August Rush - Music

Music

• "Moondance"
  Written by Van Morrison, Performed by Jonathan Rhys Meyers
• "This Time"
  Written by Chris Trapper, Performed by Jonathan Rhys Meyers
• "Bari Improv"
  Written by Mark Mancina and Kaki King, Performed by Kaki King
• "Ritual Dance"
  Written by Michael Hedges, Performed by Kaki King
• "Raise It Up"
  Written by Impact Repertory Theatre, Performed by Jamia Simone Nash and Impact Repertory Theatre
  Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song
• "Dueling Guitars"
  Written by Heitor Pereira, Performed by Heitor Pereira and Doug Smith
• "Someday"
  Written and Performed by John Legend
• "August's Rhapsody"
  Written by Mark Mancina

The final number with Lyla and Louis begins with Lyla playing the Adagio-Moderato from Edward Elgar's Cello Concerto in E Minor.

Except for "Dueling Guitars", all of August's guitar pieces were played by American guitarist-composer Kaki King. King's hands are used in close-ups for August Rush.

Composer Mark Mancina spent over a year and a half composing the score of August Rush. "The heart of the story is how we respond and connect through music. It's about this young boy who believes that he's going to find his parents through his music. That's what drives him." The final theme of the movie was composed first. "That way I could take bits and pieces of the ending piece and relate it to the things that are happening in (August's) life. All of the themes are pieces of the puzzle, so at the end it means something because you've been subliminally hearing it throughout the film." The score was recorded at the Todd-AO Scoring Stage and the Eastwood Scoring Stage at Warner Brothers.