Out of Africa

Original Soundtrack

LP: MCA Records MCA 6158
CD: MCA Records MCAD 6158
CD (Ultimate Masterdisc): MCA Records MCAD-11311

1. Main Title (I had a Farm in Africa)
2. I'm Better at Hello (Karen's Theme)
3. Have You Got a Story for Me?
4. Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra in A (K.622)
5. Safari
6. Karen's Journey / Siyawe (African traditional)
7. Flying over Africa
8. I Had a Compass from Denys (Karen's Theme II)
9. Alone on the Farm
10. Let the Rest of the World Go By
11. If I Know a Song of Africa (Karen's Theme III)
12. End Title (You are Karen)

Re-recording

CD: Varese Serabande VSD-5816

1. I Had A Farm (Main title)
2. Alone On The Farm
3. Karen And Denys
4. Have You Got A Story For Me
5. I'm Better At Hello
6. Mozart: Clarinet Concerto in A major, K622
7. Karen's Journey Starts
8. Karen's Journey Ends
9. Karen's Return From Border
10. Karen Builds A School
11. Harvest
12. Safari
13. Flight Over Africa
14. Beach At Night
15. You'll Keep Me Then
16. If I Knew A Song Of Africa
17. You Are Karen M'Sabu
18. Out of Africa (End Credits)

The Movie

Never saw it (yeah, I know...) So compliments of the Internet Movie Database:

A study of the life of Danish noblewoman and storyteller Karen ('Isak') Dinesen Blixen, from her marriage and departure for Kenya in 1913 until her return to Denmark in 1931. As she struggles to maintain a coffee farm through various struggles and disasters, and strives to improve relations with the local natives, her marriage of convenience to a titled aristocrat gradually gives way to an enduring romance with the noted hunter and adventurer Denys Finch Hatton.

The Music

The movie was a huge hit, Barry won his 3^rd Oscar for best original score, beating out Georges Delerue's Agnes of God, The Color Purple (various artists), Bruce Broughton's Silverado and Maurice Jarre's Witness. The music, most notably "Flying Over Africa" is so famous there's little I can say here. Not bad, considering Barry only wrote about 30 minutes of music for the film.

Release Notes

This one irritates me because the title is over-done. The original LP came out with the movie and, of course, was huge, having won an Oscar, a Golden Globe, and the BMI Film Music Award for that year. The CD came out later and had the same music as the LP. Okay, fine.

Then they came out with an "Ultimate Masterdisc" edition, which had no new music but was supposedly higher quality. Okay--fine.

But then Silva, a label that I normally like and respect, decided their American release of The Classic John Barry should be named Out of Africa: The Classic John Barry. And then Joel McNeely re-recorded the score with additional music and put it out as Out of Africa for Varese. So now there are at least four CDs floating around, three of which are unique.

Yeah--I like the Out of Africa score. But enough is enough.