MovieScore Media expands its acclaimed Discovery Collection with its 13th entry: David
Shire’s Primetime Emmy nominated music for the 1998 television version of REAR WINDOW.
Designed as an acting vehicle for the recently wheelchair-bound Christopher Reeve, The
ABC production kept the basic premise of the original Hitchcock movie: wheelchair-bound
Jason Kemp (Reeve) suspects that his neighbor Julian Thorpe (Ritchie Coster) murdered his
wife, but nobody believes him. With the help of his beautiful blonde aide Claudia Henderson
(Darryl Hannah), Jason gathers enough evidence to convince the police, but the killer is on
to his schemes and confronts the paralyzed man in his own home…
David Shire, who is best known for his work on The Conversation, The Taking of Pelham 1-
2-3 and Return to Oz, had previously worked together with director Jeff Bleckner on
television films like A Father for Charlie, Do You Remember Love? and Serving in Silence.
For Rear Window, Shire also got the full support of Christopher Reeve who used his star
power to help the composer realize his musical vision. apart from discussing musical ideas
and approving various cues, Reeve also managed to get a bigger musical budget for the
project which now features 26 live musicians in addition to the brilliant synth percussion and
sound design.
Shire’s music features a number of brilliant themes for the main characters. Jason’s theme
was inspired by Baroque fugues as the counterpoints represent the hero’s attempt to rebuild
his nervous system. The film’s main villain is represented by a distant metallic hit, a choice
related to the man’s profession (he’s a sculptor working with metals). The third key theme for
“the other woman” (a character who replaces the murdered wife) is represented by the EWI,
an electric wind instrument featuring a deliberately fake representation of a saxophone.
Rear Window is released both on CD, distributed by Screen Archives Entertainment (SAE),
and digitally. The CD will be available while quantities and interest remain. On a related
note, with Rear Window and the other September 2 release of Victor Reyes’ Grand Piano,
MovieScore Media returns to SAE as its main CD distributor, with RSK Entertainment still
representing the label in the UK. Screen Archives was MovieScore Media’s main distributor
2007-2012 and has now renewed its distribution deal with the progressive label.
MovieScore Media and its sub-label Screamworks Records have released over 250
soundtrack albums since the launch of the company in 2006. Among the many acclaimed
albums in the catalogue are soundtracks for Let the Right One In (Johan Soderqvist),
Pandorum (Michl Britsch), Centurion (Ilan Eshkeri), Conquest 1453 (Benjamin Wallfisch),
four volumes of Merlin (Rob Lane et al), Triangle (Christian Henson), Submarine (Andrew
Hewitt), JCVD (Gast Waltzing), Black Death (Christian Henson), In a Better World (Johan
Söderqvist) and The Awakening (Daniel Pemberton). In its ‘Discovery Collection’,
MovieScore Media has released world premiere recordings of scores by esteemed
composers such as Michael Kamen, Basil Poledouris, Patrick Doyle and Dario Marianelli.
In 2012, an album released by MovieScore Media’s sub-label Screamworks Records, The
Shrine (music by Ryan Shore), was nominated for a Grammy Award in the ‘Best Score
Soundtrack for Visual Media’ category. MovieScore Media has been nominated to the
International Film Music Critics Association Award for ‘Film Music Record Label of the Year’
six years in a row.
Launched in 2007 by MSM, the Discovery Collection is designed to present world premiere
recordings of high quality film scores that was never released on CD at the time of the films’
releases. Ever since its first release with I Capture the Castle by Dario Marianell, the
Collection represented such great composers as Basil Poledouris (The Legend of Butch and
Sundance), Patrick Doyle (Man to Man), Michael Kamen (Back to Gaya) or Nuno Malo (The
Celestine Prophecy).
MovieScore Media’s CDs are distributed by RSK Entertainment in the UK and Screen
Archives Entertainment for the rest of the world. Albums are available digitally from all major
digital platforms, including iTunes, Amazon, eMusic, Google Play and Spotify.
TRACKLIST
1 Main Title 4:14
2 Pop-Out! 2:10
3 Windows 98 2:28
4 Windows II 2:21
5 Night Awakening 2:18
6 Windows III 3:35
7 Windows IV 3:56
8 Hot Flashes 2:32
9 The Cop and the Crate 2:33
10 The Other Woman 2:15
11 Claudia Visits Thorpe 4:06
12 Act In 2:50
13 You’ve Got Mail 3:16
14 Preparation 2:10
15 Agon 2:15
16 A Visit from Thorpe: Part 1 5:05
17 A Visit from Thorpe: Part 2 1:32
18 The Unveiling 2:43
19 Rear Window 1:28
