Definition
Salt (soundtrack) is the official musical score album for the 2010 American action‑thriller film Salt, directed by Phillip Noyce and starring Angelina Jolie. The score was composed, orchestrated, and conducted by James Newton Howard and released in October 2010.
Overview
The soundtrack was issued by Varèse Sarabande in both physical (CD) and digital formats. It comprises instrumental pieces that underscore the film’s espionage‑driven narrative, featuring a blend of orchestral strings, brass, percussive elements, and electronic textures. The album was recorded at the Newman Scoring Stage at 20th Century Fox Studios in Los Angeles. The music received generally positive reviews for its tension‑building motifs and for complementing the film’s fast‑paced action sequences.
Etymology/Origin
The title of the soundtrack directly derives from the film’s title, Salt, which refers to the codename of the protagonist, CIA officer Evelyn Salt. As a common practice in film music, the soundtrack adopts the same name to identify its association with the motion picture.
Characteristics
- Composer: James Newton Howard, a prolific film composer known for scores such as The Dark Knight (co‑composed) and The Sixth Sense.
- Musical Style: A hybrid of traditional orchestral scoring and contemporary electronic programming, designed to evoke suspense, urgency, and covert operations.
- Instrumentation: Large symphonic orchestra (strings, woodwinds, brass, percussion) combined with synth pads, processed guitar, and digital percussive loops.
- Themes: Recurring leitmotifs associated with the protagonist’s internal conflict and the film’s espionage elements, often presented in minor tonalities with rhythmic ostinato patterns.
- Track Listing (selected): The album includes tracks such as “Salt Theme,” “The CIA,” “Kidnapped,” “The Chase,” and “Final Confrontation.” (The full track listing comprises approximately 20 pieces.)
Related Topics
- Salt (2010 film) – the motion picture for which the score was composed.
- James Newton Howard – American composer and orchestrator of numerous film scores.
- Film soundtrack – the broader field of music created specifically for cinema.
- Varèse Sarabande – record label specializing in film and television soundtracks.
- Action‑thriller film music – genre‑specific conventions in scoring contemporary action movies.