Omen, The - OST

The Omen (1976) was a smash success, starring Gregory Peck as an American ambassador who learns that his adopted son is, in fact, the Antichrist. With its grisly accidents befalling those who would stand in the boy’s path, cult of Satanic worshippers and protectors, and fascinating End Times mythology, the film captured the public’s imagination and led to a long-running franchise.

The Omen was a special project for Jerry Goldsmith: the only time he won an Oscar in his long career, for Best Original Score. He was also nominated for Best Original Song, for “Ave Satani”—his chilling “Black Mass” that inverted the Latin Mass into a dark, chilling paean to the Devil.

The score is one of Goldsmith’s best: not just the “Ave Satani” chants, but the way he incorporates them into his modernist, thrilling action music in tracks like “Killer’s Storm,” “The Demise of Mrs. Baylock” and “The Dog’s Attack.”

But Goldsmith was always attuned to the human warmth behind the chills and thrills—and the score features hopeful, loving moments for the ambassador’s family, including a song version of the love theme, “The Piper Dreams,” with lyrics and vocals by the composer’s wife, Carol.