Black Swan (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Famed film score composer, Clint Mansell, famous for his original film scores to Requiem for a Dream and The Fountain (Golden Globe Nominee for Best Film Score, 2007), wrote the music for the critically acclaimed film, Black Swan, starring Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis. In a nutshell, the music is a synthesis of Tchaikovsky's classical score and Mansell's postmodern minimalism. Mansell clearly understands Tchaikovsky's score and brilliantly re-imagines the piece and molds it into an edgier, darker, and more suspenseful work of art.

Throughout the Black Swan soundtrack, Mansell employs various themes from Tchaikovsky's beloved score, Swan Lake, directly and indirectly - mainly the "Swan Theme." The opening song begins with a delightful waltz laced with dark synthesized sounds amidst an urban sound-scape, foreshadowing the chaos and drama that is to come . (Preview, purchase, and download "Nina's Dream."). "The New Season" (track 3), also reveals the underlying tension within the film as the melancholy melody is often overlapped with railroad-esque sounds. Another important track on the album is "The Swan Queen." Mansell takes a lighthearted theme and twists it into a foreboding and two-faced refrain, as if the happy melody was only a facade. (Preview, purchase, and download "The Swan Queen.") A few of my favorite tracks, "Cruel Mistress" and "Power, Seduction, Cries," are voiced almost entirely in strings, which is a nice departure from the piano, orchestra, and synthesized orchestrations often used. Another great track is "Opposites Attract." Though still dark, it is the most beautifully and interestingly arranged piece of the entire album. (Preview, purchase, and download "Opposites Attract."). Lastly, is the track "For Nina." Mansell concludes the album by referencing the last direct "Swan Theme" with shattering glass before fading away into oblivion. (Preview, purchase, and download "For Nina.")