiana Jones film...

[@jordanmorris4090]

@@applescruff1969 You must have missed Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

[@jaybrooks1098]

I think it sounds like a tweaked alien score.. the beginning has that Indiana jones feel I do agree.. but listen to alien and aliens sound tracks.. this sounds like adventure thriller…

[@bam_bino__]

@@jaybrooks1098 Alien came out in 1979, 2001 in 1968, alien's score is just part of Gustav Holst's the planets which were written in 1914-1916 which a lot of scifi music uses as it's main theme, from Alien to Destiny (the game).

[@mariosmanesis8376]

one more great suite, thanks S.F.

[@Octoped]

Never heard of this. Yes I hear Cleopatra too! But even more "Spartacus" which I think is his masterpiece. Spartacus is timeless! I think he did "The Rose Tattoo". I have Cleopatra also and love it especially Cleopatra's entrance into Rome!

[@yyyihad]

Everybody saying "Kubrick's classics selection was much better than this": If the movie was originally released with this BSO and now we watched it again with the classics, they would laugh and say "Oh, Kubrick, thank God you didn't do that!"

[@applescruff1969]

Pretty much.

[@tsr207]

No.

[@Bigmike1266]

This is an excellent soundtrack!

[@Bigmike1266]

I now see why Kubrick did not use it, sounds too much like the “Planet of the Apes” Soundtrack.

[@emanuel_soundtrack]

@@Bigmike1266exactly

[@doriankracht9939]

Great that Intrada was able to dig deep in the archives to bring us this short suite. - One of my favorite film score composers, North had entered a 'Coplandian" period in his compositions which very few producers could handle.

[@josephcarlbreil5380]

I think you mean 'Coplandesque' rather than 'Coplandian'.

[@glitter1951]

I just finished the film's 50th Anniversary book 'Space Odyssey - Kubrick, Clark and the making of a masterpiece' which details conversations Kubrick had with North and others and - in essence - concludes that the exhausted director ran out of time (the film was way over it's release date) and, although appreciative of the effort, had already decided on the temp tracks... saying in one terse moment "It's shit". Glad this was placed here - I remember the version was released on vinyl in the late 70's but I never got a chance to hear it.

[@jimknodle1]

Frankly, I think that the most iconic thing about the score to 2001 is its almost total absence.

[@islandpalm148]

Whew! A toast to Stanley for his final decisions on this project, except for the destruction of props and models, which belong in the Smithsonian.

[@kevinfahey5240]

A thoughtful commentary on the film rather than imitating what was on the screen.

[@rmx4087]

This soundtrack would have dated the film. What we got makes it timeless, transcending the era of production.

[@mikelandrau8133]

I have been waiting to hear this original unused score from Alex North. Pity that Kubrick didn't use some of it just to show some sort of appreciation to North for his efforts.

[@mjt2231]

That's hardly a good enough reason to use it though. What Kubrick created was high art. THANK GOD HE DIDN'T USE THIS. Sounds like some 60s TV theme, "That Girl" or some shit.

[@johnoldland7841]

Mike Landrau North got paid unlike Ligeti:, 25 minutes of his music used in the film without permission or payment.

[@straightpipediesel]

@@johnoldland7841 Wrong. It's complicated because the Soviet Union did not respect Western copyrights, so the West did not recognize theirs. Ligeti's work was written while he was a Hungarian citizen, so the studios cleared the copyrights on this fact. After the fact, Ligeti did sue and did settle with compensation, so retroactive permission and payment was granted.

[@johnoldland7841]

@@straightpipediesel what is your source for this? Hungary might have been in the Warsaw Pact but not the Soviet Union.

[@straightpipediesel]

@@johnoldland7841 Hungary had aligned its copyright laws with the USSR and in 1967, signed a treaty with them that made it explicit, "Convention of the Reciprocal Protection of Copyright".

[@MuseDuCafe]

Wondering who did the terrific orchestration of this, Cleopatra, and others, only to learn it was the Avant garde modern / contemporary classical composer Henry Brant -- and that they were pals as well as 'just colleagues.' Kewl.

[@kathywilkowski725]

Brant had a long standing relationship with Alex North. They were best friends and deeply admired each other's work. Brant definitely orchestrated Alex's film music. I can't speak for the "other orchestrators," but Henry Brant was not Alex's copyist. (I would know; I was married to Brant for nearly 20 years.)

[@INeXxHD]

Plantage de drapeau #LeSaviezVous

[@yacineb9731]

un petit pas pour le ytb de France Un grand pas pour Raak

[@TwongiTwingo]

FRENCH TOUCH MAGGLE!

[@Igorgore]

Ah bon? Moi je trouve cette BO plutot bonne et North était une pointure

[@mac88104]

Disons que Kubrick avait un talent rare pour faire les bons choix musicaux, je veux dire intégrer des musiques existantes qui collent si parfaitement au sujet qu'on a l'impression qu'elles ont été composées pour. Dur dans ces conditions, j'imagine, pour le compositeur de défendre sa vision de la BO face à des chefs d'oeuvre de la musique classique qui donnaient l'impression d'avoir été écrits pour le film. D'autant que ce qu'avait fait North, au demeurant très bon musicalement, faisait plus penser à de la musique de péplum.

[@Mokkari77]

Well..... at least North lived to see his song Unchained Melody become popular when the movie GHOST came out.

[@tiffsaver]

I think this music would have worked. I'm a big North fan, especially his compositions for Kirk Douglas' "Spartacus." But I have to admit that using Strauss waltzes as the final soundtrack was a stroke of sheer genius. It truly helped make the movie what it was. Why rewrite something that is already perfect?? That explains why Shakespeare is still considered the single greatest writer in history and will always remain so. P.S. The only other director/producer who used prerecorded music as the entire soundtrack after Stanley Kubrick was Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda, in "Easy Rider." Remember the opening title song for the movie, "Born To Be Wild"?? No better musical choice on earth. The only other director I know of who truly understands how to select the best musical material for his films is Martin Scorcese, in "Goodfellas."

[@violintrapper]

The use of Strauss waltzes was a bad idea. All those wonderful waltzes carry emotions and connotations that have nothing to do with the film. This is not the only film ruined by directors who are illiterate about music.

[@tiffsaver]

@@violintrapper You're a total moron, beyond stupid. Your understanding of the use of music, classical or otherwise, is so pathological that I just stopped laughing long enough to reply to your pathetic attempt at your critiquing anything even remotely cinematic. Music only serves only one purpose, to create the mood of the scene, with the Strauss waltz doing it far better than anything else, in fact, making this scene one of the greatest and most memorable in all of film history. "Emotions and connotations" are not written in stone, in spite of your pathetic attempts to make them so. Evidently, you need to watch the films of Sergio Leone, where Ennio Morricone used lush, beautiful orchestrations juxtaposed against even the most most violent of scenes. But mindless imbeciles such as yourself would prefer a funeral dirge or rock music in such cases, no doubt.

[@user-qm3ll3ut4n]

@@tiffsaver that is one of the most unnecessarily hostile comments i've seen. violintrapper had an opinion different than yours, and as intellectual as you tried to sound you ruined it all by basing your argument around ad hominem attacks. based off three sentences that disagree with yours, you assume he's a moron, beyond stupid, and you assume that his understanding of music is pathological - again, all based off a simple comment. any credence your argument may have had is ruined when you unleash this much emotion and irrationally make assumptions against him

[@tiffsaver]

@@user-qm3ll3ut4n Dear Stupid: Using question marks as your username is the perfect metaphor for your general confusion. Only someone with the genius and ingenuity of Stanley Kubrick could have dared use Strauss waltzes in this picture, and become an enduring piece of cinema history as a result. His choice of classical music over what was commonly used at the time was considered "pure genius," and all of the film literature of the day confirms this. But evidently both of you "movie music experts" have evidently missed this small detail. I allow ALL of my comments to stand, as is, and will simply allow movie history to either confirm, or deny, the validity of my statements. Now go away.

[@user-qm3ll3ut4n]

@@tiffsaver um, i never claimed to be a "movie music expert", so i don't know why you put that in quotations. i know next to nothing about movie music, actually. i wonder why you're calling me stupid when i'm simply pointing out the fact you're being very rude to someone with a different opinion than yours. you ignored everything i said - my argument was concerning your irrational, rude, ad hominem response, but instead of answering that you continued to speak about movie music.

[@MrRbjunior83]

Totall genius !

[@MegaUtak]

rumen junior Alex North and Henry Brant (his orchestrator for 2001) were best friends and together they were certainly genius. (They worked together on Cleopatra, Dragonslayer and Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf?)

[@MrRbjunior83]

Thank you Kathy, it is very important for me...

[@MegaUtak]

rumen junior You are most welcome. I meant to say: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

[@MrRbjunior83]

I bought the CD the last month...Amazing ! Thank you!

[@FreakieFan]

Amazing score. But obviously the pieces by the famous classical masters work better for this film.

[@BassistPaul]

That an Alex North score was "rejected' encourages me as a writer, somewhat.

[@jslasher1]

As much as it grieves me to say this, I'd admit that this is not a particularly good score. Wrong for this film. North later on re-used bits of this score for "Shoes of the Fisherman" and "Dragonslayer".

[@mjt2231]

Exactly. Doesn't even come close to fitting the film.

[@bam_bino__]

a little shitty not to tell him they are not using it and him finding out abt it whilst watching the premiere

[@jamescawley6524]

This one of the most recognizable soundtracks I've heard in my lifetime. I'm 68 so I've heard a few. By the way, it's really good.

[@LillianSteele-u9v]

Is is g but reminds me of his "Cleopatra" score. However to quote Q, "Space is not for the timid. It is dangerous"

[@CarlGrillo-v1t]

Yes; but he scored 2001 in mid to late 1967 because it had to be ready by the New York Premiere (April 1968) You seem to suggest that the Score for Shoes of the Fisherman was written after he scored 2001...

[@slixcyyy]

It's good up until 2:33, after which it veers into standard 60s-era melodramatic schlock.I was half expecting James Cagney and Kim Novak to drive through the streets of San Francisco!

[@jeeprod1]

Or even James Stewart

[@johnappleseed8369]

Far to romantic for 2001 in my opinion, but it has a fluid sense of dynamic. Far better than modern film scores that are used nowadays, that ruin movies

[@MikeNichols50]

Just curious: I noted your too "romantic" comment..In your opinion, do you think a more "avant garde" approach would have been more appropriate for the movie??? Or maybe something else??? I hope you'll reply..

[@alphabonco]

Hans 'Preset' Zimmer

[@cmsahe]

I can easily visualize Frank Poole running around the interior of the USS Discovery. And the big red eye of HAL 9000 watching him, now I can see David Bowman drawing his sketches of the astronauts in hibernation, hey! this soundtrack was good. Until the part when the gorrillas riding horses are chasing poor Taylor, ups wrong movie but this is all I'm seeing in my mind as I type all this down...

[@All2Meme]

Oh, please continue. This would be an epic crossover film.

[@Pepiito36]

poor Alex North

[@mikeregan3265]

It reminds me of Pet sounds.. now what an interesting collaboration that could of been!

[@maxschon7709]

The beginning is very like to the sounds in "Shoes of the fisherman" I think even it's the same.

[@josephcarlbreil5380]

North, in fact, re-used some of this rejected score in "Shoes of the Fisherman".

[@josebelindo1641]

4:00

[@Froy-cl1oi]

Also reminds me of THE TWILIGHT ZONE.

[@arnoldronning5471]

Wow, I am stunned that so many people favor the soundtrack as it appeared in the film rather than this alternate - and original - version by Alex North. I think it is quite stunning and would have worked quite well in my opinion. It reminds me a bit of PLANET OF THE APES by Jerry Goldsmith. (I was given this soundtrack by my brother and really liked it. I am listening online today while proofreading work documents.)

[@straightpipediesel]

One guy with a film budget isn't going to be able to come close to music picked from the best classical composers in history.

[@samuelweir5985]

I disagree. I think that the music choices that Kubrick made are timeless. Many sections of North's pieces definitely have a '60's sound to them and just aren't appropriate for a movie like "2001: A Space Odyssey".

[@etiennejacquemart]

Now I hear this, I think it might have been an inspiration for John Williams AI soundtrack...

[@All2Meme]

Well, AI was a Stanley Kubrick project that he never completed. Steven Spielberg took it over, and so John Williams doing an homage to Alex North's music would be appropriate.

[@vawze771]

Very interesting music, but I prefer the soundtrack chosen by Kubrick.

[@entropysmith6965]

If I’m not mistaken, this score was later used in the critically acclaimed Britney Spears film, Crossroads.

[@roberthipolito1351]

i like it, but i'm glad Kubrick made the decisions here

[@GorgonLinguini]

Spartacus in space!

[@lawrencechalmers5432]

Interesting stuff. If it weren't for the decision for Kubrick to use the other music, I don't know if I'd be exposed to Penderecki or Ligeti at the time...

[@johnoldland7841]

Lawrence Chalmers No Penderecki in 2001 . There is some in The Shining ( and more Ligeti + Bartok)

[@vincentwilson7679]

I believe north actually used a lot of previous scores as indicated by comments

[@rodanthompson2931]

Pity it wasn't used... North was a genius.

[@spacepatrolman]

some was used in THE SHOES OF THE FISHERMAN

[@BrianKeeble]

10:22 and on is so good.

[@clydeblair9622]

Some lovely music, just not the drama. Great score for Spartacus II.

[@christopherkinsinger7193]

We would ALL think differently if the Alex North musical score had been used.

[@josephcarlbreil5380]

All? Why the caps? Being a professional record label producer, I would not think differently if Alex's score had been used.

[@christopherkinsinger7193]

@@josephcarlbreil5380 We Disagree. So what?

[@thomaslock868]

Love this work. SK made a mistake to go with Blue Danube (though I do like RICHARD Strauss). Also, the recordings they used sound like they were performed by a not-so-good High School orchestra.

[@martinschwehla4704]

Blue Danube is not by Richard Strauss, and it was performed by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Karajan. All the other orchestras were top class as well, so probably you watched the film in a theatre (or TV set) with a broken sound system.

[@rmx4087]

Don't be such a 12 year old jabroni.

[@maxschon7709]

Alex north User it in the movies "In the Shows of the Fisherman"

[@goshlikkrudbahr5109]

2001: An EPCOT Day Pass

[@CorradoCasoni]

it's a good soundtrack, but inadequate to Kubrick's masterpiece. I can't imagine 2001 without Strauss or Ligeti

[@josephcarlbreil5380]

I much prefer North's score to Kuprick's [sic intentional] choices, with the exception of Ligeti.

[@Deepurplerain]

I just read MGM forced North on this film,Kubrick's choice was already made for classic pieces, it was dead at birth..

[@icebearisicebear]

3:49 that does actually sound like Zarathustra

[@antoniomadrid2955]

La música que más me impresiona es "Así Habló Zarathustra de Richard Strauss.

[@felipebeckmann2892]

Listening this reminds me Jerry Goldsmith scores!

[@jct9099]

Jerry Goldsmith also performed North's 2001 score in his own album with the National Philharmonic Orchestra.

[@arktomorphos]

Overblown 60s score. Would have dated the movie horribly. Thank god Kubrick went with the timeless classical music.

[@lesliegompf7163]

The movie IS dated, with or without this score.

[@applescruff1969]

@@lesliegompf7163 I know. Just take a look at Pan-Am, or Howard Johnson's, or IBM, or...well, you get the point.

[@jslasher1]

@@applescruff1969 Pan Am and Howard Johnson's are forgotten American icons; IBM, on the other hand, endures.

[@applescruff1969]

@@jslasher1 IBM is still around, but this movie predicted that they would become what Apple or Microsoft is to us today. That couldn't be farther from the case, as IBM's sales declined in the 90's, and they sold off their consumer electronics division in the mid-2000's. While they're still around, all they currently make according to their website is A.I. software for other companies to license out (how fitting is that?) and they build infrastructure for cloud services. That's about it. You'll never see their logo on spacesuits, computers, phones, etc.

[@applescruff1969]

@@jslasher1 This movie predicted that IBM would become the Apple or Microsoft of the future. That obviously didn't happen, and all IBM does now is make things for companies like Apple and Microsoft.

[@scrambledID]

inserting a soundtrack w/ blue Danube and what we know now as the theme to 2001 definitely contributed to the film's commercial success, but kzbin.info/www/bejne/aZbWlKmHet-cl8k [Requiem for Soprano, Mezzo Soprano, Two Mixed Choirs & Orchestra] will always be what made the score amazing to me. However, it would be nice to see a re-release w/ the North score.

[@thehomelessrainbow9865]

I think this is done well but its not really my thing and I prefer the temp music to be honest since its got more power to it. Having said that, I think the director should have told him what he doesn't like about it so he could improve it.

[@GranTurihmo]

Nice soundtrack, but I really understand Kubrick choice.

[@dalebachman2892]

So....... Was Alex North paid for his time and efforts even though his score was rejected?

[@Clinkety]

Alex North was paid.

[@miltonabbiati7598]

💖👏🏻

[@marcparella]

We all have been conditioned by the original soundtrack. There is a phenomenon about branding a score to a film to the point where no other music can work. If a film has a bad score the music isn't ever branded, but great music is branded and can't be replaced... even with the originally intended score.

[@rolandh4947]

It's a shame not used Alex North music

[@tsr207]

So many films of the 60's were blighted by poor soundtracks that were very out of date before they were released- glad 2001 avoided that fate !

[@bootstrapperwilson7687]

The first two minutes forty four is very reminiscent of Kachaturian's "Gayane," which was used for the scene aboard the "Discovery," as (?)Frank Poole is jogging around the circular carousel. As for the rest of this effort, it would have brought the film down from sublime to merely good.

[@pmajudge]

HMMMMM!! ALEX NORTH'S REJECTED MUSIC FOR THE MOVIE 2001 SPACE ODYSSEY SHOULD BE USED FOR THE MOVIES OF TODAY!!!! "INTERSTELLA" MANY OTHER'S!! YESH, SOUNDS GOOD ACTUALLY!! THANKS FOR THE POSTING. FROM(U.K.)

[@xaviercalderon275]

CAPS LOCK!!!!!!!!!

[@rodanthompson2931]

It certainly sounds like a movie I'd love to see... in fact I'm nearly sure I have...it sounds, at times very much like J Williams music from Star Wars or at times like ET. If I'm imagining things... no matter. It's still a fantastic piece of work.

[@Jimkalski]

I can also detect 'Dragonslayer too ;) (almost a little James Horner-ish?)

[@martinguzman3995]

No. It sounds a bit like Jerry Goldsmith's score to the Planet of the Apes.

[@mikesmovingimages]

Of course. Some of the rejected 2001 tracks were used in Dragonslayer.

[@jayphilby795]

North worked for two years on thus score and Kubrick's ego didn't allow for him to at least use some of the composer's work. Not to sound sacrilegious but the film to me is quite boring but a technological marvel and would most certainly been enhanced by Mr. North's score.

[@Dr.Fiendish]

Thank God Kubrick binned it!

[@chel3SEY]

Kubrick's use of existing music here (Strauss, Khachaturian) was inspired. Helped to elevate 2001 to an even higher level. North still got paid.

[@jslasher1]

Of course, North got paid. He composed a score according to his contract with MGM.

[@chel3SEY]

Thanks for that brilliant insight.

[@simonjager9259]

2001: A Garden of Personal Mirrors

[@boneeatingsilicate580]

The Strauss and Ligeti pieces just worked better...as much as a fan I am of Alex..I look at this as a grand Alex North symphony.

[@minion_truther]

[@Smiggly2574]

It is a good score but it is not Strauss and Ligeti. Kubrich should have told him wo a doubt

[@fleshanthos]

Wow. Glad this was rejected; it is NOT AT ALL suited for 2001. It belongs in "Dragonslayer" or "Planet of the Apes"; something like that.

[@aw3194]

The first 2 1/2 minutes was decent and felt similar to the musical score in 2001. But then, it went a whole different direction after that. Kubrick made the right decision to reject this.

[@antonjjok]

Anything would have been better than the music of J.Strauss

[@jeffglass5771]

big fan of Alex North...this music is interesting and would work for Sparticus or Planet of the apes...but Kubrick did the right thing with Legetti and Straus...big difference in the mood of the movie...the vastness of space with haunting human sounds in an Erie monotone described the cold , loneness , and dangerous frontier that it really is...I was 7 when this movie came out along with star trek and the reality of actually going into space and then the moon...all happening in a three year time period...man I was in nerd heaven

[@Peter_080]

A soundtrack that seems to me to be very dated for its time and more typical of a commercial product. Musically, above all, not a masterpiece. Paradoxically, all the music chosen by Kubrick is older than this but appears more modern.

[@tracer740]

Me likee!

[@ranchofanita246]

Sounds exactly like A.K's, Gayanne ballet that was used anyway.

[@williamdavidhilton6659]

At 4:00 and for about 30 seconds there's something to cheer. The rest is lacking in inventiveness and anything remotely resembling a coherent melody. It's like a cord of wood tumbling down six flights of stairs. Utterly forgettable. Somehow he made this kind of stuff work in Dragonslayer, where there are sound-bite melodies wrapped in playful dissonance and a beautiful waltz moaning and groaning for release, but doesn't quite get free.

[@MarkQuick0411]

I think it was a good choice to not use this score; would’ve dated the movie

[@Sunflowers159]

There's nothing particularly wrong with this score but it is definitely not the right score for 2001. As merrycynic says, it would fit much better in one of those corny adventure movies from the late 1940s/50s. Maybe one set in the jungle (which is what the drums reminded me of) or the desert, where the swooning heroine is kidnapped and the hero resolutely sets his steely jaw, hefts his trusty weapon and heads off to rescue her - maybe with a faithful friend or two at his side - braving wild animals and a host of assorted baddies on the way.

[@erikdolnack2737]

I am so glad Kubrick didn't use any of this score. 2001 would have dated really badly with this outdated, mediocre music. Kubrick's decision to use pre-existing classical music was a masterstroke of pure genius and what makes 2001: A Space Odyssey feel so timeless.

[@tom45]

Aged horribly. Kubrick made a right call. That's why he's Kubrick.

[@applescruff1969]

This aged like fine wine. Listen to Space Station Docking.

[@roxxo38]

Would've been better for a movie like The Thing, not 2001 Space Odyssey imo :l

[@NealSchultz]

North's music is far superior precisely because the cues were composed for the film. People have dismissed (as demonstrated by comments below) North's music because, I believe, they are judging North's score against each individual guide track of these great masters. These tracks were temp tracks for a reason - to guide those editing the film (and sometimes the composer) what the director was thinking regarding music for the film. Any time you see an actor whose persona/personality is larger than any film they are in...you are taken OUT of the film and say "oh that's so-and-so playing someone". Terrible, unless you work in the marketing department of a film studio. The same goes here. I suspect those who dismiss North's score in favor of the temp tracks do so only because they are unfamiliar with much of classical music and are enjoying a classical music greatest hits jukebox. The problem here, and this why North's score is so fantastic, is that a film score is ultimately written for the film and not the audience. North's score and the film when seen together are so integral that rescoring the film with North's score in it would be fabulous and I would pay to see it. I own North's score and it is really fabulous.

[@neve6772]

you suspect wrong. i go to a well-regarded conservatory of music for classical music composition and have yet to meet one person-and ive talked to multiple professors and students about this-who takes the North soundtrack even remotely seriously. the ligeti, richard and joseph strauss pieces beautifully help 2001 achieve the effect of acting on a cosmic scale that isnt even vaguely approached by North's soundtrack. Things "lining up" for each moment is not really important at all for this film-you can tell this by the pacing of it. The type of dramatic emphasis at play here is not that of a cheesy space opera, which is what North wrote for, I'd even argue that North clearly either really had no conception what the film that he was writing for was really about or just wasn't able to execute it. by the way, the idea that Kubrick's decision to use 20 minutes of ligeti in a film (mind you he should have gotten permission first), was done because of the "marketing department of a film studio" is delusional. Also, your assertation that it's a classical music greatest hits jukebox is actually very historically misguided! Ligeti's music was virtually unknown outside of the circle of contemporary classical music before the film, and the fanfare of the Richard Strauss piece was actually not well known at all until it was popularized by this film! It is so arrogant of you to make these judgments when you are so misinformed!! what are you on about with this "written for the film and not the audience" thing???

[@NealSchultz]

@@neve6772 we disagree. That's why people love Britten and others prefer Bax. I dislike this trend in Various Artists in movies masquerading as music for a film as opposed to one composers image of the music. But prejudices against film composers continue - this is why so called composers today spew forgettable works leceirks that no one will remember. So much of the "world premiere" works I've suffered through at the concert hall are more interesting on paper than to the ear. So many composers of merit in the 20th century are never performed because instead we get the marketing driven deck of academic exercises reinforced by tired marketing campaigns of newness for its own sake. Rag on Alex North you want but the temp tracks used in 2001 ALWAYS take me out of the movie - and into the world of music not composed for film. I would've preferred Kubrick chose another composer to score the film than what he did w the temp tracks. The Blue Danube for goodness sake is not about a space station......

[@neve6772]

​@@NealSchultz ho boy and of course it always comes back to lazily dissing 20-21st century concert music...say whatever you want, come to whatever internally unchallenged conclusion you feel like, the fact is that much of the music that you claim is "better on paper" (not that this means remotely anything at all) has moved, and continues to move some people, so whether or not you like it, the claim that these pieces are "academic exercises" is false. When I was 17 or 18 years old and I first heard the music of berg and webern-and stockhausen too, for that matter, I was left speechless and today when I listen to Boulez or Lachenmann I continue to be moved by what you call "academic" music. This started before I had any remote grasp on analyzing the works or even had the resources to see it on paper, and the only reason I'd analyze some of my favorite pieces now is because I appreciate the sound further, not because it doesn't hold up when listening. There is something to appreciate in this music, and there is nothing in the entire universe that you can say that will move the fact that plenty of this music was composed with immense passion and is listened with respective passion. That doesn't mean you have to like the music, but the claim that their works are just academic exercises is insulting and inane. I consider the works of a composer like Bax to be indulgent and lazy, that doesn't mean I think that it wasn't composed genuinely. Therein lies the difference, you can have aesthetic debates without making distorted claims about what the music is and why it was written. Back to the debate at hand: what you are saying does not hurt my point. The Blue Danube is indeed not about a space station. And yet, when you see this image of a space station, are you really supposed to be feeling and thinking about this space station? The precise details of the object aren't important. Most movements and gestures made by people and objects are engulfed by the more cosmic movements of the film. Using music precisely composed for the film's every in and out centers the focus of the movie on the plot and the little interactions between people that ultimately don't matter in the movie much at all. The classical music is timeless, and as we drift throughout space, we are set in the midst of motions that move without relevance to ordinary interactions, until quite literally, the movie descends out of time and into a void. Imagine the "star gate" sequence, except scored to achieve maximum dramatic impact. Hopeless! And the music works in substance- think of the ligeti, its movements are extremely slow and linear, so it doesn't feel as if it was just shoved in there. In the same way that a classical art song set to a text doesn't necessarily appropriate the text, a film that uses a piece of music doesn't necessarily appropriate the music. Actually, it is quite possible that Kubrick actually created the film with the music in mind. Think of the moment where Ligeti is used in Eyes Wide Shut; there it was definitely pre-planned. In 2001, it seems not far-fetched to imagine Kubrick listening to the Strauss when coming up with the idea...

[@mycroft]

A good soundtrack, but not for this film at all. It is odd for the film tone.

[@WimGrundy]

Kubrick was nothing if not derivative. Not an original idea in his head. Sir Alex was abused, as were so many who subjected themselves to Stanley.

[@geometricart7851]

what is this haha it's like a nightmare.

[@applescruff1969]

It's not a nightmare. It's 2001: A Space Odyssey in an alternate universe.

[@andrewpippa5590]

This score sounds like a 'Planet of the Apes' wannabe.

[@l2084]

With this music, the movie may have been good.

[@Torwnoe]

+L2084 It's good, and the music of Ligeti and Strauss is fantastic! You are wrong!

[@Torwnoe]

I'm glad Kubrick dropped this.

[@l2084]

Toralf Willy Nørbech I know it's a bit provocative to say that this movie isn't good but I don't know what the fuss is all about. It's long, annoying at times and I'm not convinced people don't see more than there is to see. And I prefer movies with original soundtracks. I find it less lazy than to use great classics.

[@SuperBrictson]

I usually preffer original scores but in this particular case, 2001 had the best possible music, Kubrick made a wise decision!!!

[@Clinkety]

Stanley Kubrick used classics in his films, because he wanted to make the best possible film. He once said that he prefered to use classics, because they are classics for a reason.

[@webdaddy]

God this would have been awful.

[@josephmarcello7481]

The emperor's new clothes.. except, he isn't wearing any.. Alex North absolute worst work, completely devoid of inspiration, organization, development and feeling. Of course, as with any youtube, there will be those commenting who think they have reached the holy grail, but this is nothing more than projection of fond hopes which are afraid to realize the complete worthlessness of what they are hearing.

[@tarkansongur]

Bad