Serenada Schizophrana Danny Elfman

• 1 I. Pianos 07:00
• 2 II. Blue Strings 10:08
• 3 III. A Brass Thing 07:55
• 4 IV. The Quadruped Patrol 02:55
• 5 V. I Forget 06:22
• 6 VI. Bells and Whistles 08:07
• 7 End Tag 00:49
• 8 Improv for Alto Sax 02:56
• Total Runtime 46:12

Info for Serenada Schizophrana

Serenada Schizophrana is Grammy Award-winning composer Danny Elfman's highly anticipated symphonic debut. Best known for his music for over 100 films and TV series including Batman, Spiderman, Beetle Juice, and 'The Simpson', Serenada Schizophrana breaks new ground for this prolific composer.

Adding another facet to an already brilliant life in music, Danny Elfman steps out from his career-defining roll as a Grammy Award-winning, Oscar-nominated composer of original music for film and television with the release of Serenada Schizophrana, his first orchestral composition written specifically for the concert hall.

The world premiere of Serenada Schizophrana at Carnegie Hall on February 23, 2005 drew ecstatic reviews across the board from both classical music and pop culture critics. It subsequently received worldwide exposure as the featured music in the soundtrack to the IMAX film 'Deep Sea 3D' which was narrated by Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet. The Sony Classical recording is conducted by John Mauceri, best known for his sixteen years as conductor of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra.

As the New York Times put it when Danny Elfman’s Serenada Schizophrana was performed live at Carnegie Hall in February 2005: 'Better good Hollywood music than second-rate Brahms.' Elfman, better known for his soundtracks to Tim Burton movies, had been commissioned by the American Composers Orchestra to write a concert work, and the Serenada Schizophrana in six movements was the result. It appears here under the baton of John Mauceri, known for his crossover work with Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. Fans of Elfman’s soundtracks won’t be disappointed—or even very much surprised—by this venture into the concert hall. The composer’s style remains very much the same, probably because his habitual orchestrator, Steve Bartek (whose contribution is crucial to Elfman’s sound), worked on four movements, with Edgardo Simone handling the remaining two. Blending Bernard Herrmann, Duke Ellington, Max Steiner, and especially JG Thirlwell (a.k.a. big-band industrialist Foetus), Elfman has come up with an audience-friendly piece that actually sounds more convincing than similarly high-reaching works by Paul McCartney or Elvis Costello. (Elisabeth Vincentelli)

ACO Singers
American Composers Orchestra
John Mauceri, conductor

Recorded at The Newman Scoring Stage at Fox Studios
Mixed at The Eastwood Scoring Stage at Warner Bros
Mastered at Bernie Grundman Mastering

Danny Elfman
was born in 1953 in Los Angeles, California, where he currently resides. Over the last 20 years, he has established himself as one of Hollywood's leading film composers. Elfman has written close to 50 film scores featuring his unique sound, including Batman, Spider-man, Men in Black, Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Pee Wee’s Big Adventure. In addition to these signature soundtracks, he has scored such diverse films as Big Fish, Good Will Hunting, Dolores Claiborne, Midnight Run, To Die For, Dead Presidents, Sommersby, and Chicago. For television, Elfman created the infectious themes to The Simpsons and Desperate Housewives. His honors include a Grammy and three Academy Award nominations.

Elfman's first experience in performance and composition was for a French theatrical troupe "Le Grand Magic Circus" at the age of 18. The following year, he collaborated with his brother Richard performing musical theater on the streets of California. Elfman then worked with a “surrealistic musical cabaret” for six years, using this outlet to explore multifarious musical genres. For 17 years he wrote and performed with his rock band Oingo Boingo, producing such hits as "Weird Science" and "Dead Man's Party."

In 2005, Elfman worked with longtime collaborator Tim Burton on the films Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the stop-motion animated musical Corpse Bride. Other recent projects include the scores for the Disney CGI animated feature A Day in the Life of Wilbur Robinson and Paramount’s adaptation of Charlotte’s Web.

Elfman is self-taught and has had no formal musical training. Serenada Schizophrana is his first orchestral composition written specifically for the concert hall. As the featured music in the soundtrack to the IMAX film Deep Sea 3D, conducted by John Mauceri and narrated by Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet, it is receiving worldwide exposure.

Booklet for Serenada Schizophrana