This short and unassuming disc turns out to be an unexpected delight. Those familiar with Cliff Eidelman’s work will know already that he is capable of writing eminently attractive film scores which benefit from his talent for penning likeable melodies and his assured grasp of orchestral colouring. Of course, Free Willy 3 is sentimental, of course it is sugary sweet in places, but Eidelman – like Basil Poledouris before him – has managed to endow his music with an unaffected charm that is heartwarming but not maudlin. Eidelman’s lyrical score draws upon the unpretentious appeal of folk music, with guitar, piano and breathy ethnic flutes enhancing the warm and expansive orchestration. A surprise is the wordless soprano of Francine Poitras, whose voice arises from within a crescendo of strings in “Awakening” to float ethereally above the orchestral textures. Elsewhere there is drama (“The hunt”), but it is Eidelman’s principal themes that make this score so unfailingly charming. Collectors will note that Basil Poledouris’s equally delightful original Free Willy theme (a sumptuous waltz) crops up uncredited in the penultimate track “A new family”. '