Rosemary's Baby

I have vivid memories of seeing ROSEMARYS BABY, it was a classy movie as far as I was concerned, it dealt with the occult but it was an intelligent and as far as I can see an informed take on the subject of Satanism and devil worship. Polanski’s direction was as always good and the script etc all stepped right up to the mark and made it an entertaining experience. One vital component of the movie was the musical score, Krzysztof (Christopher) Komeda was a highly original composer who sadly died far too early in 1969 after an accident involving a head injury. Komeda was as they say in advance of his time in the music world, his combination of jazz and also dramatic and mood music within the context of a movie was quite breathtaking and for ROSEMARYS BABY the composer certainly wrote an inspired and highly original soundtrack. One cue WHAT HAVE YOU DONE ? (TRACKS 11 AND 28) in particular has always stood out for me and that is near the end of the movie when Mia Farrows character says those immortal words, “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HIM, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HIS EYES”? Komeda’s music is chilling and harrowing with an near frantic ambience as he utilizes quite forceful strings to underscore a mutated sounding trumpet which fades to be overridden by a hypnotic sounding piano solo that is backed up by bass and even more hypnotic sounding strings which act as a backdrop to a chilling soprano saxophone that is played in unison with synths. The opening theme or Lullaby is too outstanding and for want of a better word haunting, the use of Mia Farrows wordless vocal is stunning and almost calming. This understated rather frail sounding vocal sets the scene perfectly for the remainder of the score and also creates immediately the atmosphere that is required for the story, we have the innocence of Rosemary but at the same time there is an underlying sense of unease and uncertainty that is relayed perfectly to the listener or the watching audience via this cue which tells them that all maybe is not well or as it should be. This latest incarnation of the soundtrack from LA LA LAND records contains approx 72 mins of music, this includes material from the original DOT records long playing vinyl (DLP 25875) which was issued in 1968, plus two cues track 1 and 36 which are versions of the lullaby which were especially arranged by George Tipton and had a performance by Tommy Morgan on harmonica and originally issued on a 45rpm single, then we have cues from the film score, plus source music as well, so when they say this is a full release of the music from the movie they are not kidding. Considering that the score was written in 1967/1968 it is certainly one that has real originality to it and to be honest this music would not be out of place today in any of the chillers or horror movies that are doing the rounds.


The music has worn well throughout the years and I found myself discovering the score all over again and found it was like listening to it for the first time and as I listened I could visualize scenes from the movie and hear dialogue being spoken, which was quite an uncanny experience. ROSEMARY’S BABY was a movie that I enjoyed when I first saw it and have enjoyed even more over the years when I have revisited it, the score too is a favourite for me personally simply because of its originality and the ingenuity of the composer. Highly Recommended.