The Omen

Jerry Goldsmith won an Oscar for his memorable score to The Omen. For this, the third Omen picture, Goldsmith cranked up the volume and delivered an epic score to accompany the final struggle between good and evil. The original CD release featured poor sound and a limited running time, burying a brilliant score within a mediocre presentation. Varese Sarabande rights this wrong with this expanded CD featuring over an hour of music, all remastered with brilliantly clear sound. Goldsmith's opening salvo, suggesting Gabriel's trumpets, opens the CD with a nod toward the coming Armageddon. As in his score for The Omen, Goldsmith accentuates passages with choral overtones, though the bulk of the music is purely orchestral, moving from the quietly sinister to all-out war.

Purcell and the majority of the British public were genuinely fond of Queen Mary, who with William replaced King James on the throne when he fled to the continent. London musicians breathed a collective sigh of relief at the Glorious Revolution and Purcell composed six of his finest Odes to honour his new Queen’s birthday.