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Composed, Conducted, Orchestrated, and Co-Produced by:
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David Michael Frank
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Additional Orchestrations by:
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Larry Schwartz
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Recorded at:
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The Skywalker Ranch
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Co-Produced by:
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Ford A. Thaxton
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Label:
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Promotional Release
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Release Date:
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December, 1997
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Availability:
Promotional release by the composer, unavailable in stores.
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Sorry, there are no commercial ordering options for this title. However, you can
search for this title at the soundtrack specialty outlets listed on the Filmtracks Links Page. |
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Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... if you expect your IMAX scores to soar with all the orchestral
majesty required by films featuring exploding stars and the birth of galaxies.
Avoid it... if a merging of the romantic styles of James Horner and Rachel
Portman leave you seeking a more ambitious and challenging accompaniment for the
subject matter.
Filmtracks Editorial Review:
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Cosmic Voyage: (David Michael Frank) It's hard not to
be a fan of IMAX films and their scores. There's something magnificent about
a screen six stories high a good score being pumped through a seemingly
infinite number of speakers surrounding that huge screen. Of all the IMAX
film genres that require the biggest of the biggest, those showing the
vastness of space require the grandest of all scales. One such IMAX project
in the mid-1990's was Cosmic Voyage, a computer-generated film that
takes the audience on a trip around the universe with spectacular colors,
vast special effects, and resounding narration by Morgan Freeman. At the
time, its digital effects were top notch, and they continue to impress
critics and audiences several years later. The film has wall to wall visuals
and a similarly minded sound. To match Freeman's always intoxicating voice,
director Bayley Silleck required a full score that would occupy every moment
of the film. David Michael Frank was hired to provide 30 minutes of fully
orchestral music that ranges from massive epic proportions to soft, intimate
passages. Frank was a veteran of conducting Broadway productions and scoring
mostly for television, although a few of his film projects included top
grossing midnight action flicks. His additional material would be heard in
Forrest Gump and The Mask, with his versatility lending him
well to nearly any genre. Cosmic Voyage would be Frank's opportunity
to do what all composers love the most: write a monumental score for an IMAX
film. With exploding stars, the birth of galaxies, and the tiny positioning
of a single human in all of this activity, the film served up quite the
inspiration for Frank, whose score meets the task with great success.
The style with which Frank would tackle Cosmic
Voyage is classical by nature, and, in a lyrical sense, could be best
compared to James Horner's heavily dramatic styles of the same decade. It is
similar to Horner's music in the use of strings, and similar to Rachel
Portman's tendencies in the use of woodwinds. Together, Frank's style makes
for a very easy listening experience. It is a nonstop parade of thematic
sensibility, with a touch of wonderment added for the vastness of the
journey's tale. The music is rarely interrupted by loud action sequences,
with the only notable exception being the exploding "42 Rings" track (a cue
that lasts for only 54 seconds). There are, however, some magnificent
crescendos to Frank's lengthier sequences, with the final moments of
"Mysteries of the Universe" standing out as a highlight. More than anything,
Frank's music achieves its goal in conveying the endless, romantically vast
feeling of the cosmos. The fluid construction of the film allowed Frank's
music to take on a suite-format, so on album the score has little to disrupt
its nonstop beauty. The final track on the album is a sampling of music from
a multimedia presentation that accompanied the rollout of the 777 airplane
at Boeing in Seattle. Frank's composition here is more heroic --as might be
expected-- than the material from Cosmic Voyage. As the track is
titled "Working Together," you can immediately discern that a feel-good
theme of teamwork is presented to offer the company and its planes in the
best of light. It has a snare and brass theme that is noble in every sense
of the word, almost to a fault. This track is similar enough in basic,
orchestral style to Cosmic Voyage to meld nicely together on album
and preserve the listening experience. The album exists only as a
promotional release from Frank himself. It was available initially at only
online soundtrack specialty outlets and has become a sparse find. Overall,
it's superb IMAX music, and is a safe purchase for those who value
orchestral integrity. ****
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Viewer Ratings and Comments:
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Cosmic Voyage:
• 1. Cosmic Voyage (4:50)
• 2. Through a Drop of Water (2:32)
• 3. Creation (3:30)
• 4. Discovery (2:14)
• 5. Mysteries of the Universe (2:05)
• 6. The Heavens Below (1:37)
• 7. Rebirth (1:15)
• 8. Little Green Algae (3:46)
• 9. Into the Cosmos (0:53)
• 10. Beyond the Stars (1:51)
• 11. 42 Rings (0:54)
• 12. A Never-Ending Journey (2:43)
Boeing 777:
• 13. Working Together/The Rollout (10:01)
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Insert includes information about both the score and film, as well as recording studio photography.
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