NOTES FROM THE COMPOSERONE NIGHT WITH THE KING is based on the biblical story of Esther, a Jewish girl who rises from obscurity to become the queen of ancient Persia, subsequently saving her people from extermination at the hands of a malicious and powerful enemy named Haman. The score has eight distinct themes, each attached to an important relationship in the story, all centering in Esther. Six of these themes appear in the End Credits, which I actually composed first as a kind of overture. It was also the first music recorded for the film, serving to introduce the musicians to the score’s musical vocabulary. In compiling this soundtrack, I selected a sequence of cues in story order so the listener might follow the tale as a wordless dramatic narrative.The principal theme, underscoring Esther’s relationship to her destiny, is first introduced with a solo violin in “A Single Act of Disobedience.” This storytelling cue also accompanies the flashbacks which reveal the historic reasons for Haman’s hatred of the Jews. Woven throughout the score in various orchestrations, Esther’s destiny theme is always used to pull her forward toward her purpose.Two other themes, however, look backward to Esther’s life before she feels the tug of destiny. Both appear in “A Beautiful Young Girl.” The first of these accents the marketplace sequences and later accompanies Esther’s relationship with her childhood sweetheart, Jesse, finally turning poignant as they must bid farewell in “I Can’t Leave.” The second, underlining Esther’s youthful innocence and winsome personality with solo woodwinds over pizzicato strings, is further developed in “The Story of Jacob.”As Esther’s heart turns toward the king, another theme emerges. Originally conceived as the waltz for strings heard in the End Credits, this theme is transformed and developed through several cues, finally climaxing in the heroic brass which plays as the king rescues Esther from Haman in “A Mockery.” The culmination of the courtship between Esther and the king is their wedding, which has its own theme, featured in “Kingdom of Love” and “I Saw the Stars” with Shani Rigsbee singing the Farsi lyrics of Paksima Zakipour.Ziba malake (Beautiful queen)Hamrahe shah (Accompanied by the king) Ba jaho jalaal (With dignity and glory) Ziba malake (Beautiful queen)Hamrahe shah (Accompanied by the king)Miyad az ruh (Walking down the path)There is, of course, a distinct theme for the villain, Haman, which is stated in the opening cue. As the complex interaction between the characters unfolds, Haman’s theme winds in and out of many scenes, heightening the tension with its serpentine dissonances. Mordechai, Esther’s kinsman and the focus of Haman’s hatred, provides a contrasting opportunity for a long-suffering and noble theme, which also represents the fate of the Jewish people. A triumphant version of Mordechai’s theme initiates the End Credits.Finally, a theme owing its language to the great Hollywood epics conveys the might and splendor of the Persian empire, as well as the abyss between Esther’s humble roots and the alien world into which she is inducted. This theme probably receives the most variation in the score, appearing first as a royal march in “The Emperor of the World,” and thereafter in the sumptuous romance of “The Plunder of the Empire,” the militant bravado of “War Games” and the dramatic tension of “Esther's Petition,” to mention only a few of its incarnations. The End Credits features it in its original setting.J.A.C. RedfordTheme List(In Order of Appearance)1. Esther’s Destiny - Tracks 1, 5, 7, 8, 14, 17, 20, 22, 252. Esther & Jesse - Tracks 2, 13, 253. Esther’s Character - Tracks 2, 10, 254. Haman - Tracks 3, 4, 16, 18, 21, 22, 235. Mordechai - Tracks 5, 7, 16, 18, 256. Persia - Tracks 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 21, 22, 25ONE NIGHT WITH THE KINGMusic composed by J.A.C. RedfordMusic Produced by the Stas Namin Center of MoscowFinance: Anna IsaevaArtistic Director: Natalia IvanovaProject Coordinator: Anna ErmolaevaProducer: Vitaly PanchenkoTHE MOSCOW SYMPHONY ORCHESTRAConducted by Konstantin KrimetsRecorded at the Grand Hall of Moscow Conservatory, Moscow, RussiaChief Sound Engineers: Dmitry Koptsov & Ruslana Oreshnikova Special Thanks Assistant to the Director: Viktor PanchenkoInspector of the Orchestra: Anton ShershnevAdministrator of the Orchestra: Elena ZabelloTechnical Production: Alexey PogarskiyRecording Equipment: Andrey Ivanov Violin Soloist: Roman Svirlov First Leading Violins:Roman Svirlov, Vladimir Semenikhin  Second Leading Violins:Vladimir Koltsov, Leonid Melnikov Leading Violas:Segrey Shamov, Boris Palchuk Leading Celli:Valentin Semyannikov, Gennady Grechishnikov Leading Double Basses:Galina Belyakova, Eugeny Antonenko ACADEMY OF CHORAL ART MOSCOWConductor: Alexey PetrovVocalists:Asya Samrailova, Marina Chernyavskaya, Laslo Dolinsky, Nikita Pozdnyakov, Katya Dolinsky, Oleg Litskevich, Pavel Zebrov Ethnic Parts Recorded at the SNC StudioDirector: Igor KlimenkovDumbek, Persian DulcimerMark Pekarsky Ensemble of Percussion instrumentsSoloist: Dmitry Schelkin Assistants to the Composer:John Bisharat, Steve Gutheinz, Carl Johnson, Jason & Nolan Livesay Orchestration:Sergei Gavrilov, Mark Edward Lewis Additional Percussion:Bernie Herms Music Produced by Tom Newman Assistant Producer:Tom Winters Supervising Music Editor:Fred Paragano Production Supervisor:Eric Elwell Music Preparation & Editorial:Mat5t Music recorded and mixed by Fred Paragano Assistant Engineer:Travis Palmer Music mixed at Paragon Studios, Franklin, TNMusic Mastered by Douglass Fake at Intrada, Oakland, CA“Kingdom of Love”Music by J.A.C. RedfordLyrics by Paksima ZakipourPerformed by Shani RigsbeeDownload Album Produced by J.A.C. RedfordDownload Album Art Designed by Ronald SukSpecial Thanks to LeAnn Redford, Richard Cook at Gener8Xion, Douglass Fake at Intrada, Rhonda St. Romain at PDS MusicMotion Picture Artwork, Stills and Images © 2006 Hope, Direction and Encouragement Ministries, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.© & ℗ 2007 Gener8Xion Entertainment, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.