Marc Streitenfield

Prometheus Sony Classics ****

In his approach to scoring Ridley Scott's Prometheus, composer Marc Streitenfeld pays homage to Jerry Goldsmith's iconic Alien score while producing an elegant, unique soundtrack that recalls his own superb scores for, among others, Scott's Robin Hood and Body of Lies. Prometheus demonstrates Streitenfeld's talent for using spare thematic material to complex dramatic effect, and for creating dynamic and tense moods with propulsive rhythms, brooding electronica, angular found sounds (birdsong, mechanical noize), and dark instrumental colours (chomatic horns, strings, winds). More importantly for a sci-fi thriller with big ideas (cosmic origin of life, gods and the human species, y'all), Prometheus delivers serious and significant amounts of suspense, scares, strangeness, and solemnity – as well a sly nod to Goldsmith on Friend from the Past. weylandindustries.com

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