Intrada is proud to announce the second volume in its Special Collection, the premiere
release of the much sought-after David Shire score to THE CONVERSATION.
Written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, Leonard Maltin (among most critics)
considers THE CONVERSATION one of the best films of the 70s. One viewing and
it's immediately apparent why: this sophisticated story -- part murder mystery, part
character study -- features a tight script, moody cinematography, and a brilliant actor
(Gene Hackman) for whom this part could have been specially written. Hackman
plays Harry Caul, a surveillance expert who ironically obsesses about keeping his
existence anonymous to the world, while recording other people and invading their
privacy. The film opens with Caul and team recording what seems to be an innocuous
conversation in San Francisco's Union Square. As the film progresses, Caul becomes
more obsessed with the conversation he taped and becomes entangled in the case,
sacrificing his much cherished privacy.

An element that leads to the success of THE CONVERSATION is David Shire's
moody score. It gets inside Harry Caul and is perhaps one of the most important
examples of music and character being wedded. The score proper is composed for
solo piano and the main theme musically represents the anonymity on which Caul
thrives. At points in the score, Shire manipulates the music electronically, much in the
same way Caul manipulates the multiple recordings he has of the conversation. The
score also features jazz cues composed by Shire, some of which Caul accompanies
with his own saxophone.

When people saw the THE CONVERSATION in the 70s, they left the theaters
with Shire's piano tune digging at their memory. But there was no way to appease that
nagging, for no soundtrack had been released. In fact, over the years, David Shire's
THE CONVERSATION has become one of the most requested soundtracks of all
time. The theme has appeared here and there occasionally, but Intrada finally fills the
absence with a full-length soundtrack. In addition to what is heard in the
film, the master tapes also included an ensemble version of the main theme that wasn't
used in the film, heard here for the first time.

The Intrada Special Collection is a series of recordings focusing on film music from
across the decades. This series is targeted to the discriminating soundtrack collector of
film music and is available exclusively through Intrada and a select handful of
soundtrack specialty shops.

THE CONVERSATION
The Intrada Special Collection Volume 2
Available: June

Also Coming Soon from Intrada in its regular series of releases:
Love and Treason (Basil Poledouris)

...and David Shire's score once again hit me like a ton of bricks. I love loading up the DVD just so I can hear the main theme played under the menu screen. I missed hearing quite a few of the cues heard in the film, most notably the slow, jazzy version played as Harry Caul shares an intimate moment with a woman at a party.

I, for one, am ecstatic at finally having this masterful work on CD. It's coming at just the right time.