The Bourne Legacy: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack to the 2012 film The Bourne Legacy, which is the fourth installment in the series of films adapted from the Jason Bourne novels by Robert Ludlum and Eric Van Lustbader. The musical score is composed by James Newton Howard, becoming the first film in the series not to be composed by John Powell, who provided music for previous Bourne installments, due to his interest in scoring animated films.[1] The album was digitally released through Back Lot Music on August 7, 2012,[2] and a physical release by Varèse Sarabande on August 21, 2012.[3] The album featured a new version of Moby's "Extreme Ways"[4] subtitled with "Bourne's Legacy" released as a single on July 31.[5][6] The music received mixed critical response.
The soundtrack received mixed reviews, with Danny Graydon of Empire gave a mixed review saying "Howard efficiently maintains Bourne’s music, but doesn’t significantly progress it",[7] while Brad Kamminga of Film Score Reviews criticised it as "dull and unmemorable".[8] Edmund Meinerts of Tracksounds also wrote "For being basically competent and containing few outright unpleasant or unlistenable moments, The Bourne Legacy scrapes a five out of ten, but when one of the year’s dullest score albums comes from an action-packed thriller, you know something has gone wrong."[9]Filmtracks.com also gave a negative review, commenting "The score is competent in each of its parts, but it concentrates more on respecting its predecessors than taking the opportunity to explore potentially convincing new avenues with that basic sound."[10] James Southall of Movie Wave wrote "even those sections are reasonably elaborate in the way they’re constructed – it’s easy to tell how much effort has gone into it – but it just never quite all comes together and too much of it is just boring".[11]
In contrast, James Christopher Monger of AllMusic wrote "The resulting score for The Bourne Legacy is as relentlessly taut as it is atmospheric, expertly doling out layer after layer of chilly electronics, thundering kettle drums, and dissonant strings, before careening feet-first into the familiar opening strains of Moby's "Extreme Ways," which appears here in a slightly updated form".[12] Brent Simon of Screen International wrote "Nicely incorporating different percussive elements, Newton Howard’s score captures the film’s nervous energy".[13] Richard Propes of The Independent Critic commented "James Newton Howard's original music is fine, though a bit more cliche'd than one might expect from the acclaimed composer".[14]
Programming – Alex Kharlamov, Matt Ward, Rob Persaud, Stuart Thomas, Sven Faulconer
Recording – Shawn Murphy, Matt Ward, Erik Swanson, Larry Mah
Mixing – Shawn Murphy, Edward Cherney
Mastering – Patricia Sullivan
Score editor – Nic Ratner, Katherine Miller
Music editor – David Channing
Sound designer – Joe Trapanese, Mel Wesson, Clay Duncan
Music supervisor – Rachel Levy
Technician – Richard Grant
Music co-ordinator – Pamela Sollie
Copyist – JoAnn Kane Music Service
Scoring crew – Adam Michalak, Dante Reynolds, David Marquette, Greg Loskorn, Mark Eshelman
Executive producer – Tony Gilroy
Musical assistance – Christopher Wray
Music advisor – Sunna Wehrmeijer
Music librarian– Mark Graham
Executive in charge of music – Mike Knobloch
Music business affairs – Philip M. Cohen
Orchestra
Orchestra – The Hollywood Studio Symphony
Orchestration – Jeff Atmajian, John Ashton Thomas, Jon Kull, Pete Anthony
Orchestra leader and concertmaster – Belinda Broughton
Conductor – Blake Neely, Pete Anthony
Contractor – De Crescent Zimmitti Music Contracting
Instruments
Bass – Bruce Morgenthaler, Drew Dembowski, Ed Meares, Nico Abondolo, Oscar Hidalgo, Mike Valerio
Bassoon – Michael O'Donovan
Cello – Tony Cooke, Armen Ksajikian, Cecilia Tsan, Chris Ermacoff, Dane Little, David Speltz, Dennis Karmazyn, Giovanna Clayton, Paula Hochhalter, Steve Erdody, Tim Landauer, Andrew Shulman
Clarinet – Don Foster, Stuart Clark
Flute – Heather Clark, Geri Rotella
French Horn – Daniel Kelley, Dave Everson, Mark Adams, Phil Yao, Steve Becknell, Jim Thatcher
Guitar – Marc Bonilla, Michael Landau
Harp – Gayle Levant
Oboe – Lara Wickes
Percussion – Alan Estes, Brad Dutz, Brian Kilgore, M.B. Gordy, Bob Zimmitti
Piano – Randy Kerber
Timpani – Peter Limonick
Trombone – Andy Malloy, Bill Reichenbach, Steve Holtman, Bill Booth
Trumpet – Jon Lewis, Marissa Benedict, Malcolm McNab
