Original Motion Picture Soundtrack of THE MONUMENTS MEN Released Today

Sony Music has announced the release of the original motion picture soundtrack of The Monuments Men, featuring new music by the leading film composer Alexandre Desplat. Billed as "the greatest treasure hunt in history," The Monuments Men was directed by George Clooney, who has a starring role alongside a distinguished cast including George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman, Jean Dujardin, Bob Balaban, Hugh Bonneville, Dimitri Leonidas, and Cate Blanchett, and a cameo performance by composer Alexandre Desplat.

The French composer Alexandre Desplat burst onto the Hollywood scene in 2003 by composing a much-admired score for The Girl With the Pearl Earring. By that time he was already an experienced writer of movie music. He has contributed to over 100 films, both commercial and independent, in France and Hollywood, received five Oscar nominations, and won Golden Globe and Grammy awards. Desplat has also composed for the theatre, including the Comedie Francaise. He has conducted performances of his music by the London Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as giving master classes at the Sorbonne in Paris and the Royal College of Music in London. His movie music was written for a variety of highly successful films, including Twilight Saga: New Moon and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (parts 1 and 2), and includes five Oscar-nominated soundtracks: for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Queen, The King's Speech, The Fantastic Mr Fox and Argo.

The compositions for The Monument Men demonstrate the full range of Desplat's talent at creating big orchestral sounds and evoking many emotions, in this case with recurring themes and a generally upbeat mood. The opening track, "The Roosevelt Mission", is a call to arms emphasising brass instruments, followed by an "Opening Titles" track that marches along cheerfully. "Champagne" introduces variety, with a sparkling music-box sound and waltz rhythm that gradually becomes more dramatic, while "Stokes Talks" is a beautiful little set-piece of keyboard melody over serene strings. Suspense and excitement ("Sniper") and tenderness ("Jean-Claude Dies") are also present. "Stahl's Chalet" is a short burst of jolly dance music, contrasting with a nine-minute "Finale" that shows Desplat's ability to write a prolonged piece in symphonic style. "End Titles" features a whistled tune that harks back to older war movies, and the soundtrack ends with a touching rendering by Nora Segal of the classic song "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas".

Desplat's Harry Potter soundtracks released on Sony Classical reached a wide audience. The high-quality music of The Monuments Men and the attractive theme of George Clooney's film with its all-star cast give this soundtrack, too, the potential to be extremely popular.

About the movie: Based on the true story of the greatest treasure hunt in history, The Monuments Men focuses on an unlikely World War II platoon, tasked by the Allies with going into Germany to rescue artistic masterpieces from Nazi thieves and returning them to their rightful owners. It would be an impossible mission: with the art trapped behind enemy lines, and with the German army under orders to destroy everything as the Reich fell, how could these guys seven museum directors, curators, and art historians, all more familiar with Michelangelo than the M-1 gun possibly hope to succeed? But as the Monuments Men, as they were called, found themselves in a race against time to avoid the destruction of 1000 years of culture, they would risk their lives to protect and defend mankind's greatest achievements.

The film is produced by Grant Heslov and George Clooney, with a screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov, based on the book by Robert M. Edsel with Bret Witter.

Tracklisting:

1. The Roosevelt Mission
2. Opening Titles
3. Ghent Altarpiece
4. Champagne
5. Basic Training
6. Normandy
7. Deauville
8. Stokes Talks
9. I See You Stahl
10. John Wayne
11. Sniper
12. Into Bruges
13. The Letter
14. The Nero Decree
15. Stahl's Chalet
16. Jean-Claude Dies
17. Siegen Mine
18. Claire & Granger
19. Gold!
20. Heilbronn Mine
21. Castle Art Hoard
22. To Altaussee
23. Finale
24. End Titles
25. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas (performed by Nora Segal)

Sony Music Masterworks comprises Masterworks, Sony Classical, OKeh, Portrait, Masterworks Broadway and Flying Buddha imprints. For email updates and information, visit www.SonyMasterworks.com.

SOURCE Sony Music

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