AMISTAD

(1997)

German Title: Amistad

Track Listing

1. Dry Your Tears, Afrika* (4:18)
2. Sierra Leone, 1839 and The Capture Of Cinque* (3:39)
3. Crossing the Atlantic* (3:21)
4. Cinque's Theme (4:12)
5. Cinque's Memories Of Home (2:35)
6. Middle Passage (5:18)
7. The Long Road To Justice (3:16)
8. July 4, 1839 (4:01)
9. Mr. Adams Takes The Case (7:15)
10. La Amistad Remembered (5:08)
11. The Liberation Of Lomboko (4:09)
12. Adams' Summation (2:55)
13. Going Home* (2:02)
14. Dry Your Tears, Afrika (Reprise)* (3:37)

* Mezzo Soprano: Pamella Dillard

Liner Notes

Music is not only an integral but an essential part of my life.

Sometimes listening to a good film score inspires my imagination even more often than seeing someone else’s movie. That’s because music allows free association. Sometimes film music is so specific to the identity of a cultural phenomenon like STAR WARS, JAWS or THE GODFATHER that there is no way to listen to those scores and not see robots, fish and cannolis. Other scores are less remembered for their perfect fit, and like classical music, allow the listener his or her own personal interpretations. Fortunately, John Williams has written both kinds of music and inspired all of us along the way.

Early favourite composers of mine like Bernard Herrmann, Alex North and Dimitri Tiomkin were so defined by their musical habits that you could clearly imagine the films they wrote for: Bernard Herrmann’s NORTH BY NORTHWEST was vintage Hitchcock. Alex North’s SPARTACUS could not be mistaken for anything less than tortured genius. Dimitri Tiomkin’s scores for THE RISE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE, THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY and THE ALAMO sounded like Tiomkin pictures.

The outstanding virtue of John Williams‘ gifts has always been John’s selfless ability to create unprecedented sounds. Like the great character actors John Barrymore, Paul Muni and Dustin Hoffman, who would never impose a single personality on multiple roles, John Williams has the gift to become any character necessary to retell with music the story of the film he is working on. AMISTAD marks our 24^th year in partnership and our 15^th film together. And after all that time, John has never failed to surprise me, uplift me or make me look good.

Steven Spielberg, Director