Late in his career
Miklós Rózsa resolved
to arrange as choral suites, parts of
his scores for the trio of acclaimed
MGM biblical epics: Quo Vadis
(1951), Ben-Hur (1959) and King
of Kings (1961). He died before
he could complete the work and it was
left to friends, pupils and admirers
to bring the project to fruition. Among
them was the late and still very much
lamented Christopher Palmer who conceived
the Quo Vadis Suite included
here (compiled and transcribed by Julian
Kershaw and edited by Eric Kunzel and
Joseph D. Price). The Ben-Hur and
King of Kings suites were arranged
and reconstructed by Daniel Robbins.
Each of these arrangements is unobtrusively
faithful to Rózsa’s distinctive
style. The choral arrangements are particularly
fine and the over-saccharine sentimentality,
present in the MGM original soundtrack
recordings (especially in the case of
King of Kings) has been muted.
The result is an album of highlights
of the three scores that, for this reviewer
at any rate, now supersedes the original
soundtrack albums. It should of course
be noted that a number of the tracks
in all three suites are orchestral only.
The recorded sound
is magnificent, the Cincinnati Orchestra
shines and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir
realise Rózsa’s rapturous music
beautifully: the wordless women’s chorus
lovingly tender in Rozsa’s sublime Ben-Hur
and King of Kings nativity music,
and the full choir reverentially awesome
in the ‘Alleluia’ (Ben-Hur) and
‘The Lord’s Prayer’ (King of Kings).
It is interesting to
compare Rózsa’s muscular orchestral
writing for the might of Rome (all very
much in the spirit of similar movements
in Respighi’s three Roman tone poems).
From Ben-Hur there is the wonderfully
evocative crescendo ‘Rowing of the Galley
Slaves’ the mind’s eye so easily visualising
the cruelty of the Roman galley masters,
whips in hands, as they bully their
slaves into rowing ever faster. Then
there is the famous ‘Parade of the Charioteers’,
the music so vividly suggesting the
arrogance, pride and swagger of Rome.
The ‘Ave Caesar March’ from Quo Vadis
and ‘Roman Legions’ from King
of Kings both brilliantly evoke
the formidable unrelenting might of
the Roman legions. Rózsa’s colourful
ethnic writing is evidenced in ‘Assyrian
dance’ (Quo Vadis) and
Herod’s Feast (King of Kings),
both sinuous and sensuous, underlining
the films’ pagan elements
The Telarc booklet
notes are disappointing. Although there
is good coverage of the life and career
of Rózsa, and Kunzel and the
Mormon Tabernacle Choir, there is no
room left in its 12 pages for photographic
stills from the films nor track-by-track
analyses For we older fans such analyses
might be irrelevant, for I guess we
have become very familiar with them
through repeated viewings since we first
saw the films on their original theatrical
releases, but for younger people or
those unable to access TCM (Turner Classical
Movies) these analyses would have been
helpful.
Highly recommended.
Ian Lace
Mormon Tabernacle Choir/Craig Jessop 
