The
Film Music section of MusicWeb International ceased operation
some years ago. But we thought it would be a good idea to
revisit it to create just one annual special edition.
Former
critics of Film Music on the Web (FMOTW) have been
invited to contribute short reviews of three film music recordings
released in the previous year that impressed them the most.
I have allowed one reviewer more than three choices because
he has chosen films on current release, whereas most reviewers
have gone for more historic film scores; and I have chosen
to also give news of one special reissue.
It
is no surprise that leading composers of the genre like Erich
Wolfgang Korngold, Miklós Rózsa, Dimitri Tiomkin, Elmer Bernstein
and John Williams figure strongly in the lists which are in
alphabetical order of past FMOTW editors (Gary Dalkin, Ian
Lace and Michael McLennan) followed by other FMOTW reviewers.
You
will notice that four recordings drew two nominations each
suggesting that there should be a ‘Film Music on the Web
Film Score Recording of the Year’ (and, of necessity,
this has been according to my casting vote) – in actual fact
two have been deserving; one historic and one new 2008 score.
To discover what these are, please scroll down to the end
of the reviews.
Ian Lace
Founder Editor
Film Music on the Web
Gary Dalkin
Of all the notable film music releases
this year I have chosen three multi-disc sets which offer
both exceptional quality and quantity of music.
EL CID
Miklós Rózsa City of Prague Philharmonic
/ Nic Raine
TADLOWCD005 (three discs, including suite
from Double Indemnity)
[3 hrs 01 mins – plus 25 minutes video]
First is Tadlow Music’s three disc Special Collectors Edition of the
world premiere recording of the complete film score to El
Cid (1961), music composed by Miklós Rózsa. An original
soundtrack album exists, offering just 40 minutes of music,
and a controversial 1990s CD presented 70 minutes of the score
in a re-recording. This new three disc set presents the entire
score (149 minutes) on the first two discs in a spectacular
performance by the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and
Chorus. The third disc has eight bonus tracks (totalling 32
minutes): seven alternate cues, including a breathtaking choral
epilogue and a short suite from Rózsa’s score for Double
Indemnity, plus video footage and interviews from the
scoring sessions. The first two discs may eventually be given
an unlimited edition release, but this three disc edition
is well worth collecting for the remarkable for the alternative
‘The Legend and Epilogue’ with the song ‘The Falcon and the
Dove’. El Cid is a glorious Spanish and Arabic flavoured epic
score from one of the greatest composers to ever work in Hollywood.
It is one of Rózsa’s masterpieces, alongside Ben-Hur, Quo
Vadis, Spellbound and The Thief of Bagdad, and
is wonderfully well served by this definitive re-recording.
INDIANA JONES: THE SOUNDTRACKS
COLLECTION
John Williams
Concord Music CRE-31000-02 [5 hrs 52 mins]
A slipcase set
containing digipack versions of the soundtracks of Raiders
of the Lost Ark and its three successors, together with
a fifth disc offering interviews with John Williams, George
Lucas and Steven Spielberg, together with ten previously unreleased
tracks. The faults with this set have been debated ad-infinitum
on-line – the fact that the scores are still not complete
and that some of the cues have been transferred off-pitch
– but this is still overall far and away the best representation
of John Williams’ swashbuckling masterpieces. All four are
glorious throwbacks to the Golden Age of Hollywood, yet are
unmistakably Williams, a composer far more versatile and gifted
than all but the very best of those who inspired these works.
The real revelations here come in the scores for Temple
of Doom and The Last Crusade, with the veil over
the sound which made listening to the original CDs something
of a chore now removed to allow these this exhilarating music
to really shine. There is much more music too, with a total
of 12 previously unreleased cues from Temple of Doom
and 10 previously unreleased pieces from The Last Crusade,
as well as an expanded version of the music which opens that
film, ‘Indy’s Very First Adventure’. Those who have bought
previous versions of these albums may be aggravated by this
double dip but the improvement is so great and the price so
reasonable – the set may be found for around Ł22 on-line –
that many will consider it well worth the upgrade.
Gangs of New York / The Journey of
Natty Gann / The Scarlet Letter:
World Premiere Release of the Unused Scores
Elmer Bernstein
Varese Sarabande VCL0608 1076 [4 hrs 1 min]
A four CD set collecting three scores
composed by Elmer Bernstein but replaced by scores by other
composers in the released versions of the films. Whatever
the reason for the rejection of these scores, it was not lack
of musical quality. All carry unmistakable Bernstein hallmarks.
Gangs of New York in particular is vastly superior
to the hodgepodge which accompanied Scorsese’s much recut
would-be epic, a large scale and at times furious score. The
Journey of Natty Gann finds Bernstein in his familiar
Western idiom and is good work but the least essential of
the three. Dominating the set is the vast sweep (84 minutes)
of The Scarlet Letter. This is Bernstein at his very
best, delivering a wonderfully rich, poignant and romantic
score filled with fine melody and fatalistic melancholy. Ultimately
John Barry delivered a good replacement score, but whoever
felt such a thing necessary obviously did not recognise the
masterpiece they had already received. The Scarlet Letter
is as fine as anything in Bernstein’s catalogue. That
the music almost went unheard is shameful. That it is now
available is a cause for celebration. Varese are to be congratulated
in liberating these three scores from the vaults.
Ian Lace
KINGS
ROW and THE SEA WOLF
Erich Wolfgang
Korngold
Warner Bros.
Studio Orchestra conducted by Korngold
Film Score Monthly
FSM 10:15 [2 CDs 132:08]
Available: www.filmscoremonthly.com
An
important release not only because it includes practically
all the Kings Row (1942) music (except for a handful
of cues) i.e. some 85 minutes spread over the two CDs, but
also because Korngold conducts the original soundtrack recording.
Quoting Brendan G. Carroll, “He brought a virility and an
intensity to the performances of the Warner Bros. orchestra
that is almost impossible to repeat and the fact that these
fine musicians were sight reading music of such enormous difficulty
is a testament to their great ability…”
Kings Row, starring Robert Cummings, Ann Sheridan, Ronald Reagan and
Claude Rains, was about a small American town that hid many
dark secrets: it was something of a precursor to Peyton
Place. Korngold created an almost operatic-style score.
For me this is his film-music masterpiece. It is one of my
favourite best-ever scores. The album also has Korngold’s
atmospheric score for the film of Jack London’s dark novel
The Sea Wolf, starring Edward G Robinson. There is
a 30-page booklet with many of the illustrative stills and
details about the novels and the films’ castings and productions.
LAND OF
THE PHARAOHS
Dimitri Tiomkin
Film Score Monthly
FSM 10.17 [2CDs 108:51]
Available: www.filmscoremonthly.com
This
fabulous score, gargantuan in every way, was scored for an
orchestra of over 90 players and a choir topping 80; the music
rarely ceases, for the most part, progressing in a continuous
flow. Tiomkin’s massive score for Land of the Pharaohs
was never released on LP or CD. At last we have this premiere
album that comprises the complete score meticulously assembled
from the original studio masters. The film itself was something
of disappointment. The opening scenes were magnificent
but with the appearance of Joan Collins as the wilfully evil
and ambitious Princess Nellifer, who coverts Pharaoh Khufu’s
(Jack Hawkins) throne, the film rapidly falls apart. Tiomkin’s
memorable exotic score is full of colour and very imaginative.
Highlights include ‘Pharaoh’s Procession’ with its underscoring
of blaring brass and percussive rhythms that accompany the
on-screen procession bands with authentic-looking Egyptian
long trumpets and drums; and ‘Song of the Builders’, with
Tiomkin’s brilliant underscoring scenes showing the cutting
and transporting along the Nile of the huge stones used to
build Khufu’s great pyramid.
[I am delighted to write that Film Score Monthly, in
2008, re-released a score that has been difficult to
source in recent years:-
THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST
John Williams
Film Score Monthly
FSM 11.06 [41:41]
Available: www.filmscoremonthly.com
With his understated and
subtle score for The Accidental Tourist, John
Williams proved he was equally at home writing for intimate
domestic comedy dramas as much as ‘space epics’. This release
is a straight reissue of the 1988 Warner Bros recording which
had been fetching high prices on ebay. The Accidental Tourist
was Lawrence Kasdan’s sensitive adaptation of Anne Tyler’s
novel about a writer of travel books (William Hurt) who comes
out of his rigid emotional shell (after the tragic death of
his young son) thanks to the love of a quirky dog trainer
(Geena Davis in an Oscar-winning role)]
But
my third choice for 2008 has to be:_
The film Music
of CONSTANT LAMBERT
Suites from
Anna Karenina and Merchant Seaman
and LORD
BERNERS
Suites from
Champagne Charlie, Nicholas Nickleby and The
Halfway House
Mary Carewe (soprano)
Joyful Company of Singers (female voices)
BBC Concert Orchestra/Rumon Gamba
CHANDOS
CHAN10459 [79:35]
Lambert’s and Berners’s work for films, although very limited was cosmopolitan
rather than traditionally English. Both were attracted to
the stage, particularly the ballet. Lambert’s wartime Merchant
Seamen suite makes a strong impact. Richly harmonized
and orchestrated, it is highly dramatic and emotional. It
includes the eerily atmospheric and menacing ‘Convoy in Fog’
and the concluding ‘March’ is gallant and defiant, but poignantly
seamed. The Anna Karenina music has a haunting and
tender dreaminess until the lovers’ affair is discovered then
it takes on a more brutal and crushing character. The music
for the Venice scenes is a beautiful barcarolle with a passionate
climax.
Lord Berners’
music for Champagne Charlie sparkles with the wit and
gaiety of the old music hall. Mary Carewe sings with gusto
the racy “Come on Algernon”.
Berners’ suite from his score for Nicholas Nickleby,
from Dickens’ novel is cosily and glowingly nostalgic. The
music a potpourri of character studies; it twitters, dances,
waltzes and bounces along with slower romantic episodes that
are charmingly coy.
Halfway House was a story of the occult and Berners
responded with a highly atmospheric, dramatic and brooding
score.
One of the best
albums in the Chandos Film Music series.
Michael
McLennan
YOUTH
WITHOUT YOUTH
Osvaldo Golijov
Deutsche Grammophon
447 660-3 [60:25]
Argentinean
composer Osvaldo Golijov wrote one of the great modern film
scores for Francis Ford Coppola's inconsistent adaptation
of Mircea Eliade's novel about a man who rediscovers his youth
after being struck by lightning. The score strikes the right
balance between the film's languid romantic heart and the
pulpy surrealism of its hero's outlandish adventures. Soloists
for hammered dulcimer, the kemancheh (Persian violin) and
accordion complement the Romanian string orchestra.
CHE
Alberto Iglesias
Varese Sarabande VSD-6929 [58:15]
After the world music forays of The Constant Gardener and The
Kite Runner, Spanish composer Alberto Iglesias returns
to the suspenseful textures of his dark masterpiece, The
Dancer Upstairs (2003). While this score - for Stephen
Soderbergh's double film about the rise and fall of Che Guevara
- lacks the wounded romanticism of that superb early score,
it has a heart of its own, centring on the figure of Che and
his revolutionary aspirations. There’s an uncompromising quality
to this music, and a comfort with dissonance and textural
devices that recall the lean brilliance of early Jerry Goldsmith
scores
THE CURIOUS
CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
Alexandre
Desplat
Concord Records CRE-31231-02 [2 discs -
1st disc is score, 59:22]
Alexandre
Desplat continues to do no wrong, with his precise, emotional
but unsentimental compositions making him the perfect choice
of composer for David Fincher’s first step into emotionally
rewarding filmmaking. The enchanting textures, rich in two-voice
writing and Late Romantic devices, could not be mistaken for
those of any other modern film composer. ‘Sunrise at Lake
Pontchartrain’, ‘Postcards’ and ‘Love in Mourmansk’ in particular
stand out as compositions that truly transform the restrained
filmmaking they accompany into richly emotive material.
STANDARD
OPERATING PROCEDURE
Danny Elfman
Varese Sarabande VSD-6897
[53:40]
Danny
Elfman fills in for Philip Glass on Errol Morris’s most topical
subject to date: the position of the Abu Grahib photographs
within the standard operating procedure of the United States
army. There’s a lot of indications of Glass’s 
influence in the music. What makes this one more than a retread of another
composer’s strengths however is the way that Elfman’s knack
for emotive melodies and quirky flourishes merge with minimalist
devices to create something eminently appropriate for the
subject. Something is desperately wrong and out of control
in this music, at times to an almost laughable degree. Only
Danny Elfman could have painted Abu Grahib as a circus of
horrors. The reuse of sections of Elfman’s Serenada Schizophrenia
pays off beautifully in the film, and the grim ‘S.O.P.
Theme’ brings a strong sense of moral clarity to the closing
arguments of the film.
ELMER
BERNSTEIN: The Unused Scores
Varese
Sarabande CD Club VCL-0608-1076 [4CD
set - 72:40; 60:22; 48:29; 60:28]
To
get The Gangs of New York alone would have been a marvel,
and to get The Scarlet Letter with it, an historic
event. But to have The Journey of Natty Gann thrown
in as well demands that I list this release above all other
releases of extant scores in 2008. Unused film scores have
an allure about them for appreciators of film music, the hope
being that some gold remains to be discovered for a favourite
composer. When they are released, disappointment often ensues,
however I very much doubt that occurred to anyone who heard
Bernstein’s The Scarlet Letter. What a revelatory score
– a strong argument that in his final decade of scoring, Bernstein
was as strong as he had ever been.
Demetris Christodoulides
DEFIANCE
James Newton Howard
Violin Solos by: Joshua Bell
Sony Classical SNYC 38523 [49:40]
We live in an age where quantity is the primal goal over quality and
easily-digested bastardized musical amalgams are born. These
are mainly aimed at younger listeners who are growing up in
a similarly collapsing system of musical (and not only) values
and idols. This seems the norm rather than coherent musical
works. So, James Newton Howard’s score for “Defiance"
comes as a breath of fresh air. The beautiful melancholic
and technically brilliant violin solos by Joshua Bell crown
the score and they simultaneously contribute to an organic
whole. While on first hearing, the score might appear simplistic
to some, its true grace lies within the fragile melodic lines
and arrangements, and the tight thematic material and the
lyrical nature of the violin solos. James Newton Howard’s
Defiance which lightly recalls the composer’s previous
gem Snow Falling on Cedars, is lazily - but accurately
labelled by some as his own Schindler's List, a notion
with which I fully agree.
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
Alexandre Desplat
Concord Records CRE-31231-02 [:59:05]
For some, film music composer, Alexandre Desplat is not the easiest
listen. However, his graceful music is a child of elegance,
refinery and musical balance not often experienced in our
time. has There are admirable qualities at the heart of each
and every work he produces, no matter how small-scale or quirky
they might seem to some, and The Curious Case of
Benjamin Button is no exception. His delicate motific
and thematic elaboration in this score may be more lightweight
than usual but it is so very charming. It might require your
close attention, for its well-hidden virtues don’t reveal
themselves at a first hearing, but after further listening
it reveals grace that captivates. The Curious Case of Benjamin
Button is a tender work that breathes beauty through each
little, fragile musical step, each one leading towards an
emotionally charged finale, the latter carrying the trademarked
qualities of Desplat’s thematic writing that truly touches
the soul.
THE HAPPENING
James Newton Howard
Colosseum VSD (CVS) 6901.2 [50:07]
James Newton Howard
is undeniably one of the most important and one of the few
remaining real leading film music artists; one
of those composers who always tries to keep one step ahead
to create musical works that venture beyond the norm, setting
him apart from the less talented. Whilst several well-known
composers might often get away with correspondingly uninteresting
scores for mediocre films, James Newton Howard, with very
few exceptions, creates classy works of art each and every
time. His music carries a well-identified musical character
and melodic depth that truly recalls the best of past eras
of the genre. When he teams with director M. Night Shyamalan
in particular, his work is guaranteed pure gold. Thus, The
Happening is another impressive addition to an already
inspired career. The score travels through well crafted and
particularly intense orchestral horror mammoths to moments
of unrestrained emotion. Such an example is the cue ‘Be with
you’, which, along with Johan Söderqvist’s ‘Eli’s Theme’ and
‘Let the Right One In’ from Let the Right One In, make
up this year's most outstanding single compositions in the
film music medium.
Mark Walker
EL CID
Miklós Rózsa City of Prague Philharmonic
/ Nic Raine
TADLOWCD005 (three discs, including suite
from Double Indemnity)
[2 hrs 53 mins]
Rózsa’s monumental score for the 1961 epic El Cid is one of his
very finest – a magnificent tapestry that interweaves delicate
medieval cantigas and grandiose fanfares into the composer’s
always distinctive idiom. Tadlow’s three-CD set at last presents
us with all the music Rózsa wrote, including those cues that
were not used in the final cut and which have been painstakingly
reconstructed from the composer's original sketches specially
for this recording. The City of Prague Orchestra give it their
all under Nic Raine’s baton, and they have never sounded finer
in this massive work that nevertheless has no longeurs
and never once loses focus. Producer James Fitzpatrick deserves
a Film Music Medal of Honour for this one.
INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE
CRYSTAL SKULL
John Williams
Concord Music CRE-30825-02 [78 mins]
Critics may have
been lukewarm about Indy IV (I don’t know why – it seemed
like a great popcorn movie to me), but there is nothing lacklustre
about the score. Clearly Williams relished the opportunity
to revisit the swashbuckling exuberance of his Indiana Jones
music, and to add several delightful new pieces to the canon,
including the energetic Errol Flynn-ish ‘Adventures of Mutt’,
the film noir-ish ‘Irina’s Theme’ and the sinister
tritone-based theme for the Crystal Skull itself, magically
transformed in the finale from its minor key into the major.
Like Rózsa before him, Williams has always kept one foot in
the concert hall and it is surely no coincidence that both
composers are absolute masters of orchestration and orchestral
balance even with the largest ensemble. My only gripe is that
the album omits a considerable amount of music heard in the
movie – which could have been but was not rectified in the
Concord set below.
INDIANA JONES: THE SOUNDTRACKS
COLLECTION
John Williams
Concord Music CRE-31000-02 [5 hrs 52 mins]
Despite attracting some
flak from fans – it isn’t complete, some of the Raiders
tracks are mastered at the wrong pitch, and the Indy IV album
is the same as the solo release – this set is still an irresistible
must-buy for all lovers of film music. Williams successfully
evokes the Golden Age of Hollywood swashbucklers without sounding
like anything other than vintage Williams. And unlike its
elder and bigger brother Star Wars, the music for the
Indy movies never has to carry the weight of an ever-expanding
plot or carry over into each new film an ever-increasing list
of leitmotifs; instead each score just fizzes along
at a cracking pace, bubbling over with joy at every virtuosic
musical twist and turn. There seems to be a backlash against
this lavish style of scoring nowadays in favour of smaller-scale,
more ambient music – but just as Rózsa and Korngold are still
cherished now (more so than ever in fact), I have no doubt
that in 50 years from now Williams’ Indiana Jones music will
still be delighting audiences.
As remarked earlier,
a number of reviewers’ choices have been duplicated with two
nominations for four scores. I have therefore used my casting
vote and decided to award not one but two scores. Accordingly
the first of these must be:-
in the Historical Scores category:-
Tadlow Music recording of Miklós Rózsa’s
El Cid score
In addition to
my colleagues comments above I would just remind readers of
the meticulous attention to detail and the intense historical
music research Rózsa would put into his scores. Nic Raine,
and his colleagues must be congratulated on their painstaking
restorations and especially Nic for leading the Prague orchestra
(of 91 musicians and a large choir) in such vital, rhythmically
crisp readings; the music has attack aplenty but lyricism
and tenderness too. A deserving winner
Ian Lace
And in
New Scores category:-
Alexandre Desplat’s score for THE
CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
I first noticed, and was very taken with Desplat’s music when I saw
The Luzhin Defence
(2000). I thought here is a new voice with something
important to say in film music contributing intelligent, imaginative
scores that not only enhanced screenplays but proved to be
rewarding listening experiences away from the films. Since
then I have been further impressed with many of his scores
including: Girl With a Pearl Earring (2003) and Birth
(2004) to mention but two.
So I was delighted to have the opportunity of paying
tribute to this gifted composer.
Ian Lace
