Soundtrack Information

Distant Thunder

Distant Thunder

Intrada (Special Collection Vol. 271)

Release Date: February 18, 2014

Format: CD

Music From

Music By

Track Listing

1. Main Title 2:12
2. Mark in Pond 1:20
3. Louis Walks the Track 1:23
4. Louis Kisses the Train 1:10
5. Mark Leaves Mountains–Insert* 0:39
6. Char Meets Mark 0:53
7. It's a Deal 1:08
8. Mark in the Park / Jack Gets Letter 2:51
9. Haircut 3:15
10. Mark Leaves Town 1:40
11. Headlines / To the Mountains (revised) / The Forest at Night 4:51
12. Larry and Jack (After Shooting)** / Mark and Jack Meet (revised) 2:10
13. Mark and Jack Meet (original version) 2:34
14. Larry Consoles Mark 1:02
15. Remember Billy 1:58
16. No Trespassing 1:57
17. Looking for Nitz 1:11
18. Down the Hill 1:40
19. You're a Real Amigo 7:26
20. Mark in Hospital / It's Not Your Fault 1:40
21. After the Train Has Passed (revised) / Mark and Jack Reunion 5:14
22. THE EXTRAS: To the Mountains (original version) 3:15
23. After the Train Has Passed (original version) / Mark and Jack Reunion 4:14
  Total Album Time: 55:43

From the Manufacturer

Track Listing Legend:
* Includes "Wake the Town and Tell the People" by Sammy Gallop and Jerry Livingston
** Consists of "Wake the Town and Tell the People" by Sammy Gallop and Jerry Livingston

Maurice Jarre's score for the 1988 Paramount film Distant Thunder was deep in his "synth period," scoring a run of Peter Weir films and others with all-synth or mostly electronic ensembles.

Jarre enlisted his usual band of synth players—including Michael Boddicker, Ian Underwood, Ralph Grierson and Nyle Steiner—all among the elite instrumentalists in their field at the time. Jarre always recorded his tight little group as an ensemble, and they would play whole sections together, recording directly into a mixing board. In the score's "Main Title," Distant Thunder opens with eerily descending diminished chords (voiced by a choral effect) over a low sustained drone, with a lone trumpet voice referencing the film's military undercurrent. The motif is punctuated with a tumbling percussive figuration that becomes a recurring ingredient in the score. For this premiere release Intrada presents the score in stereo from the original session tapes stored at Paramount.

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