Miklós Rózsa’s penultimate film score comes to a comprehensive two-disc Deluxe Edition featuring both the film recording (previously unreleased) and album version.

Eye of the Needle was a WWII thriller based on a 1978 novel by Ken Follett, starring Donald Sutherland as a Nazi spy living in England. Stranded on a Scottish island while trying to return to Germany with vital war information, he starts a torrid romance with the unhappy and lonely wife (Kate Nelligan) of the local shepherd. Richard Marquand’s direction so impressed George Lucas that it won him the job of directing Return of the Jedi.

By the early 1980s, Miklós Rózsa was the only major Golden Age composer still alive and laudably writing the same kind of timeless symphonic score that made him a Hollywood institution. His grand, sweeping music for Eye of the Needle is unabashedly romantic—vintage Rózsa—at turns suspenseful and brooding, pastoral and uplifting. It magnificently connects the film to its period while enhancing the emotion and drama.

Rózsa recorded his music for Eye of the Needle twice: first for the film, with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London, and then in an album version with the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra in Germany. While the 13-track, 42-minute album (on disc two) has been released by Varèse Sarabande, this is the premiere release of the 23-track, 61-minute film version (on disc one)—making for the ultimate Eye of the Needle release, with new liner notes by Rózsa expert Frank K. DeWald.

Disc One: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Performed by The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
01. Prelude From Eye Of The Needle 1:57
02. English Wedding (Film Version) 1:27
03. The Boarding House / The Needle Strikes 1:30
04. Storm Island / The Blond Agent 2:21
05. The Bedroom 2:02
06. Blondie’s End / The Needle 3:18
07. Camouflage / Pursuit 4:28
08. Search On The Train / Confrontation 2:49
09. Escape / The Boat 2:24
10. The Meeting 1:14
11. Love Scene / No Regrets 2:37
12. Heartbreak / The Transmitter 1:49
13. The Fight (Film Version) 2:46
14. Passion (Film Version) 1:43
15. Frantic Drive (Film Version) 1:09
16. Despair / Realization 3:26
17. The Broken Heart / Revulsion (Film Version) 3:11
18. Escape (Film Version) 6:00
19. The Gun 1:20
20. The Axe / The Firebomb 2:28
21. The Hostage / The Lamp (Film Version) 3:18
22. Retribution (Film Version) 4:18
23. Finale / Epilogue From Eye Of The Needle 2:58

Disc Two: The Original Motion Picture Score (Album Recording)
Performed by The Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra
01. Prelude From Eye Of The Needle 2:13
02. English Wedding 1:56
03. The Blond Agent / Blondie’s Death 2:54
04. Camouflage 3:08
05. Love Scene 1:56
06. The Fight 3:06
07. Passion / Love Theme 4:28
08. Frantic Drive / Despair 3:05
09. The Broken Heart / Revulsion 2:54
10. Escape 4:33
11. The Hostage / The Lamp 3:21
12. Retribution 4:40
13. Finale / Epilogue From Eye Of The Needle 3:19