Jerry Goldsmith - Poltergeist (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2019)

Jerry Goldsmith’s soundtrack for Steven Spielberg’s Poltergeist formed a significant part of the 1982 film’s conceptual strength. Known for the intensity of his thematic exposition, Goldsmith designs the Poltergeist soundtrack to elaborately ground the film between the promise of suburban repose and the malevolent unknown.

Beginning in innocence with a classic rendition of the “Star-Spangled Banner,” the soundtrack parallels the film’s intrusion of angry ghosts into the California home of the film’s protagonists with dreadful strings and eerie keys. Goldsmith then switches to airier strings and an ethereal flute to denote the family’s fumbling after their daughter, Carol Anne, is abducted. Utilizing frenzied horn blasts and a sudden lapse into atonalism, the composer ominously signifies the emergence of the Beast. Goldsmith, seemingly effortless, concludes the frantic drama of “Escape From Suburbia” in stark contrast with the sweet and child-like tones of “Carol Anne’s Theme,” elegantly illustrating the dignity and range that his orchestral scores for horror modeled within the genre.

Tracklist:
01. Jerry Goldsmith - The Star Spangled Banner (Main Title)
02. Jerry Goldsmith - The Calling / The Neighborhood
03. Jerry Goldsmith - The Tree
04. Jerry Goldsmith - The Clown, They're Here, Broken Glass, The Hole & TV People
05. Jerry Goldsmith - Twisted Abduction
06. Jerry Goldsmith - Contacting The Other Side
07. Jerry Goldsmith - The Light
08. Jerry Goldsmith - Night Visitor / No Complaints
09. Jerry Goldsmith - It Knows What Scares You
10. Jerry Goldsmith - Rebirth
11. Jerry Goldsmith - Night Of The Beast
12. Jerry Goldsmith - Escape From Suburbia
13. Jerry Goldsmith - Carol Anne's Theme (End Title)