Serenada Schizophrana

Serenada Schizophrana

Danny Elfman’s Serenada Schizophrana conjures precisely the sort of fantastical aural world you’d expect from the composer—he is, after all, the guy Tim Burton rings up when he needs a soundtrack. In this case, however, it was the American Composers Orchestra that commissioned the six-movement work from the largely self-taught composer. (This recording, however, is… Read more »

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NewMusicBox Staff

Danny Elfman’s Serenada Schizophrana conjures precisely the sort of fantastical aural world you’d expect from the composer—he is, after all, the guy Tim Burton rings up when he needs a soundtrack. In this case, however, it was the American Composers Orchestra that commissioned the six-movement work from the largely self-taught composer. (This recording, however, is not the orchestra’s 2005 premiere performance, but a new recording made with a studio pick up group on the West Coast.) The piece, scored for a full orchestra, electronics, two pianos, and female choir, is windingly cinematic, but “I Forget” seems to most directly contain the souls of some of Burton’s extraordinary characters. If you’ve taken the kids to the movie theater recently, you may have already heard some of the music without realizing it—Serenada Schizophrana has also been excerpted and adapted to serve as the soundtrack to the IMAX short film Deep Sea 3D.

—MS