Track Listing

1. The Harshest Place On Earth
2. Walk Not Alone
3. The March
4. Found Love
5. The Egg Arrives
6. The Mother's Second Journey
7. Arrival At The Sea
8. Walk Through Darkness
9. First Steps
10. The Dangers Remain
11. Reunited
12. Going Home For The First Time

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #95970 in Music
• Released on: 2005-07-12
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack
• Original language: English, French

Amazon.com
The journey of this documentary from the country where it was made, France, to America is almost as circuitous as the one taken by its titular birds on their trip across Antartica. In France, various actors voiced the penguins, giving them anthropomorphic qualities; but this approach didn't test well in the U.S., and it was replaced with a voiceover from Morgan Freeman. In France, the soundtrack to La Marche de L'Empereur (the original title) was done by Émilie Simon and it's a wonder of quirky, poppy electronics--definitely not what you'd expect from an animal doc.

Simon's music was scratched for the U.S. version, which gets a rather more generic score by Alex Wurman. Typical of Wurman's low-key approach, the track "The Harshest Place on Earth" is anything but harsh. It's a lullaby predictably punctuated by piano and flute--the go-to instruments when Hollywood composers want to evoke feel-good uplift. There's a lot of drama in March of the Penguins, but little has made it onto this CD. --Elisabeth Vincentelli

About the Artist
Composer Alex Wurman credits his wide range of composition styles to his early classical training, a lifelong love of jazz and an expert knowledge of the most advanced technology. In "March of the Penguins," Wurman has musically captured both nature's beautify and its harsh trials of the polar winter. In addition, Wurman's emotional score is magically weaved within the rich soulful voice of Morgan Freeman, narrator of the film.

Customer Reviews

Music to March with :)
I love this music, especially when I can visualize the movie that it accompanied. This is music to soothe one and to make one smile at the the same time. I highly reccomend this recording and the movie as well.

Moving and Uplifting
After having seen the "March of the Penguins" movie, I just had to have this CD! The music enhanced the movie production making it such a wonderful documentary. Each track displays an array of emotion: from peaceful to whimsical to even tear-jerking. Just relax, listen and envision the emperor penguins making their way through the dry arctic lands. What a find! And what an orchestra!

excellent
this was an execellent movie. And the soundtrack is wonderful also. I listen to it every day.