Film (movie) Music

[vandermolen]

Malcolm Arnold
Film Music, Vol. 2
BBC Philharmonic - Rumon Gamba

Listening this morning:

 

Great album! As someone who taught at a girls' school for the past 33 years the St Trinian's music has a particular appeal!

[Roasted Swan]

Great album! As someone who taught at a girls' school for the past 33 years the St Trinian's music has a particular appeal!

The massive "elephant in the room" question that MUST be asked..... Does Vandermolen look as good in a frock as Alastair Sim?  The Forum has a right to know.

[vandermolen]

The massive "elephant in the room" question that MUST be asked..... Does Vandermolen look as good in a frock as Alastair Sim?  The Forum has a right to know.

I attach a recent photo of vandermolen - so, you can judge for yourself.

[Roasted Swan]

I attach a recent photo of vandermolen - so, you can judge for yourself.

Magnificent

[relm1]

I attach a recent photo of vandermolen - so, you can judge for yourself.

You have a distinguished air about you.  I think you might have spanked me in grade school for speaking loudly too.

[VonStupp]

Great album! As someone who taught at a girls' school for the past 33 years the St Trinian's music has a particular appeal!

Yes, I was rather pleased with it myself. I like the Chandos film series, but often compared to the originals they can be lifeless. Still it is great to be able to hear this music.

[relm1]

I'm not exactly sure what thread this post belongs in but the great film composer, John Williams, has a world premiere of his Violin Concerto No. 2 tomorrow!!!  His Violin Concerto No. 1 is fantastic, dark and turbulent yet tonal and reminds me of his admiration of Prokofiev.  I especially love the London Symphony Orchestra/Leonard Slatkin recording of the work so am very excited to hear this new concerto from Williams!

[vandermolen]

Magnificent

Glad you think so 

[vandermolen]

You have a distinguished air about you.  I think you might have spanked me in grade school for speaking loudly too.

I expect so.

[vandermolen]

Am enjoying working my way through this newly arrived and most attractively presented set:

Currently on this CD:

[Roasted Swan]

Am enjoying working my way through this newly arrived and most attractively presented set:

Currently on this CD:

Have they managed/tried to "tame" the Phase 4 sound of the originals?  I love the music/performances in this set but am a bit wary of the audio quality......

[vandermolen]

Have they managed/tried to "tame" the Phase 4 sound of the originals?  I love the music/performances in this set but am a bit wary of the audio quality......

Quality sounds excellent to me RS but it's a while since I listened to earlier Phase 4 releases.

[Karl Henning]

Am enjoying working my way through this newly arrived and most attractively presented set:

Currently on this CD:

The Bax music for David Lean's Oliver Twist?

[vandermolen]

The Bax music for David Lean's Oliver Twist?

Yes Karl although my favourite on that disc is Constant Lambert's fine score for 'Anna Karenina'. There are some fine film scores from VW and Bliss included as well.

[Roasted Swan]

When I was at Guildhall in the early '80's they gave a performance of Shostakovich's score to "New Babylon" live accompanying the silent movie.  It was simply stunning - some remarkably powerful images caught to perfection by the young DSCH's brilliant score.  I was spellbound - I still think this score is one of DSCH's most important early works - it contain so much of the bubbling over brilliance of the composer at that time.

Wind forward 15 years (from New Babylon) and today I listened to this disc;



Its an absolute shocker.  You can almost hear DSCH's toes-curling and teeth grinding as it plays.  The performance here is very good and idiomatic but oh God all those heroic choruses and stirring soviet-military marches.  To say its vacuous is an insult to vacuums.  The coupling of The Unforgettable Year is a bit better but really not much.  Of interest to place it in the body of work DSCH had to do to survive in a literal sense.  His genius was to be able to churn out this kind of utter garbage with either side of it his 4th String Quartet and the bitingly satirical Rayok.......

[vandermolen]

When I was at Guildhall in the early '80's they gave a performance of Shostakovich's score to "New Babylon" live accompanying the silent movie.  It was simply stunning - some remarkably powerful images caught to perfection by the young DSCH's brilliant score.  I was spellbound - I still think this score is one of DSCH's most important early works - it contain so much of the bubbling over brilliance of the composer at that time.

Wind forward 15 years (from New Babylon) and today I listened to this disc;



Its an absolute shocker.  You can almost hear DSCH's toes-curling and teeth grinding as it plays.  The performance here is very good and idiomatic but oh God all those heroic choruses and stirring soviet-military marches.  To say its vacuous is an insult to vacuums.  The coupling of The Unforgettable Year is a bit better but really not much.  Of interest to place it in the body of work DSCH had to do to survive in a literal sense.  His genius was to be able to churn out this kind of utter garbage with either side of it his 4th String Quartet and the bitingly satirical Rayok.......

I went to school opposite the Guildhall School of Music but long before your time. I'm inclined to agree with you about Shostakovich's film music although I quite enjoy this set:

[Umbrella166]

As a complete composition? Right now, it's either Vivaldi's "Le quattro stagioni" (Four Seasons) or Yes's "Close to the Edge".

Particular passages? parts of Dvorak's "New World Symphony", the "Chorale" of Beethoven's 9th, or the last half of Yes's "The Gates of Delirium".

Then there's the Beatles *Abbey Road* medley, or, heck, the entire Side 2.

I could go into individual songs such as "Hey, Jude" or various Led Zeppelin songs such as "When the Levee Breaks" or "Battle of Evermore" or "The Rain Song" or "Dazed and Confused". I'd say "Stairway to Heaven", too, if I hadn't heard it 100 times already. That's off the top of my head - there are too many favorite songs to mention.

Do you mean genre? If I had to choose one that I had to limit the rest of my life to, it would be baroque. What survives from that era is never irritating and - especially when heard live, can be as thrilling as the heaviest rock songs or as poignant as the most heartfelt ballads.

You could say the same of romantic classical music, except I don't have the attention span for it. Whereas baroque makes a tidy composition with just the right amount of repetition to completely engage your entire body, romantic music meanders as a long novel. I get lost in the forest. My mind tires and wanders, while my body goes limp.

[Roasted Swan]

As a complete composition? Right now, it's either Vivaldi's "Le quattro stagioni" (Four Seasons) or Yes's "Close to the Edge".

Particular passages? parts of Dvorak's "New World Symphony", the "Chorale" of Beethoven's 9th, or the last half of Yes's "The Gates of Delirium".

Then there's the Beatles *Abbey Road* medley, or, heck, the entire Side 2.

I could go into individual songs such as "Hey, Jude" or various Led Zeppelin songs such as "When the Levee Breaks" or "Battle of Evermore" or "The Rain Song" or "Dazed and Confused". I'd say "Stairway to Heaven", too, if I hadn't heard it 100 times already. That's off the top of my head - there are too many favorite songs to mention.

Do you mean genre? If I had to choose one that I had to limit the rest of my life to, it would be baroque. What survives from that era is never irritating and - especially when heard live, can be as thrilling as the heaviest rock songs or as poignant as the most heartfelt ballads.

You could say the same of romantic classical music, except I don't have the attention span for it. Whereas baroque makes a tidy composition with just the right amount of repetition to completely engage your entire body, romantic music meanders as a long novel. I get lost in the forest. My mind tires and wanders, while my body goes limp.

Earth to Planet Umbrella, Earth to Planet Umbrella.... we are loosing you......... come in Planet Umbrella........

meanwhile back on the Film Music thread

[Roasted Swan]

Yes Karl although my favourite on that disc is Constant Lambert's fine score for 'Anna Karenina'. There are some fine film scores from VW and Bliss included as well.

Prompted by Vandermolen's mention of this Herrmann/British Film Music disc and enthusiastic reviews elsewhere of this new incarnation, I relistened today to the earlier CD version.  Undeniably great music but I was struck by how mis-guided many of Herrmann's musical choices are.  Time and again on this disc he seems determined to weigh the music down with leaden tempi and portentous phrasing.  It is really grim - I'd forgooten just how grim.  Even the normally excellent National PO are straining at the leash holding these tempi back.  At the climax of the Epilogue to "Things to Come" the bass drum can't wait any longer and comes in a splash before the cymbals.  Its all so weary and mistaking a sort of Pomp & Circumstance grandeur for emotional power.  No its just TOO SLOW!!!!

Here are some timing examples (in each case Herrmann/NPO first);

Walton Richard III Prelude - 9:55 / 7:36 (Walton conducting The Philharmonia)
Bax Fagin's Romp (more like Fagin's snooze here - no joy, no wit, no playfullness regardless of tempo) - 2:20 / 2:11 (Kenneth Alwyn-The Philharmonia) or 2:04 (Gamba-BBC PO - possibly too fast rushed rather than romp)
Walton Escape Me Never - 3:28 / 2:41 (Marriner-Academy of St. Martin's)
Bliss Things to Come - Epilogue - 3:31 / 2:22 (Groves-RPO)

Such a curious thing.  Normally Herrmann was such a fine intelligent conductor of both his own and others scores.  It really sounds as either he's making some odd misplaced point or he was ill or in a mood.  No matter how fine the remastering of the new set there's no way I'd spend a penny on it!

[relm1]

Prompted by Vandermolen's mention of this Herrmann/British Film Music disc and enthusiastic reviews elsewhere of this new incarnation, I relistened today to the earlier CD version.  Undeniably great music but I was struck by how mis-guided many of Herrmann's musical choices are.  Time and again on this disc he seems determined to weigh the music down with leaden tempi and portentous phrasing.  It is really grim - I'd forgooten just how grim.  Even the normally excellent National PO are straining at the leash holding these tempi back.  At the climax of the Epilogue to "Things to Come" the bass drum can't wait any longer and comes in a splash before the cymbals.  Its all so weary and mistaking a sort of Pomp & Circumstance grandeur for emotional power.  No its just TOO SLOW!!!!

Here are some timing examples (in each case Herrmann/NPO first);

Walton Richard III Prelude - 9:55 / 7:36 (Walton conducting The Philharmonia)
Bax Fagin's Romp (more like Fagin's snooze here - no joy, no wit, no playfullness regardless of tempo) - 2:20 / 2:11 (Kenneth Alwyn-The Philharmonia) or 2:04 (Gamba-BBC PO - possibly too fast rushed rather than romp)
Walton Escape Me Never - 3:28 / 2:41 (Marriner-Academy of St. Martin's)
Bliss Things to Come - Epilogue - 3:31 / 2:22 (Groves-RPO)

Such a curious thing.  Normally Herrmann was such a fine intelligent conductor of both his own and others scores.  It really sounds as either he's making some odd misplaced point or he was ill or in a mood.  No matter how fine the remastering of the new set there's no way I'd spend a penny on it!

I disagree with you.  This is just a personal approach to interpretation that favors the gravity of the work rather than the levity and in some music that works brilliantly.  So compare Elgar's Nimrod and you'll claim Bernstein's BBC Symphony recording is sacrilege because it is so slow but to me, this is my favorite.  Yes, it's probably more Germanic (Wagner/Mahler) than English but it damn well works emotionally.  So there are interpretations.  I love Walter Weller's unorthodox Prokofiev cycle because it is more German.  That doesn't mean it's the only version I like, just that he brings out something unique to the music I don't often hear and there is room for that.  Herrmann was a fantastic conductor but he tended towards the gravity of the music and thought was wonderful when appropriate.  To me, some of this music earns it and that makes his conducting uniquely qualified to deliver that style of interpretation.