Album Notes

A Soundtrack without a movie...

Award-winning composer Gunnar Madsen was writing the music for a major video game, working with some of the giants of the gaming industry on a recreation of the Trojan War. In the final months of development, the production company went bankrupt, taking the uncompleted game with it. But the music - sweeping, moody, electrifying - was some of the most gorgeous work that Madsen had produced. He hated to let it go. So he decided that although there would be no video game, there would be a soundtrack CD.

This isn’t the first time Madsen has made lemonade from “lemony” situations. In 1997 he wrote and produced a collection of waltzes for chamber orchestra for a company that subsequently failed to issue the CD. Madsen then released the CD on his own label. “Spinning World: 13 Ways of Looking at a Waltz” has attracted thousands of fans worldwide, and has been featured in many episodes of HBO’s “Sex and the City,” in Paramount Pictures’ “Just a Kiss,” and on NPR’s “Morning Edition,” “All Things Considered,” and “This American Life.”

Madsen envisions similar success for “Fall of Troy.” The music is rich and emotional. In one long arc, from the elegaic prelude of “Spring, 1194 b.c.” to the tragic and powerful lament of “The Horse”, the music vividly evokes the eleven-year long Trojan War.

Recently Madsen scored big as composer and lyricist of “The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World,” which the New York Times called “Unsettling, disturbing, challenging, even a little awe-inspiring.” The show won the Ovation Award for Best World Premiere Musical, and Musical of the Year and Best Score from the LA Weekly and Backstage West. His work can be seen and heard in the Jennifer Aniston/Vince Vaughn film, “The Break Up” – for which he arranged music and appeared on screen as well. He has also become a children’s book author with “Old Mr. Mackle Hackle” (Little, Brown), an adaptation of his song and CD of the same name. Gunnar Madsen’s previous CD, released in 2001, was a whacked-out family CD called “Ants in My Pants!” which won the highest honors in the industry, including the coveted Parents’ Choice Gold Award. His latest CD, "I'm Growing", is another family-friendly offering that is garnering rave reviews and lots of airplay.

Madsen first achieved fame as founder, performer and songwriter for the legendary acapella group The Bobs. His extensive credits include compositions for film, theater, opera, dance and radio, and he has won dozens of major awards and honors, including a Grammy Nomination and the prestigious ASCAP Special Songwriter’s Award for ten consecutive years. Little-known fact: Madsen provided the vocals for the Sammy Davis, Jr. character in HBO’s Emmy Award-winning feature movie, The Rat Pack.