Henry Mancini - The Thorn Birds (Original Television Soundtrack / Deluxe Encore Edition) (2025)

The Thorn Birds [Original TV Soundtrack] Review by Jason Ankeny

For reasons unknown, it took over two decades for Henry Mancini's score for the smash 1983 television miniseries The Thorn Birds to earn an official soundtrack release, but Varèse Sarabande's lavish two-disc release proves worth the wait. Nor has time dimmed The Thorn Birds' power -- this deeply romantic, intimate score remains one of Mancini's most stirring, rivaling the composer's most legendary big-screen efforts. Mancini eschews epic drama in favor of smaller-scale nuance, evoking the doomed romance of novelist Colleen McCullough's tale in finely honed strokes. The music is elegant yet understated, rich in variety but amounting to something far greater than the sum of its disparate elements.

Tracklist:
1-1 Henry Mancini - The Thorn Birds Theme: Main Title [4:19]
1-2 Henry Mancini - Go! [1:16]
1-3 Henry Mancini - Drogheda [1:37]
1-4 Henry Mancini - Young Meggie [1:31]
1-5 Henry Mancini - Ralph, Meggie and Mary [2:25]
1-6 Henry Mancini - Stuie Grows Up [1:29]
1-7 Henry Mancini - Paddy and Fiona [2:47]
1-8 Henry Mancini - Passion Play [3:23]
1-9 Henry Mancini - The Story of the Thorn Birds [2:16]
1-10 Henry Mancini - Meggie Grows Up [1:33]
1-11 Henry Mancini - Baby Hal Dies [3:05]
1-12 Henry Mancini - The Rams and the Ewes [2:06]
1-13 Henry Mancini - Parting [1:54]
1-14 Henry Mancini - The Thorn Birds Theme [2:36]
1-15 Henry Mancini - Fire On Drogheda [2:44]
1-16 Henry Mancini - Search for Paddy [3:08]
1-17 Henry Mancini - Father Ralph Returns and Funeral Procession [2:41]
1-18 Henry Mancini - Meggie's Heartbreak [4:03]
1-19 Henry Mancini - It's Shearing You're Hearing [4:18]
1-20 Henry Mancini - Luke and Meggie [2:33]
1-21 Henry Mancini - Marry Me, Meggin [2:19]
1-22 Henry Mancini - Arrival at the Vatican [2:04]
1-23 Henry Mancini - The Announcement [0:50]
1-24 Henry Mancini - Meggie Leaves Drogheda [1:21]
1-25 Henry Mancini - Arrival at Queensland [2:12]
1-26 Henry Mancini - Beginning of the End [2:28]
1-27 Henry Mancini - Welcome to Himmelhock [1:52]
1-28 Henry Mancini - New Kid in Town [1:22]
1-29 Henry Mancini - Matlock Island [3:24]
1-30 Henry Mancini - Beach Walk [2:30]
1-31 Henry Mancini - Forbidden Love [1:39]
1-32 Henry Mancini - Ralph and Meggie [1:57]
1-33 Henry Mancini - Paradise Lost [3:11]
1-34 Henry Mancini - Vacation's End [3:30]
1-35 Henry Mancini - Meggie Leaves the Himmelhocks [1:44]
1-36 Henry Mancini - Meggie Goes Home [2:46]
1-37 Henry Mancini - Photographs [2:17]
1-38 Henry Mancini - Together [1:11]
1-39 Henry Mancini - Good-bye, Dane [2:06]
1-40 Henry Mancini - Justine Visits Drogheda [1:30]
1-41 Henry Mancini - The Greek Tragedy [1:35]
1-42 Henry Mancini - Bye Bye Dane [1:46]
1-43 Henry Mancini - Loss of a Son [2:54]
1-44 Henry Mancini - Meggie Reveals the Truth [5:07]
1-45 Henry Mancini - Be Happy [5:12]
1-46 Henry Mancini - Ralph Dies [3:37]
1-47 Henry Mancini - End Title [0:45]
1-48 Henry Mancini - Anywhere the Heart Goes [2:29]