HBO's lavish, sprawling John Adams epic was given vital emotional wallop by the soundtrack. Two composers created music which was needed to convey the fervor of a newly emerging nation, and the quiet moments of a proud man who lived a long life shot through with sadness--losing his first a child, and then later, in his twilight years, his beloved wife Abigail. The orchestral sweep is clearly of the Twentieth Century, undulating like American landscapes. However both Rob Lane and Joseph Vitarelli are adept at drawing on our shared cultural sensibilities. They evoke the period of the Revolutionary War without stilted mannerisms. While the script, actors and the director portray history, the soundtrack resonates emotionally with the modern world. --David Greenberger

Starring Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney, executive produced by Playtone's Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman, and directed by Emmy®-winner Tom Hooper, JOHN ADAMS is a seven-part epic miniseries event that explores American history through the eyes of one of the greatest of the founding fathers, John Adams (Giamatti), a fiercely independent spirit whose unwavering vision steered America through a tumultuous period.

Based on David McCullough's Pulitzer Prize-winning biography, the miniseries is produced for HBO Films by Playtone.

If you enjoyed the music on this series you will certainly enjoy the cd. Each piece is titled pursuant to the scene for which it was written, as is common for soundtrack music made into stand-alone compositions, but you do not have to relate the pieces to the segment in the television program to enjoy them. They stand on their own as modern stylized versions of early american music. Good technical quality.

Rob Lane and Joseph Vitarelli have not only written a reflective and shimmering work of music. They have provided a textbook example of how to write film music.

The thirty tracks of this HBO Series soundtrack strike notes that are alternately noble, daring, pensive, and troubled. All of it is stirring in the way that one's soul is moved in proximity to great literature or the finest musical art. Yet, as is the nature of the case with a genre of music meant to frame a visual depiction rather than to publish its own grandeur, most viewers of JOHN ADAMS will fail to realize the degree to which the series' success has depended upon Lane's and Vitarelli's work in the shadows.

The Hollywood Studio Symphony performs its 20th/21st century score with the panache of a great ensemble. The score references rather than revolves around period sounds from the American Revolution. Its gestures are knowing, sophisticated and nuanced. They successfully anchor the sound of this film series at a point more than two centuries ago, then develop it according to the aural canons of our own day.

The result is not less than stunning. The score never turns mawkish, yet connects with the deepest emotions. I hope the next generation of film music writers learn their craft by listening over and over, as I will, to Lane's and Vitarelli's JOHN ADAMS.

I bought this CD strickly for the opening score for the beginning of the series. It just puts goosebumps on me. I play it over and over on my car's CD player.

I watched a few of these episodes on HBO and couldn't get the theme song out of my head so I bought the soundtrack. Great ambient music, especially during patriotic events (eg. 4th of July, elections, etc.). Best tracks are 1, 2, and 5.

After watching the excellent miniseries JOHN ADAMS on DVD, I knew I had to purchase the soundtrack. Rob Lane and Joseph Vitarelli have crafted a musical score for the film that packs the emotional power that was so much a part of David McCullough's book. From the patriotic "Opening Titles," a martial piece that somehow manages to convey that the drama it introduces is one of flesh and blood human beings, not wooden soldiers led by marble statues, to the soulful "Farewell to Adams," played in the film as John Adams and Thomas Jefferson lay dying on the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the music proves itself as important a part of the overall quality of the film as the fine performances of the cast. Also notable are "John Says Goodbye" and "The Villa," which evoke the music of the period. I often listen to this disc in my workshop, which is perhaps the highest compliment I can pay to any piece of music.