MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


CD REVIEW

Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger


alternatively Crotchet   AmazonUK   AmazonUS

Bernard HERRMANN (1911–1975) and Alfred NEWMAN (1900-1970)
The Egyptian (1954) (Restored and reconstructed by John Morgan) [71:31]
Moscow Symphony Orchestra and Choir/William Stromberg
rec. March and April 1998, Mosfilm Studio, Moscow. DDD
re-issue of Marco Polo 8.225078
NAXOS 8.557702 [71:31]






It was Alfred Newman who brought the American musical vernacular into the cinema, and Bernard Herrmann who brought a new idea of how to use the orchestra in film scoring – and how to record it. Between them, in their own ways, they set about moving music for film away from the predominantly late-romantic European scores the émigré composers, who had come to Hollywood in the 1930s, were writing. They were dragging the film score, kicking and screaming, into the modern age.

Newman and Herrmann shared a friendship which endured through the years – no easy thing considering Herrmann’s outspokenness and general irascibility. John Williams has said that "Friendship is a difficult word to use with Benny, because there were always adversarial aspects in every Herrmann relationship. If they weren’t there he put them there." (Steven C Smith: A Heart at Fire’s Center (University of California Press, 1991). When Newman retired as head of music at 20th-Century Fox, Herrmann’s longest professional association came to an end, and he lost a valuable ally. Fred Steiner believes that Newman was responsible for Herrmann’s Hollywood career (after the first Orson Welles films). Alfred Newman was succeeded at Fox by his brother Lionel, who had an entirely different view of Herrmann, "…he couldn’t write a tune to save his ass.". One only has to think of the Scène d’Amour in Vertigo (1958) to see this as an incredibly wrong-headed assessment of the composer. Just listen to the gorgeous lines for the woodwind and strings in track 11 on this disk – Nefer-Nefer-Nefer – to hear one of Herrmann’s long unfolding melodies.

Alfred Newman was supposed to score The Egyptian alone but when the studio allowed only five weeks for composition he knew that it was an impossible task. Hearing of this, Herrmann suggested that they collaborate. After deciding who would score which section they met only twice during the period of composition but sent each other what they wrote so as to ensure a smooth transition from one composer’s style to the other. Herrmann wrote most of the music and on this disk there are 19 cues by Herrmann (mostly in the first half of the film) and 11 by Newman. Despite their trying to keep a similarity in style Herrmann’s fingerprints are all over his cues – there’s the low bass clarinets in unison, the menacing stopped horns and the long, almost endless, melodies - eat your heart out, Lionel Newman! Oddly, I heard several references to other Herrmann scores – there’s a moment from Marnie (1964), two reminders of Cape Fear (1962) (both yet to come) and a wonderful sonority straight out of Citizen Kane. I’ve never noticed anything like this in any of his other scores, but they are mere moments and shouldn’t be thought of as self-quotation. There’s also little concession to writing exotic music - some colourful percussion, and augmented intervals is all we get. Herrmann gives us a magnificent Danse Macabre (track 26) – 90 seconds of his most barbaric and frightening music.

Newman’s contribution is more sober and conventional, sometimes in the manner of his music for The Robe (1953) but also finding deep feeling and tenderness, as in Death of Akhnaton (track 28).

The booklet is, as usual with these Film Music Classics issues, excellent: Jack Smith gives detailed notes on each music track, and John Morgan explains bow he came to make his selection of 70 from the 100 minutes of music written for the film. The chorus and orchestra couldn’t be bettered and the recorded sound is rich and full, with a terrifically sumptuous bass. A most valuable addition to this series.

Bob Briggs


 


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 

Return to Review Index

Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.