Varese Sarabande has announced the world premiere CD soundtrack release for the 1981 drama On Golden Pond directed by Mark Rydell and starring Katharine Hepburn, Henry Fonda, Jane Fonda, Doug McKeon, Dabney Coleman and William Lanteau. The album features the film’s original music composed by Dave Grusin (The Firm, The Goonies, The Milagro Beanfield War) who received his third Academy Award nomination for his work on the Universal Pictures release. Also included are dialogue snippets. The soundtrack will be released on April 28, 2017 and is now available for pre-order on Amazon. Visit the label’s official website to listen to audio samples.
Here’s the album track list:
1. On Golden Pond (Main Theme) (3:52)
2. First Call (Norman) (2:08)
3. Career Opportunities / Back Porch Confessional (Norman & Ethel) (6:08)
4. Illicit Sex Question (Norman & Bill Ray) (5:07)
5. New Hampshire Hornpipe (2:28)
6. Lake-Song (3:40)
7. Early Bird (Ethel & Chelsea) (2:47)
8. Purgatory Cove (Norman & Billy) (4:46)
9. Father-Daughter Relationship (Chelsea & Norman) (3:58)
10. Season’s End (Ethel & Norman) (3:38)
11. On Golden Pond (Epilogue) (2:48)
This score is considerated by American Film Institute as one of the 25 best scores ever written for american movies, along with classic scores like Star Wars, Ben-Hur, Gone With The Wind, Psycho, Jaws, E.T., Lawrence of Arabia… Therefore, I don’t know why they took so long to release it on CD.
Also, dialogue tracks on score albuns should’ve been left right there on the 80s/90s. After all, if I buy the CD, it’s because I want to listen to the music outside of the pictures and the other sounds of the movie.
I sympathise, but maybe they were legally required to issue the original soundtrack album in its entirety.