Film (movie) Music

[Roy Bland]

IMHO Kabalevsky as film composer is fully at height of Prokofiev, Shostakovich and Khachaturian.I can't understand why there aren't modern recording particulary Aerograd,Shchors and  Petersburg Night.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVkqKgxELn4

[vandermolen]

Now Playing:
Bernard Herrmann: North by Northwest Suite (which I watched on TV recently)
This must have been one of the last Unicorn releases I think:

[Carxofes fregides]

IMHO Kabalevsky as film composer is fully at height of Prokofiev, Shostakovich and Khachaturian.I can't understand why there aren't modern recording particulary Aerograd,Shchors and  Petersburg Night.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVkqKgxELn4

I watched Aerograd like ten years ago. I barely remember anything, just that the villain was a Japanese spy (I think) and that there a pretty big aerial sequence for its time with this theme, which for sure stands out on its own too.

[Roy Bland]

I watched Aerograd like ten years ago. I barely remember anything, just that the villain was a Japanese spy (I think) and that there a pretty big aerial sequence for its time with this theme, which for sure stands out on its own too.

A masterwork
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RzVibSqI5U&t=385s

[Irons]

Now Playing:
Bernard Herrmann: North by Northwest Suite (which I watched on TV recently)
This must have been one of the last Unicorn releases I think:

Sad to hear Jeffrey, that the founder and owner of Unicorn John Goldsmith died this year.

[Roasted Swan]

Currently viewable in the UK on different streaming services are Armando Iannucci's recent films "The Death of Stalin" and "The Personal History of David Copperfield".  The former on BBC iPlayer and the latter on Amazon Prime.  As films I enjoyed both a lot and both are helped by very imaginative and skilful  (and very different) scores by Christopher Willis.  Both can be heard in isolation via Spotify

[vandermolen]

Currently viewable in the UK on different streaming services are Armando Iannucci's recent films "The Death of Stalin" and "The Personal History of David Copperfield".  The former on BBC iPlayer and the latter on Amazon Prime.  As films I enjoyed both a lot and both are helped by very imaginative and skilful  (and very different) scores by Christopher Willis.  Both can be heard in isolation via Spotify

I enjoyed both films and have both soundtracks 

[vandermolen]

Sad to hear Jeffrey, that the founder and owner of Unicorn John Goldsmith died this year.

Sad news indeed Lol. I recall a nice phone discussion with him. I didn't realise that he was a serving police officer and had mortgaged his house to finance Horenstein's classic recording of Mahler's Third Symphony:
http://www.colinscolumn.com/sad-news-john-goldsmith-the-founder-in-1966-of-unicorn-records-later-unicorn-kancha
I have a feeling that he sent me the Herrmann Psycho/North by Northwest compilation as a freebie.
https://robccowan.com/2020/06/18/the-late-john-goldsmith-a-fearless-independent-who-dared-to-record-mahler-3-when-the-mahler-revival-was-still-gaining-ground/

[Irons]

Sad news indeed Lol. I recall a nice phone discussion with him. I didn't realise that he was a serving police officer and had mortgaged his house to finance Horenstein's classic recording of Mahler's Third Symphony:
http://www.colinscolumn.com/sad-news-john-goldsmith-the-founder-in-1966-of-unicorn-records-later-unicorn-kancha
I have a feeling that he sent me the Herrmann Psycho/North by Northwest compilation as a freebie.
https://robccowan.com/2020/06/18/the-late-john-goldsmith-a-fearless-independent-who-dared-to-record-mahler-3-when-the-mahler-revival-was-still-gaining-ground/

A serving police officer! Unaware of that which in a way is depressing, Jeffrey. Goldsmith, Itter, Ted Perry and many more of my generation are falling off the perch. What an unbelievable legacy they left, not for financial gain but for something they believed in. It all seems corporate now, the romance has gone. 

[vandermolen]

A serving police officer! Unaware of that which in a way is depressing, Jeffrey. Goldsmith, Itter, Ted Perry and many more of my generation are falling off the perch. What an unbelievable legacy they left, not for financial gain but for something they believed in. It all seems corporate now, the romance has gone.

Yes, a wise and sad observation Lol. Francis Wilson of Olympia comes to mind as well. He was, apparently, treated very badly over the Svetlanov Miaskovsky series (Mrs Svetlanov doesn't come very well out of this). This no doubt hastened, as it sadly often does in such cases, a descent into illness. I had many happy communications with him.

[Roasted Swan]

I have been revisiting the much-loved/respected "Classic Film Score" series originally on RCA from Charles Gerhardt and the National Philharmonic.  It really is a stunning series without a dud track let alone a dud disc.  The bulk (but not all) have been collected together into a bargain Sony box which is great if you just want the music but for once the absence of the original notes is a big loss.  Also, there was a 'final' compilation/sampler disc called "The Spectacular World of Classic Film Scores".  This disc was mainly a compilation disc of what had gone before but it did include several 'new' tracks.  Latterly these bonus tracks have appeared on Dutton's re-mastering of parts of the series for surround-sound BUT the big miss is the conversation in the booklet between the late great Christopher Palmer and conductor Charles Gerhardt.  A fascinating read into the origins and philosophy of these recordings.  I remember hearing the opening of the Sunset Boulevard disc (Prince Valiant) for the first time and being absolutely stunned....

[vandermolen]

I have been revisiting the much-loved/respected "Classic Film Score" series originally on RCA from Charles Gerhardt and the National Philharmonic.  It really is a stunning series without a dud track let alone a dud disc.  The bulk (but not all) have been collected together into a bargain Sony box which is great if you just want the music but for once the absence of the original notes is a big loss.  Also, there was a 'final' compilation/sampler disc called "The Spectacular World of Classic Film Scores".  This disc was mainly a compilation disc of what had gone before but it did include several 'new' tracks.  Latterly these bonus tracks have appeared on Dutton's re-mastering of parts of the series for surround-sound BUT the big miss is the conversation in the booklet between the late great Christopher Palmer and conductor Charles Gerhardt.  A fascinating read into the origins and philosophy of these recordings.  I remember hearing the opening of the Sunset Boulevard disc (Prince Valiant) for the first time and being absolutely stunned....

That was one of the greatest of that series. I especially like 'The Creation of the Female Monster' from 'The Bride of Frankenstein' which was, in some respects, even better than the original 'Frankenstein' film, especially for Elsa Lanchester's extraordinary performance as Mary Shelley and as 'The Bride'. Not to mention the extraordinary connection between the score for 'A Place in the Sun' and Shostakovich's 11th Symphony (a later work I think - of which Waxman gave the West Coast premiere):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tzti-u2yd3o

[Roasted Swan]

That was one of the greatest of that series. I especially like 'The Creation of the Female Monster' from 'The Bride of Frankenstein' which was, in some respects, even better than the original 'Frankenstein' film, especially for Elsa Lanchester's extraordinary performance as Mary Shelley and as 'The Bride'. Not to mention the extraordinary connection between the score for 'A Place in the Sun' and Shostakovich's 11th Symphony (a later work I think - of which Waxman gave the West Coast premiere):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tzti-u2yd3o

Interestingly the "Creation of the Female Monster" is mentioned in the Palmer/Gerhardt conversation because Gerhardt had to transcribe this excerpt note by note from the original sound track because all the performing material had been lost.  Palmer commends him for this because it is an incredibly skilled but laborious job.  Something in latter years John Wilson has been (rightly) praised for but Palmer (and Gerhardt) were both masters of this art.

Curious facts that always tickle me about Elsa Lanchester - 1) she was the (long suffering) wife of Charles Laughton and 2) she appears in the film of Mary Poppins as the Nanny who resigns and hence Mary arrives......



Same chin!!

[vandermolen]

Interestingly the "Creation of the Female Monster" is mentioned in the Palmer/Gerhardt conversation because Gerhardt had to transcribe this excerpt note by note from the original sound track because all the performing material had been lost.  Palmer commends him for this because it is an incredibly skilled but laborious job.  Something in latter years John Wilson has been (rightly) praised for but Palmer (and Gerhardt) were both masters of this art.

Curious facts that always tickle me about Elsa Lanchester - 1) she was the (long suffering) wife of Charles Laughton and 2) she appears in the film of Mary Poppins as the Nanny who resigns and hence Mary arrives......



Same chin!!

I didn't know about Mary Poppins. Speaking of which I saw a scene for the recent film being filmed outside Buckingham Palace a few years ago. Elsa Lanchester was a very striking Mary Shelley:

[Daverz]

I didn't know about Mary Poppins. Speaking of which I saw a scene for the recent film being filmed outside Buckingham Palace a few years ago. Elsa Lanchester was a very striking Mary Shelley:

Elsa Lancaster has a small comic relief part in The Big Clock and threatens to steal the whole show.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

I have been revisiting the much-loved/respected "Classic Film Score" series originally on RCA from Charles Gerhardt and the National Philharmonic.  It really is a stunning series without a dud track let alone a dud disc.  The bulk (but not all) have been collected together into a bargain Sony box which is great if you just want the music but for once the absence of the original notes is a big loss.  Also, there was a 'final' compilation/sampler disc called "The Spectacular World of Classic Film Scores".  This disc was mainly a compilation disc of what had gone before but it did include several 'new' tracks.  Latterly these bonus tracks have appeared on Dutton's re-mastering of parts of the series for surround-sound BUT the big miss is the conversation in the booklet between the late great Christopher Palmer and conductor Charles Gerhardt.  A fascinating read into the origins and philosophy of these recordings.  I remember hearing the opening of the Sunset Boulevard disc (Prince Valiant) for the first time and being absolutely stunned....

Thanks for telling us about that series!  I'll keep an eye out when in record stores.  Any idea as to how many LPs were released?  And any other ones of note?

PD

[vandermolen]

This is the contents of the new Sony box which features most of the releases I think:
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=gerhardt+film+music&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjZ5Kev2q_uAhWUUBUIHXwlC-8Q_AUoA3oECAUQBQ&biw=1108&bih=601&dpr=1.5#imgrc=-DPoa_1u2aw1mMt due to the

Like RS I've been rather put off buying this set due to the absence of notes, which are important in this type of release.

[vandermolen]

Elsa Lancaster has a small comic relief part in The Big Clock and threatens to steal the whole show.

Must see it!

[Roasted Swan]

Thanks for telling us about that series!  I'll keep an eye out when in record stores.  Any idea as to how many LPs were released?  And any other ones of note?

PD

There were around 12 'core' releases plus a couple of later John Williams/Star Wars discs plus one of David Raksin conducting his own music.  But of the core group, for me the most revelatory were;



plus the two Korngold discs;



The others are all fine as well but these were the discs that as LP's I literally wore out! 

[Pohjolas Daughter]

There were around 12 'core' releases plus a couple of later John Williams/Star Wars discs plus one of David Raksin conducting his own music.  But of the core group, for me the most revelatory were;



plus the two Korngold discs;



The others are all fine as well but these were the discs that as LP's I literally wore out!

Looking at the images, I realized that I do have one of Gerhardt's; it's the CD of Korngold's music called "Elizabeth and Essex".  It's actually an Arkiv-Music CD-Rom and has great liner notes and photos!  I remember enjoying listening to it--even though I've never seen the movie.    I should try and catch up on some classics (and take a break from Nordic Noir for a while).