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Track Listings
| 1. Nina's Dream |
| 2. Mother Me |
| 3. The New Season |
| 4. A Room of Her Own |
| 5. A New Swan Queen |
| 6. Lose Yourself |
| 7. Cruel Mistress |
| 8. "Power, Seduction, Cries" |
| 9. The Double |
| 10. Opposites Attract |
| 11. Night of Terror |
| 12. Stumbled Beginnings... |
| 13. It's My Time |
| 14. A Swan Is Born |
| 15. Perfection |
| 16. A Swan Song (for Nina) |
Product Description
Review
During the film, an imperious director (Vincent Cassel) tells his troupe that his will be a version like no other. Such plot elements serve to inform, free and shackle Mansell’s soundtrack. The nature of the story itself, of course, means that the shadow of the Russian romantic forever looms large, but Mansell’s brief was always to deconstruct the original score. Here, the influence of Matthew Bourne’s adaptation of the ballet comes to the fore, with its uncompromising thrust and visceral potency enhancing the sense of the hyperreal which pervades Aronofsky’s film.
But it doesn’t take more than a cursory listen to identify characteristic Mansell touches. Those familiar with his soundtrack for Duncan Jones’ Moon will already be accustomed to the edgy bouts of brooding malevolence which punctuate Black Swan’s more traditional passages. They will also recognise the bursts of kinetic syncopation which conjure the panic and paranoia of Aronofsky’s film while offering tribute to the slashing strings of Bernard Herrmann's music for Psycho.
Despite missing the bombast of Mansell’s work on The Fountain and the troubled poignancy of the aforementioned Moon, Black Swan demonstrates the maturing relationship between Aronofsky and his composer of choice. There just remains the doubt over whether the pair are becoming too comfortable with one another’s art, reaching a point where synergy threatens to give way to complacency. Certainly a few moments of Black Swan seem a little too habitual (the contributions of Pyotr Ilyich notwithstanding). Regardless, Mansell has succeeded in reinvigorating his classic source material, spiking its old dreamlike reverie with a dose of contemporary darkness. An exhilarating score for a remarkable piece of filmmaking.
--Spencer Grady
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Customer Reviews
This score is great as a stand alone listen, but also serves as a good introduction to Tchaikovsky's music. The tracks which directly quote Swan Lake are the highlight, however the album as a whole sounds fantastic and one of Mansell's best efforts to date. If you liked the music within the film, you will no doubt find this album to be a delight.
Bleak, haunting and brilliantly unsettling - soundtracks are rarely this good.
All I can say about the Black Swan soundtrack is that it can single-handedly cure writer's block. Yeah. That is inspiration, I can tell you that. A combination of the final track, 'A Swan Song (For Nina)' and the death scene for one of my favourite characters had me sobbing aloud.
So, if you're stuck with your novel ... buy this CD. Now.
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