2001 - A Space Odyssey - Alex North title

[Dolores5000]

It is interesting to try to imagine this music being etched into me

[aceofspies2006]

Stand alone, the music's fine. Kubrick never intended to use North's score anyway, and it was the right choice, but this is damn fine music in its own right.

[CheAtila]

I think it is very good too, however the final with "thus speaks zarahustra" is much more "phylosohpical" or "transcendental", like as the whole movie.

[oalternativo]

Very interesting editing you did! Congrats!

I had already listened to excerpts of this score, but separated from the film.

Kubrick was totally right to dump this soundtrack.

2001 would not be the same film with this music. It is all messy and disturbs the flowing of the images.

[antismatic]

Thank you for doing this. The result is totally different. "Look at how desolate this savanna is--woah; so gloomy, so eerie," the music seems to shout. Wow. Thanks. Also, where's the subtlety in interpretation?

[Mikefreed9241]

Good score for what it is...but the music Kubric used was transcendent.

[markrhdunn]

I'm Spartacus.

Sounds like it, anyway. I laughed long and hard at this.

[SigLNY]

Boy, they dodged a bullet on this one.

[ehcmier]

According to the story, Alex was left in the dark about Kubrick's intentions. Since it didn't matter how well this score meshed with the final vision, Alex wasn't given much direction from Kubrick. Of course it's wrong.

[TamrynRimfire]

Cool music

Tam

[cholerymorbilus]

One of the things I love most about 2001 is that it does not feel like a film. Whatever it is, it isn't a movie. It is a bigger, more alien experience than watching a movie-- which I think has to do with pacing, music, and obviously the story itself.

This score instantly makes it into a movie, and I could just feel Kubrick writhing in his seat while seeing this.

[jsbachbwv543]

I assume everyone knows this music was actually used in a modified form to score Shoes of the Fisherman?

[djrbfm]

yes.

this does not work well.

j.

[southsidesman]

Smell mildew. Expect Will Robinson to come out with green corduroied pants. Don't want to hate, I never scored a movie. But this is not 20001 A Space Odyssey.

[livebackwards]

Sounds like Kubrich directed Alex North to make it sound as much like Thus Spake Zarathustra as possible, then after the recording was completed, Kubrick found out he'd be able to use the actual Thus Spake Zarathustra after all.

[jslasher1]

I, for one, feel that North's opening music is superior to that of Richard Strauss' 'Also Sprach Zarathustra'. One associates the Strauss work with a concert. Familiarity breeds contempt, if you will.

[solinvictus159]

Hello

[solinvictus159]

The Alex North score seems to keep the film in the 60s -70s, while Kubricks final choice makes the movie timeless.

[ScriptWorker]

@solinvictus159 agreed. I think the tempt track is overall better.

[highMODs]

@solinvictus159 Exactly my thought!

[RayOddname]

@solinvictus159 damn right man

[Feyd01]

Well done for doing this, I was interested to see what Alex North's music would have been like. Sadly I hate it as much as I hate ol' Stanley's choices. I know that's probably extremely iconoclastic to the hoards of die-hards. I just think 2001 was ruined by its score. Classic was just the wrong route all togther.

[40AcreMule]

The score sounds like it would have been better suited for a Roman or Medieval epic.

[spacepatrolman]

@40AcreMule some of this music was rewritten into the shoes of the fisherman soundtrack and one of norths symphonys [ his third ] but kubrick put him in a trap by playing records over and over in screenings and denmanding he make it sound like the record you know richard strauss and johann straus the records that were used in the film .

[40AcreMule]

@spacepatrolman I am well aware of the history of 2001: A Space Odyssey having read every available history on the making of the film since it was released in 1968. I do not buy the myth that Kubrick "tricked" North into writing the score. The studio forced North on him so Kubrick went through the motions to appease them. Ultimately he didn't use the score and great movie history was made, but North's sycophants still can't accept that 2001 is better without North's score.

[tripsadelica]

Up until the cessation of the opening titles the score is just wonderful...When the action starts with the hominids things go awry. I wonder if North was scoring from a script (which may have had different live action details to what was on the screen...particularly the timings...) rather than the final edit montage. this might explain why the music doesn't quite "gel". No doubt about it, though, the opening titles music is just wonderful...classic North.

[sbuttgereit]

@tripsadelica Agreed. It sounds 'late', as though he were writing for more savanna establishing shots that actually made the film... and throwing off the subsequent music that would have been appropriate for first seeing the proto-humans, the cat attack, etc.

[kuglepen64]

Awful score. North's clearly didn't "get it". Neither did Bowie nor Pink Floyd.

[djtron1x]

I want a DVD with the option of theatrical score or Alex North score.

[locyka19]

is the leopard scene real?it looks like...anybody knows maybe?

[milofucker]

yes.

[Laforge88]

I think it was a wise choice to get rid of this score. It could work for a western. Perhaps. But never for this slow paced, artistic scifi.

[iamzbacku]

Although the music is fine, it never would have worked for the movie.

[marxundmumpitz1]

Alex North wrote a great score (for the first half of the movie), thats for shure. I knew it for some years now. In some sequences it woult have been a different movie with it in place. I think a bit better, others think not. Because they like it the way it is.

[ErikJoeNoise02]

i quite like the score i am listening to now .. but, if one consider the 'germans', and specially Also Sprach Zaratusthra, from Strauss yet coming from the work of Nietzsche, used in this movie, which is a movie that deals with such subjects as life, evolution, intelligence, philosophy, being, space, i think it was really aproppriate for the film ...

[Thescotist]

on the downside the music Kubrick went for was inappropriate, blue Danube, and thus spoke zarathrusa couldn't comment on what was going on the film. They were originally used in a different context.

but, on the upside, nothing north wrote was as beautiful as the music Kubrick settled for.

[darkkramer666]

holy shit this music is AWFUL

[schumisebas]

gracias a dios la cambió

[signorellil]

Thanks God for what Kubrick decided to use - per se North score is nice, but in the context of the movie is absolutely underwhelming

[dion82]

North wrote two cues for this sequence. The one used in this reconstruction was not North's favorite. The theme finally intented to go into there was "The Foraging", and if you make the experiment, it fits very well with the images.

[maglanproaolcom]

Kubrick made the right decision

[anglasrabines]

Para el opening, prefiero el original de la película, y el silencio de El Amanecer del Hombre. Es más solemne...

Y el Danubio Azul está bien para mí... es un golpe de sorpresa, y hasta de risa!!!

[MolokoPlus1980]

How can anyone seriously not like the Blue Danube being used in this context? Annoying??? Strangest comment I've read on YouTube to date. Obviously that individual has absolutely no taste at all.

[MolokoPlus1980]

Kubrick made the right decision when he used 'Also Sprach Zarathustra' for the opening sequence. This music in this video doesn't set the tone as well as 'Also Sprach Zarathustra' does.

[spanishprisoner]

From what I know how Kubrick demanded material, I know how North must have felt after watching and hearing this video-soundtrack. Kubrick wanted an epic Dawn of Man but didn't declare more. North tried but propably failed on epic. Kubrick should've said less is more.

[imdbstar]

while this music is ok it will not even match the music of richard strauss or ligeti. the music is stuck in the 60's. i don't know why everyone is bashing kubrick. from what i read somewhere kubrick insisted that alex north rewrite the score as per certain guidelines from kubrick. this music feels like spartacus part 2. no wonder kubrick never used this

[hrolfsson]

No, this score would not have been a classic. Simply because it is obvious that it has not stood the test of time and really sucks now. It is suitable for a silent cartoon maybe.

[Biosreader]

The ironic and really sad thing is North wrote music in 1968 that was so much more advanced than what is being written for film music in the 2000's.

[Biosreader]

The problem I have is not with the music, which is brilliant, it's the way Kubrick handled the firing of this great composer. To not tell someone you're not going to use their music and have them show up at the premiere is not only pathetic it's unprofessional. I have no problem with the music that Kubrick eventually used but to say this is shoving emotion down your throat is obviously someone who doesn't understand what music inherently is.

[aihoschema]

I don't know who you are, but you are definitely an insider. I can confirm the story and all I can say is that Mr. Kubrick simply fell in love with the temp track. The great Alex North made a 20th Century symphonic score. 19th Century music with its definitely simpler 'brush strokes' perhaps might have been the better choice, but yes, the way Kubrick handled it was very unprofessional. I'd love to have a DVD of 2001 with the Alex North score - I'm sure I'll love it.

[octobasser]

I wonder if North's music for 2001 might have become

iconic had it made it to the film. Strauss's "Also Sprach Zarathustra" intro is total genius and seems now--and forever-- to be perfect for the opening of 2001. But listen to North's opening several times...it's very powerful. And since the film would've been a major hit, regardless of score, perhaps North's score would've taken on mythic proportions as well.

Not questioning Kubrick's choice. His instincts were clearly correct.

[netdeco]

I do agree the score makes the film dated, like a cross between 'Planet of the Apes' and 'Spartacus'.

Then again, John William's music is somewhat dated, but he composes for modern movies. Perhaps if they had used this score we just would have thought it was too Alex North-ish, not too 60's.

[mrgargantuan]

ugh the music sucks. doesn't let the imagination wander nearly as much. shoves the drama and emotion down your throat. kubrick's final choice is makes the film more ethereal.

[larrypearce2]

You're so right. Alex North was a great composer, but this music is totally wrong. Way too bombastic. I keep expecting Roman warriors in chariots to come sweeping over the horizon.

[aihoschema]

You have a point. But using 19th Century "stock" music is not the answer.

Also: perhaps Mr. Kubrick didn't gave Alex North the correct direcfions. So he used the temp track. Do you guys realize what fantastic work we are listening to? Please don't dismiss this that easily. If it sound like Planet of the Apes, then perhaps the music was better than the movie and people took it for granted. Try to write a score then we talk.

[larrypearce2]

I'm a member of the audience and films are made for an audience. This holds for film scores as well. And who are you to talk??? Stauss (Richard & Johannes), Ligetti are stock music???? WTF? Bottom line: North's music is wrong and just plain weird and not "weird" in good way. Kubrick was right to ditch this bloated drivel. Be sides, though North composed some great scores, most of his music sounds the same. This stuff here doesn't sound that much different than his stuff from "Cleopatra".

[aihoschema]

Don't be so self-righteous. I said "stock" music as in "stock" footage. I don't like it when existing music is used just like archive music.

I don't like it when film directors go shopping for music. That's disregarding the music.

I don't know. Perhaps North was bloated, but whon are you to talk? You defend the Strausses with the argument that they are "names". But then please don't get your argument mixed up with audience tastes. Which one is it?

[larrypearce2]

At the time 2001 was made, using pre-existing music was a new thing as opposed to composing an original score for a film. I'm not being "self righteous" I'm just stating an opinion. And in the sense that you used the word "stock" you mean it as in "generic" which couldn't be further from the truth when discussing Strauss & Ligetti. Their work is not "stock" as in "stock" footage as you say. Wrong choice of words on your part.

I think North's music really sucks here. Kubrick was right.

[aihoschema]

Yes, pre-existing music wes new at the time. But this remains interpreted as a beforehand decision. In reality it was the music which was used all along during production: the temp track. My choice of words was wrong O.K.

The way this is aligned here is wrong except for the opiening. I would like to see the North cues according to the spotting session. 19th Century music is very tonal (genius or not, that's a fact)., so of course it is a crowd pleaser. Sorry for not going with the flow.,...

[larrypearce2]

Kubrick was one of the few mainstream filmmakers to use preexisting music for ironic effect and the results for 2001, Strangelove, Clockwork were spectacular. Nowadays, film goers take it for granted when some prerecorded music from pop culture or otherwise is used in a film. 2001's status as a classic is due in a large part because of its use of classical/symphonic pieces. From a musical stand point, there's nothing really new or special about North's score. Sounds like all his other ones.

[aihoschema]

One of my poins is that Kubrick's decision remains interpreted as a genuis strike. Might be, but why did he bring in North in the first place?

I find especially the Blue Danube annoying in this context. Ironic or not.

I am not a huge fan of those pop songs used in movies and tv shows. This all led do the use of archive music - which saves a lot of bucks.

I am still fan of custom made music. Holst: Planets might have been a good starting point. Mars was in the temp track for Star Wars.

[spacepatrolman]

North said kubrick hired him to protect himself though he fell in love with his temp track of records [ if you look at the photography kubrick did for look magazine compared to what gordon parks did for life magazine you will realize that kubrick wasnt a genius ] .

[aihoschema]

Thanks, at least someone who is backing me up here.

Why people get thumbs down all the time if they don't go with the flow. Maybe the flow is in the wrong direction.

I know from Berklee College of Music teachers who knew North personally, that the whole thing has been handled very unprofesional by Kubrick. I am not saying that Kubrick was a hack. BUT he should have known what to expect from North,before hiring him. It is ridiculous how genius composers are judged still as we speak....

[sovietsentinel]

@larrypearce2 ROFL. Someone should edit in clips from Gladiator or Braveheart or something into the beginning scenery and use this score.

[olpeso]

wow i think it sounds awesome

[rayssonation]

This re-issue of the original Alex North score for "2001" should be re-released back in theatres for a limited enagement. The BEST way to experience Stanley Kubrick's 1968 masterpiece is to see this in the theatres on the widescreen the way IT was meant to seen in glorious 70MM Cinerama-Dobly Stereo!!!! Especially coming at the 40th anniversary of this science fiction classic.

[BlueCougar]

Hmm... you didn't happen to be around when 2001 was re-released on the BIG screen in... 2001? I'm very glad I saw it then on the biggest screen in town. ;_)

As far as I am concerned, I like North's score very much (and he recycled part of it for "The Shoes of the Fisherman"), but what makes this movie special is the juxtaposition of classical music with prehistoric/futuristic settings. It's this classical music that holds the story together, IMO.

[GibertFilms]

I prefer the music from Strauss.

[Jockolantern]

It's a crying shame Kubrick was too foolish to use North's daring, colorful, vibrant score. His cut-and-paste concert hall music may have become iconic by now but it's consistently distracting, especially to the ears of a music major like myself who'd rather hear Strauss in a concert hall and North in-film. A fantastic score for a film that certainly deserved no such special treatment... and was --ironically enough-- given none by the director himself.

[name942]

I disagree, Jackolantern. Though Alex North's music is good, I feel that it makes the film too 60s, Kubricks final decision makes the film timeless.

[Cramnella]

North makes sense of the Dawn of Man sequence and I absolutely despise the Waltz King's opus underscoring 21st century space travel. I could forgive Kubrik he made this film in 2008 rather than 1968 when there were real composers composing great music.

[Jockolantern]

Bingo.

[Wodanaz]

There was no ''Strauss score'', thye only used famous tunes by two dead Strausses!

[jslasher1]

@Jockolantern Far and away the best comment in respect to Alex's dumped score. I knew Alex well. He would never discuss '2001' when I brought the subject up.

[UFOSPACE1999]

BUT what U all fail to realize is that Stanley Kubrick never had, and when i say NEVER i mean NEVER use Alex North's Score. He was appeasing the heads at MGM, Kubrick always intented to use Classical Music. Kubrick pulled a Orsen Welles, He never showed his product, and used fake film to throw off the studio heads. and THis is what Kubrick did also.

[dafmurray]

Have to agree that this music obviously doesn't fit the film, which would have been very difficult for any composer to score. The only composer who might have succeeded is probably Jerry Goldsmith. Still there is something very memorable about all of Alex North's music, even if he didn't necessarily write the most fluid film music: there is something about his music that just keeps drawing me back to listen. This sounds like the Goldsmith conducted re-recording.

[kirovoleg]

it is similar, but worst

[lavaman2000]

North not wanting to waste this music reworked it slightly and used the main fanfare thematic material for the Anthony Quinn "Pope" movie THE SHOES OF THE FISHERMAN.

[GerardDeDuivel]

Yes, Kubrick was right, of course...

Interesting to see the movie with North's music!! Congratulations!!

[hiphats]

May I remind the poster of something? He used the Jerry Goldsmith re-recording from the early 1990s. But, last year, Intrada Records came out with what would have been the actual soundtrack recordings by Alex North in a limited edition CD. If he could track it down and find one of those, perhaps he can use that as the music track instead. Somewhere on the internet someone actually did just that to the opening scene to 2001. Word of advice.

[bobilcous]

I'll have a look out for that.

thanks!

[lamanogaucha]

Nice to hear and fine for a film score, but Kubrick made the right decision... North's score is very intrusive and robs the film of its mistery and odd "tense/serenity". It is also quite passe in its style, much like something out of Spartacus...