The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) Original Motion Picture Soundtrack CD Music by David Shire

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The Taking of Pelham One Two Three is a superb urban thriller: four men, dressed alike in trenchcoats and calling each other Mr. Blue, Mr. Green, etc., take a subway car hostage and demand $1 million in ransom. Walter Matthau stars as the transit cop assigned to the case; Robert Shaw (Quint in Jaws) is the leader of the terrorists. It’s a brilliant ’70s hostage movie with biting New York humor.

For the score, David Shire—then going through a brilliant stretch of work which included The Conversation, Farewell, My Lovely, The Hindenburg, and All the President’s Men—came up with a stroke of genius. He wanted to do some kind of funk/jazz/big band, but wanted a way of making it dissonant and powerful—not too light, but not too random. So for his melodic materials he utilized the 12-tone method of composition, a technique devised by Arnold Schoenberg in the early 20th century in which you make a theme by using all 12 pitches in a specific order, and then create other themes by playing that “row” backwards, upside-down, backwards and upside-down, or transposed. Shire ended up with a monster two-note bass line with these 12-tone themes running on top.

For our CD, the first-ever release of this music, producers have utilized the complete score, including around 15 minutes of music not included in the film. The 12-page booklet includes movie stills, composer photos, and track-by-track notes by Doug Adams.

The photos pf the product outside of the packaging are stock photos for reference only. This is a brand new and sealed item.

Special Features

  • Includes extensive liner notes with rare photos from the movie.

Playlists

  • Main Title
    2:18
  • The Taking
    3:10
  • Dolowitz Takes a Look/Dolowitz Gets Killed
    2:21
  • Blue and Green Talk
    2:03
  • Money Montage
    3:13
  • Fifty Seconds/The Money Express
    3:55
  • Conductor Killed/The Money Bag
    1:46
  • The Pelham's-Moving-Again Blues
    3:12
  • I'm a Police Officer/Renewing Disguises/Goodbye Green, Hello Garber, Goodbye Hippie/Smoking More, Enjoying It Less
    2:59
  • Mini-Manhunt
    1:56
  • End Title
    3:01

Specifications

  • Number of Discs:
    1
  • Runtime:
    30:55
CDSKU: 200323-80665-1
UPC: 638557012339
Part No: FSM0080123
Weight: 0.07 lbs
Condition: Brand New - The item has never been opened and is still in the manufacturer’s packaging. See the description and photos for full details on any imperfections. See Details section and photos for specifics on item condition.