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Memoirs of a Geisha
(2005)
Album Cover Art
Composed, Conducted, and Produced by:

Solo Performances by:
Yo-Yo Ma
Itzhak Perlman
Labels Icon
LABEL & RELEASE DATE
Sony Classical
(November 22nd, 2005)
Availability Icon
ALBUM AVAILABILITY
Regular U.S. release.
Awards
AWARDS
Winner of a Golden Globe, a BAFTA Award, and a Grammy Award. Nominated for an Academy Award.
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ALSO SEE





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Availability | Awards | Viewer Ratings | Comments | Audio & Track Listings | Notes
Buy it... if you are accustomed to John Williams' elegantly simple and undemanding writing for intimate character stories.

Avoid it... if you'd rather bounce off the walls with the pomp and bravado of the maestro's fanfares.
Review Icon
EDITORIAL REVIEW
FILMTRACKS TRAFFIC RANK: #229
WRITTEN 11/18/05
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Williams
Williams
Memoirs of a Geisha: (John Williams) It's taken four years for this long-anticipated project to finally debut on the big screen. The internationally acclaimed novel of the same name by Arthur Golden tells the story of Nitta Sayuri, sold to a geisha house at the age of nine and eventually trained to be among the best in the trade. Not only does the film follow her young progression, but also culminates in her love for a kind, but unreachable patron. As much a historical documentary as it is a close character story, Memoirs of a Geisha is a project that immediately attracted the very public attention of director Steven Spielberg, and a film adaptation was to be one of his triumphs sometime between 2001 and 2003. Scheduling conflicts and studio bickering over the rights to the next film of final director Rob Marshall delayed the film's production until 2005, but no less was the anticipation for such a promising adaptation. One person who made sure to work Memoirs of a Geisha into his schedule was composer John Williams, whose relationship with Spielberg is so strong that he composed music for both this film and Munich (the 1972 Olympics docudrama) in 2005 rather than continue his relationship with the Harry Potter franchise. Williams, like Spielberg, has had Memoirs of a Geisha on his radar for many years, having fallen in love with Golden's novel, and has long planned to use it as an opportunity to collaborate with two of his favorite performers: Yo-Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman. Having worked first with violinist Perlman on Schindler's List in 1993, a score that has achieved legendary status in the modern history of film music, Williams then collaborated with cellist Ma on the far less successful Seven Years in Tibet in 1997. Williams would conduct both artists in separate concerns thereafter, producing albums of those performances with Perlman and Ma individually. There is no doubt that Williams' writing suits those two string soloists well, and it is no surprise that both eagerly signed on to be part of the recording for Memoirs of a Geisha. Their roles in the score are appropriately front and center, and an easy selling point.


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VIEWER RATINGS
1,638 TOTAL VOTES
Average: 3.63 Stars
***** 604 5 Stars
**** 391 4 Stars
*** 267 3 Stars
** 201 2 Stars
* 175 1 Stars
  (View results for all titles)

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COMMENTS
60 TOTAL COMMENTS
Read All Start New Thread Search Comments
This Review is from a Western Perspective
Hyun21K - July 17, 2012, at 11:44 a.m.
1 comment  (1718 views)
Review at ScoreStats
Derek Tersmette - July 22, 2006, at 10:34 a.m.
1 comment  (3097 views)
beautiful music
Rachel - June 8, 2006, at 6:39 a.m.
1 comment  (3043 views)
excellent score, but have anyone notice?
S.VENKATNARAYANAN - May 1, 2006, at 11:05 p.m.
1 comment  (3359 views)
Snow Dance   Expand >>
ashley - April 27, 2006, at 10:44 p.m.
2 comments  (6321 views)
Newest: July 10, 2006, at 10:26 a.m. by
Joshua Roth
sayuri's theme maybe temped from "The Last Emporer"   Expand >>
K. Brahmasubha - April 8, 2006, at 7:37 a.m.
2 comments  (3491 views)
Newest: November 5, 2008, at 3:22 a.m. by
S.Venkatnarayanan
More...


Track Listings Icon
TRACK LISTINGS AND AUDIO
Audio Samples   ▼
Total Time: 61:02
• 1. Sayuri's Theme (1:31)
• 2. The Journey to the Hanamachi (4:06)
• 3. Going to School (2:42)
• 4. Brush on Silk (2:31)
• 5. Chiyo's Prayer (3:36)
• 6. Becoming a Geisha (4:52)
• 7. Finding Satu (3:44)
• 8. The Chairman's Waltz (2:39)
• 9. The Rooftops of the Hanamachi (3:49)
• 10. The Garden Meeting (2:44)
• 11. Dr. Crab's Prize (2:18)
• 12. Destiny's Path (3:20)
• 13. A New Name... A New Life (3:33)
• 14. The Fire Scene and the Coming of War (6:48)
• 15. As the Water... (2:01)
• 16. Confluence (3:42)
• 17. A Dream Discarded (2:00)
• 18. Sayuri's Theme and End Credits (5:06)

Notes Icon
NOTES AND QUOTES
The insert includes extensive pictures from the film, but no extra information about the score or film.
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or redistributed without the prior written authority of Christian Clemmensen at Filmtracks Publications. All artwork and sound clips from Memoirs of a Geisha are Copyright © 2005, Sony Classical and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 11/18/05 (and not updated significantly since).
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