The Agony & The Ecstasy – SOUNDTRACK****

The Mountains Of Carrara/The Pope/The Medini/Michelangelo’s Sketch Of The Apostles/The Tavern/Genesis/The Sistine Chapel/Contessina/The Agony/Michelangelo’s Recovery/The War/Festivity In St Peter’s Square/ Michelangelo’s Magnificent Achievement & Finale

The epic movie The Agony & The Ecstasy, examines the clashes between Michelangelo and Pope Julius II over the painting of the Sistine Chapel. It starred Charlton Heston and Rex Harrison. The soundtrack music was composed and arranged by Alex North.

“All of Alex North’s works were great and the effort he put into them was enormous, and The Agony & The Ecstasy is one of his greatest scores. What sets it apart is the style, based on the music of the movie's setting. The instruments used were very medieval and religious sounding, obviously requiring Alex to do much research. Both the main title for the film and the pope's theme sound majestic and as beautiful as the painting on the Sistine Chapel. The music describing the chapel is epic and religious in quality. The battle scenes actually sound like what they would in their time, a unique treat to listen to.”

“A superb work by Alex North. It pays to have some taste for music that includes period instruments, but I find the inclusion, which by no means dominates the compositions, to be an enhancement.”

“This is not actually music of the period. North's fusion of the old with the new is so adept that one might not initially realize it is new. For The Agony & The Ecstasy, he captured the spirit of Pope Julius's II's Vatican in a language that recalls the time but speaks directly to us. This is my favourite of North's works.”

“The early to mid 60s certainly seems to have been something of a 'purple patch' for composer Alex North; on the heels of his mammoth, wonderfully evocative score for Cleopatra came his majestic score for The Agony & The Ecstasy, which contains some of the most moving and elegant music he ever wrote.”

“North worked within the historical framework of the film's story, the battle of wills between Michelangelo and Pope Julius II, composing music that subsumed the musical influences of 15th century Italy within his own style. The result was a brilliantly expressive score that evoked the enveloping passions of the men and the art that they fostered, in a concise and musically dramatic manner.”