Carter Burwell’s Score For Todd Haynes’ ‘Mildred Pierce’ Gets An Official Release

Sure, we’ll be happy to agree to disagree with people on most movies, but we honestly just can’t vibe with folks who didn’t dig Todd Haynes‘ “Mildred Pierce.” It’s the kind of story and filmmaking that just isn’t being made at studios big or small. Haynes recently told IndieWire’s Eric Kohn, “…not that material in ‘Mildred’ would be too racy or challenging for the indie film world, but just that it’s increasingly harder to find financing these days for serious dramas, domestic stories, female-driven narratives—everything we already know. The recent record profits of studio productions one would hope would have the effect of broadening, not narrowing, the possibilities—since they can afford it—but, unfortunately, it’s having the reverse effect, and that anxiety impacts independent financing as well.” So we hope people voted with their television and tuned in. There is a lot to love in Haynes film, from the sumptuous period detail to the ace acting across the board from Kate Winslet, Guy Pearce, Evan Rachel Wood, Melissa Leo and Mare Winningham, so it’s probably no surprise that the series’ film score is aces too. And it’s getting an official release.

Composed by Carter Burwell, he doesn’t do anything too different than his usual work — in fact, we definitely heard shades of “Where The Wild Things Are” in here — but it doesn’t make it any less excellent. In fact, the theme for the opening titles is easily one of our favorite pieces of score music so far this year. The rest of the disc is rounded by opera tunes sung by Veda in later stages of the series as well some great big band and jazz songs selected by music supervisor Randall Poster (though the set is missing some key songs as well including “The Way You Look Tonight”; we would imagine licensing for these tunes was pretty complicated which is why they were in the show and not on the final soundtrack).

Anyway, you can snap this all up when the “Mildred Pierce” soundtrack streets on May 3rd. Why it’s arriving a month after the series has aired is beyond us. Full tracklist below. [Film Music Reporter]

“Mildred Pierce” Soundtrack Tracklisting

1. Mildred Pierce Opening Titles (1:41)
2. Milenberg Joys Performed by Glen Grey and The Casa Loma Orchestra (2:54)
3. Hungry And Harried (3:46)
4. Position Filled (2:38)
5. I’m Always Chasing Rainbows Performed by Hal Kemp and The Carolina Club Orchestra (3:15)
6. Mounting Monty (2:28)
7. Self Assessment (1:40)
8. Chopin: Fantaisie-Impromptu in C-sharp minor Performed by Robin Freund-Epstein (5:07)
9. Ray Dies (3:00)
10. Mildred Pierce End Titles (1:54)
11. One More Time Performed by Vince Giordano and The Nighthawks (2:53)
12. Moving On (2:22)
13. Mildred’s Escape (3:02)
14. Rachmaninoff: Prelude Performed by Robin Freund-Epstein (1:41)
15. Away From You (3:55)
16. Delibes: The Bell Song from “Lakmé”
Performed by Dilber and The Estonia Opera Orchestra, Conducted by Eri Klas (8:19)
17. Amongst Graves (1:35)
18. Easy To Love Performed by Vince Giordano and The Nighthawks (2:49)
19. Veda’s Window (3:05)
20. The Big Night (2:09)
21. Bellini: Qui La Voce from “I Puritani” Performed by English Chamber Opera with Sumi Jo (4:11)
22. Blindsided (3:43)
23. I’m Always Chasing Rainbows Performed by Sumi Jo (1:29)
24. My Reverie Performed by Vince Giordano and The Nighthawks (3:28)
25. I Don’t Need You Either (2:34)
26. To Hell With Her (2:15)
27. Brought Home (:46)