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Masters and Commanders – music from seafaring film classics
Alfred NEWMAN (1901-1970) 1. Conquest from Captain from Castile [3:35]; Miklos ROZSA (1907-1995) 2. The Mayflower from Plymouth Adventure [3:56]; Klaus BADELT (b.1968) 3. The Medallion Calls [1:13]; 4. The Black Pearl [2:19]; 5. He’s a Pirate [1:16]; from Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl; Hans ZIMMER (b.1957) 6. Jack Sparrow [4:06]; 7. Hornpipe [1:22]; from Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest; Erich Wolfgang KORNGOLD (1897-1957) 8. Overture to Captain Blood [3:22]; Luigi BOCCHERINI (1743-1805) 9. Los Manolos (from La Musica Notturna delle Strade di Madrid) from Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World [3:27]; Elmer BERNSTEIN (1922-2004) 10. Prelude [3:17]; 11. Out to Sea [3:21]; from The Buccaneer; Franz WAXMAN (1906-1967) 12. Overture to Anne of the Indies [4:19]; Henry MANCINI (1924-1994) 13. Arctic Whale Hunt from The White Dawn [3:42]; KORNGOLD 14. Suite from The Sea Hawk [5:31]; Bronislau KAPER (1902-1983) 15. Main Title from Mutiny on the Bounty [2:07]; WAXMAN 16. Suite from Captains Courageous [5:37]; Morton GOULD (1913-1996) 17. Main Title ("The Ship") from Windjammer [3:04]; John DEBNEY (b.1956) 18. End Title from Cutthroat Island [5:08]
The Cincinnati Pops Orchestra/Erich Kunzel
TELARC CD-80682 [61:42]

For all lovers of film music and seafaring films in particular this is a must. It was Miklos Rozsa in his book "Double Life" who explained, as the title suggests, that he had a difficult job in persuading people that his mainstream classical music writing was serious and that he shouldn’t be "written off" as simply a writer of music for films who had nothing else to say. By this I don’t mean to say that composers of music for films alone shouldn’t be taken seriously either. It is clear that the discipline of writing music of specific lengths with tight deadlines and sometimes without even seeing the film first is a huge demand on the great skills such people have. Nor would I wish to suggest that their music cannot stand the test of time away from the films and down the years. It may not always be true but this disc is packed with music that will survive. The dedication of such composers is no less amazing – Rozsa spent no less that a year and a half researching for one film and long periods of time on all his film scores. One of Korngold’s film scores ran to no less that 90 minutes of music. This disc, which I hope is only one of a series - plenty more music for seafaring films out there - has some truly memorable music and all unmistakably connected with the sea. Those who are film music buffs will be pleased to note that the disc includes classic scores from Rozsa, Korngold (Captain Blood and The Sea Hawk), Bernstein, Waxman and Henry Mancini among others. Those who are perhaps new to such films but who have warmed to the antics of Johnny Depp (aka Captain Jack Sparrow) will be pleased to know the disc includes music from two of the series by different composers. The second, Hans Zimmer, has managed to weave a suggestion of Klaus Badelt’s music from the first film into his own to keep a continuity – clever! One message that comes from discs of film music is that films would lack the excitement they have if there was no music in them and that the general public is exposed to a genre of music many of them would not hear in their everyday life – so there’s educational value too! I loved this disc and anyone who loves films will too I’m sure. The music is well selected and beautifully played by a committed orchestra under a conductor who is equally enthusiastic about the film music genre.

Steve Arloff

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