The Changeling
Theme music (the music-box theme) for the feature film starring George C.Scott. Director Peter Medak
A concert pianist (George C.Scott) moves into a haunted house and becomes obsessed with an old music box tune, which he begins to play on the piano. Howard wrote and recorded this theme for the film, first on celeste (like a music box) and then as a complete concert piano work. It was director Peter Medak’s intention for Howard to write the entire score but it went to Kenn Wannberg and Rick Wilkins in Canada. The film was directed by Peter Medak and produced by Joel Michaels in Vancouver
Howard recorded his own concert version of the ‘Music Box’ theme at Advision in London but this version was not used in the film where it was re-recorded by another pianist .
Due to this the rights for the piece were retained by Howard Blake and some years later (1996) he included it in his piano collection ‘Lifecycle’ (op.489), beautifully recorded in 2003 by pianist William Chen on ABC Classics. See opus 489
Recordings
