Maya: Maya was a television series, filmed entirely on location in India. The series was based on the feature film of the same name and was about an English boy in search of his lost father and his friend and Indian lad who with his elephant, Maya, is fugitive from the law. Slater provided a colourful score that evoked crowded streets, beast-infested jungles, mysterious matters, nostalgic interludes and chase sequences. The music for Maya, herself, is pensive and sad. Of the other 18 tracks, I will mention only the most impressive. 'Maya Goes on an Expedition' is very colourful if a little clichéd. 'Crowded Bazaar' is another very colourful and vibrant cue full of the atmosphere of it s locale - it may sound a bit more Arabic than Indian though. 'Jungle' is a sultry evocation where you sense danger lurks round every corner, the orchestrations are particularly colourful and effective. 'A Tiger Hunt' has driving rhythms and great excitement. 'Ferocious animals' is just that - frightening and sinister. Low woodwinds and bleating trombones combine to present a comic and very persuasive evocation of 'Maya's Mud Bath.' The End Titles have a Romantic nostalgia and the majesty and sweep that is hard to resist. Its telling you it's the end of the show but you don't want it to end. A well put together suite with the musicians totally committed to this lovely evocative music. Horror Rhapsody: What memories of my early cinema (theater) visits this evocative Rhapsody brings back! This is a wonderful homage to all those ghouls and monster movies that Universal released in the late 1930s and '40s. These movies now have a cult following and their success is due in no short measure to Salter's music. His horror figures: pounding but characterful percussion, wailing woodwinds and screeching strings - all appropriate to the characters and settings of each film - have all passed into the musical language of the genre. Laced with the horror motifs he creates for the ghouls and monsters, Salter allows a modicum of sympathy for them understanding they are the creation of more evil human minds. There is also tenderness for his ladies in distress and some slapstick relief for the comic elements. Salter is also a master of atmosphere and location whether it is a fog-bound London street, a laboratory lit by lightning flashes as some diabolical experiment is taking place, or moonlight filtering through graveyards, or shadows moving across tombs of ancient Egypt. The Rhapsody has many delights including the mysterious 'Chorus of the Egyptian Priests' from The Mummy's Hand and there is a sly reference to Dukas's The Sorcerer's Apprentice - from, I think, Son of Frankenstein. These scores may now be museum pieces but I submit that Salter's music is every bit as imaginative and persuasive, and more so than many a modern score in this genre. Take the way he manages to put the frigheners up the audience with his sudden high brass screaming/screeching. I would suggest that young composers throw away their synth boards and listen intently to Salter. Maya Reviewer "Zara" Horror Rhapsody Reviewer Ian Lace	Maya Reviewer "Zara" Horror Rhapsody Reviewer Ian Lace Reviews from previous months Reviews carry sales links but you can also purchase from:
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