''Saving Private Ryan: Music from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack'' is the soundtrack album for the 1998 film ''

Saving Private Ryan ''Saving Private Ryan'' is a 1998 American epic war film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Robert Rodat. Set during the Battle of Normandy in World War II, the film is known for its graphic portrayal of war, especially its depictio ...

'', directed by

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spie ...

. The album was produced by composer

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (15 November 2022)Classic Connection review ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who wa ...

and distributed by

DreamWorks Records DreamWorks Records (often referred in copyright notices as SKG Music, LLC) was an American record label founded in 1996 by David Geffen, Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg as a subsidiary of DreamWorks Pictures. The label operated until 200 ...

. Recorded in

Symphony Hall, Boston Symphony Hall is a concert hall located at 301 Massachusetts Avenue in Boston, Massachusetts, opened in 1900. Designed by the architectural firm McKim, Mead and White, it was built for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, which continues to make the ha ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, the scores were performed by the

Boston Symphony Orchestra The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the " Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in 1881, ...

, with two of the ten compositions featuring vocals from the

Tanglewood Festival Chorus The Tanglewood Festival Chorus, directed by James Burton, is a chorus which performs with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Boston Pops in major choral works. The Tanglewood Festival Chorus (TFC) was organized in the spring of 1970, when founding co ...

. The soundtrack runs for just over an hour, while the film itself lasts over two hours. Throughout the compositions,

brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other with ...

(especially

French Horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...

s), and

strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

were used to evoke a variety of emotions and tones. The soundtrack received mixed reviews from critics, but was still nominated for several major awards, of which it won the Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition Written for a Motion Picture or for Television. Soundtrack opener "Hymn to the Fallen" received some radio play, in particular on the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

holidays

Veterans Day Veterans Day (originally known as Armistice Day) is a federal holiday in the United States observed annually on November 11, for honoring military veterans of the United States Armed Forces (who were discharged under conditions other than di ...

and

Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monda ...

. The soundtrack was remastered and reissued as a commemorative twentieth anniversary edition by La-La Land Records in 2018.

Background

and

had worked together on fifteen films before ''

'' (1998). The score was recorded at Symphony Hall in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

with the assistance of the

. After having recorded the re-edited version of ''

Close Encounters of the Third Kind ''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'' is a 1977 American science fiction film written and directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Melinda Dillon, Teri Garr, Bob Balaban, Cary Guffey, and François Truffaut. It tells the story ...

'' (1977) and some of ''

Schindler's List ''Schindler's List'' is a 1993 American epic historical drama film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg and written by Steven Zaillian. It is based on the 1982 novel ''Schindler's Ark'' by Australian novelist Thomas Keneally. The film fo ...

'' (1993) at Symphony Hall previously, this was the third time Spielberg and Williams worked on a soundtrack at this location. Spielberg chose Symphony Hall as the site for the recording because the hall gives "rich, warm sound off the walls and ceiling" and allows you to "hear the air," which some soundstages do not allow you to do. Spielberg stated he chose to work with the Boston Symphony Orchestra because the film deals with a "company of soldiers" and the orchestra was an "experienced company of musicians." Over the course of a three-day period in February 1998, the score for the film was recorded at a rate of around $100,000 an hour. Spielberg and Williams both watched a rough cut of the film to determine what scenes would have music. The two decided to leave music out of the fighting sequences, in favor of playing it over long sequences of eight to nine minutes that lack action. The playing of music between fighting sequences gives a moment of reflection for what happened.

Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...

came to a portion of the recording session and read the Bixby letter – which appears in the movie – to the orchestra at the behest of Williams. This caused the musicians to shuffle their feet in appreciation. Williams chose to use different families and types of instruments to convey and evoke certain tones within the score.

String instrument String instruments, stringed instruments, or chordophones are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer plays or sounds the strings in some manner. Musicians play some string instruments by plucking the ...

s were chosen to provide a warm sound,

brass instrument A brass instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips. Brass instruments are also called labrosones or labrophones, from Latin a ...

s were utilized for "solemn" sections of the pieces, and

horn instrument A horn is any of a family of musical instruments made of a tube, usually made of metal and often curved in various ways, with one narrow end into which the musician blows, and a wide end from which sound emerges. In horns, unlike some other bras ...

s were used to give off a pensive tone.

Military drums Military drums or war drums are all kinds of drums and membranophones that have been used for martial music, including military communications, as well as drill, honors music and military ceremonies. History Among ancient war drums that can ...

were used largely in the piece entitled "Hymn to the Fallen." The

provided a vocal chorus for "Hymn to the Fallen" that served as a memory to those who have fallen in combat. "Hymn to the Fallen" and its reprise are the only two tracks that feature any sort of vocals and bookend the album. Spielberg chose to place "Hymn to the Fallen" on the closing credits because it will "stand the test of time and honor forever the fallen of this war and possibly all wars" and felt it showed Williams' "sensitivity and brilliance." The album was released on July 21, 1998. The soundtrack was remastered and reissued as a commemorative twentieth anniversary edition by La-La Land Records on August 28, 2018 and included two new tracks.

Reception

Author Emilio Audissino felt that the music offered no "perspective" like Williams' scores normally do, but were instead rooted in emotion. Classic FM believed that despite the restrictions placed on Williams, he still managed to create a "moving theme." Stephen Thomas Erlewine of ''

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

'' agreed, stating Williams added "sentiment wherever he could nonetheless." Hillel Italie of the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

found the soundtrack to be "bland" and "out of place." Richard Harrington of ''The Washington Post'' found the soundtrack created by Williams to be "quietly heroic, full of survivalist determination and pragmatic melancholy." In regard to all of Williams' soundtracks for Spielberg films, Harrington believed that this soundtrack was the most "subtle." ''Calgary Herald'' writers felt Williams' created a "reflective score" that "is sensitive without sensationalizing the subject." Ian Black of ''The Sun'' (Sheridan, Oregon) compared the music for ''

Flags of Our Fathers ''Flags of Our Fathers'' (2000) is a book by James Bradley with Ron Powers about his father, Navy corpsman John Bradley, and five United States Marines, who were made famous by Joe Rosenthal’s '' Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima'' photograph. Th ...

'' (2006) with that of ''Saving Private Ryan'' stating that it was "nowhere close" to the latter. Barbera Vancheri of the ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'' wrote that "John Williams' symphonic score soars in the background like church music." ''Edmonton Journal'' writer Ted Shaw found the "meditative quality" of Williams' score to be a surprise when compared to the intensity of the fighting sequences. He added that the music was an "elevating" component of the film. Thomas Doherty also noted that the music "lacks the bombast of the incoming shells," stating that it was "quietly martial" with its use of

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

s and mild percussion. In addition to the film itself, the soundtrack received several nominations for various awards. The score won the Best Instrumental Composition Written for a Motion Picture or for Television. In addition, the score was nominated for Academy Award for Best Original Dramatic Score, the

Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score The Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score is a Golden Globe Award presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), an organization of journalists who cover the United States film industry, but are affiliated with publications o ...

, and the

BAFTA Award for Best Film Music This is a list of winners and nominees for the BAFTA Award for Best Original Music, formerly known as the Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music, which is presented to film composers, given out by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts si ...

, but failed to win the awards. In 2003, the Cleveland Institute of Music published a list of uplifting classical music pieces that featured "Hymn to the Fallen" and "Omaha Beach." Within the

, "Hymn to the Fallen" received minor radio airplay on

and

. Classic FM voted the soundtrack to its "Movie Music Hall of Fame" that consists of the top 100 movie soundtracks chosen by fan votes. The soundtrack placed sixteenth on the list, two places lower than the previous year. Portions of the score were used in the "No Casino Gettysburg" videos that were created in opposition of building a casino on the grounds of

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Gettysburg (; non-locally ) is a borough and the county seat of Adams County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The Battle of Gettysburg (1863) and President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address are named for this town. Gettysburg is home to th ...

where the

Battle of Gettysburg The Battle of Gettysburg () was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. In the battle, Union Major General George Meade's Army of the Po ...

was fought.

Track listing

Credits

*Orchestra, performer, and primary artist: Boston Symphony Orchestra *Scoring consultant: Sandy De Crescent *Photography: David James *Music preparation: JoAnn Kane *Trumpet: Tim Morrison *Design: Terry Roberston *Engineer: Shawn Murphy *Horn: Richard "Gus" Sebring *Choir/Chorus, performer, and primary artist: Tanglewood Festival Chorus *Editing: Ken Wannberg *Composer, conductor, primary artist, and producer: John Williams Source:

Release history

References

Citations

Bibliography

* {{Authority control 1998 soundtrack albums 1990s film soundtrack albums DreamWorks Records soundtracks John Williams soundtracks Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media La-La Land Records soundtracks War film soundtracks