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Romeo & Juliet (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Film score by Abel Korzeniowski
Released	1 October 2013
Recorded	June 2013
Studio	Eastwood Scoring Stage, Warner Bros., Los Angeles
Genre	Film score
Length	50:32
Label	Sony Masterworks
Producer	Abel Korzeniowski Mina Korzeniowska
Abel Korzeniowski chronology
Escape from Tomorrow (2013) Romeo & Juliet (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2013) Penny Dreadful (2014)

Romeo & Juliet (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the score soundtrack to the 2013 film Romeo & Juliet, directed by Carlo Carlei; an adaptation of William Shakespeare's romantic tragedy and stars Douglas Booth and Hailee Steinfeld, as the eponymous principal characters. Abel Korzeniowski composed the film's orchestral score replacing James Horner, who was originally attached to score the film. The soundtrack was released through Sony Masterworks on 1 October 2013.

Background

In October 2012, James Horner was roped in to compose the score for the film and recorded it at the Abbey Road Studios in London. At one point, Horner's score was supposed to be released through Sony Classical Records on 22 July 2013. But during post-production, Horner's score was scrapped and Abel Korzeniowski was hired to produce a new score for the film that was recorded at the Eastwood Scoring Stage in Warner Bros. Studios in Los Angeles during late-June 2013 with him conducting and orchestrating the Hollywood Studio Symphony. Sony Masterworks released the soundtrack featuring Korzeniowski's score on 1 October 2013.

Reception

In a 5-star rating, Filmtracks.com wrote "This project is proof that pure crap on screen can still inspire greatness out of the right composer." Pete Simons of Synchrotones called it as "one of this year’s very best, incidentally alongside Escape from Tomorrow by Abel Korzeniowski". Justin Chang of Variety wrote "nary a single scene is allowed to play out untainted by Abel Korzeniowski’s score, which endlessly recycles the same banal theme with only minimal variations." Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter wrote "Abel Korzeniowski's constantly churning score employs heaving strings and trilling piano scales in an urgent attempt to rouse the emotions."

Tim Grierson of Screen International described it as an "earnest, sobbing score". Calling it as an "incessant score", Tim Robey of The Daily Telegraph called it as "a close cousin to Nino Rota's from the 1968 Zeffirelli film, if you imagine that one melodically misremembered and plonked over important scenes seemingly at random." Sara Stewart of New York Post called it as a "melodramatic soundtrack", while Bilge Ebiri of Vulture called it as a "lush, galloping score".

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from CD liner notes.

• Composer – Abel Korzeniowski
• Producer – Abel Korzeniowski, Mina Korzeniowska
• Recording and mixing – Joel Iwataki
• Assistant mixing – Phil McGowan
• Mastering – Stephen Marsh
• Score editor – Matt Shelton
• Musical assistance – Scott Starrett
• Pro-tools operator – Tom Hardisty, Vincent Cirelli
• Executive producer – Andy Spaulding, Bob Bowen, Jason Markey, Seth Kaplan

Orchestra

• Performer – The Hollywood Studio Symphony
• Orchestrator and conductor – Abel Korzeniowski
• Choir conductor and contractor – Jasper Randall
• Orchestra contractor – Peter Rotter
• Copyist – Edward Trybek, Neal Desby

Instruments

• Cello – Andrew Shulman
• Piano – Randy Kerber
• Soprano vocals – Tamara Bevard
• Viola – Andrew Duckles
• Violin – Roger Wilkie, Tereza Stanislav

Accolades

References

1. "James Horner to Score Carlo Carlei's Romeo and Juliet". Film Music Reporter. 16 October 2012. Archived from the original on 16 January 2013. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
2. ^ "Sony Classical to Release James Horner's Romeo & Juliet Score". Film Music Reporter. Archived from the original on 31 October 2013. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
3. "Abel Korzeniowski Scoring Carlo Carlei's Romeo & Juliet". Film Music Reporter. 11 July 2013. Archived from the original on 14 September 2013. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
4. "Romeo & Juliet Soundtrack Details". Film Music Reporter. 21 September 2013. Archived from the original on 25 September 2013. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
5. "Romeo & Juliet (Abel Korzeniowski)". Filmtracks.com. 17 January 2014. Archived from the original on 23 January 2014. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
6. Simons, Pete (17 October 2013). "Romeo and Juliet (Abel Korzeniowski)". Synchrotones. Archived from the original on 30 September 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
7. Chang, Justin (9 October 2013). "Film Review: Romeo & Juliet". Variety. Archived from the original on 31 May 2017. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
8. McCarthy, Todd (8 October 2013). "Romeo & Juliet: Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
9. Grierson, Tim (9 October 2013). "Romeo & Juliet". Screen. Archived from the original on 26 September 2022. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
10. Robey, Tim (10 October 2013). "Romeo and Juliet review". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 14 November 2014. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
11. Stewart, Sara (10 October 2013). "Romeo and Juliet doesn't smell that sweet". New York Post. Archived from the original on 14 January 2014. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
12. Ebiri, Bilge (11 October 2013). "Ebiri: Romeo and Juliet Is Undercut by Its Romeo and Juliet". Vulture. Archived from the original on 27 February 2014. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
13. Abel Korzeniowski. Romeo & Juliet (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (Media notes). Sony Masterworks.
14. IFMCA (2014). "2013 IFMCA Awards". IFMCA. Archived from the original on 27 February 2014. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
15. "Evil Dead, Gravity and The Hobbit lead film music critics nominations". Uproxx. 11 February 2014. Archived from the original on 24 February 2021. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
16. "Romeo and Juliet, Evil Dead and Walter Mitty win film music critics awards". Uproxx. 23 February 2014. Archived from the original on 18 January 2017. Retrieved 15 October 2022.

• 2013 soundtrack albums
• Sony Masterworks albums
• Music based on Romeo and Juliet
• Romance film soundtracks