Review: Twilight - the Score, Piano Sheet Music with Bella's Lullaby

The 32 page piano solo book includes the following songs from the Motion Picture Twilight:

Who Are They?

Phascination Phase

I Dreamt of Edward

The Lion Fell In Love With The Lamb

Dinner With His Family

I Would Be The Meal

Bella's Lullaby

Stuck Here Like Mom

Tracking

In Place Of Someone You Love

Edward At Her Bed

I have recently become an addict of the Twilight series, written by Stephenie Meyer. After hearing the piano music for the movie Twilight had finally been published, I was so excited and quickly ordered it online. When my copy of Twilight - The Score arrived in the mail I couldn't wait to enter the Twilight world through my piano.

But to be honest, the first time I played the songs I was disappointed. Much of the music seemed like mood music, not something I would want to play over and over again or perform for others. There is a lot of dissonance in the songs, and many times I couldn't figure out what key the song was written in.

I figured I would at least love Bella's Lullaby. That would make the $14.99 price of the book seem worth it. But sadly, I didn't even care for this version of Bella's Lullaby. I was expecting a flowing love song, but the block chords in the left hand seemed to make the song seem too stiff.

Since I knew I wanted to write a review of the piano music I figured it was only fair that I give the music another chance. So I played through the songs multiple times. And lo and behold the music started to grow on me. I even found myself humming the songs while in the grocery store.

I'll admit that my memory of the songs from the movie Twilight had started to fade. To refresh my memory I listened to the tracks from the Twilight - The Score CD to see how close the piano music matched the CD.

And that's when I fell in love with the music. I quickly slipped back into the Twilight world as I played the hauntingly beautiful music on the piano along with the CD. I suddenly felt like I had become a part of the movie as the orchestra filled my room with all of the emotions and tension that I had experienced while watching the movie. I doubt I will ever want to play the music as a piano solo now that I know what an emotional experience it is to play along with the CD.

The level of difficulty for Twilight - The Score is probably around a level 3B to Intermediate level. There are many ledger line notes, and some tricky rhythms. But most of the melodies are surprisingly simple. The key signatures are easy to play except "Who Are They?" which has five sharps on the third page.

Be aware that most of the songs in this book require more than an octave stretch in the left hand. It is also very common for the right hand to play an octave stretch. If you have a small hand you will either have to roll the chords or leave some of the notes out.

I did find one error in the music while playing along with the recording. On Bella's Lullaby, in the 1^st ending, the third beat should have two Es in the right hand, not a G and E.

I was disappointed that the piano book didn't include photos from the movie. It does, however, have a nice photo on the cover of Bella, Edward, Alice, Jasper, Emmett, Rosalie, Carlisle, Esme, Laurent, Victoria and James.

Overall I would recommend Twilight - The Score to Twilight fans. Be sure to take some time to get used to the music before passing any judgment. For the ultimate playing experience try playing along with the Twilight - The Score CD.

To hear tracks from the Twilight - The Score CD click here to go to Carter Burwell's home page.