What Is The Last Score You Listened To? (older scores)

[Marian Schedenig 8,191]

13 hours ago, Incanus said:

It certainly translates into a fine tone poem styled album. A bit old fashioned, sure, but oh so very good and I don't I have ever heard Yared quite in this form.

 

I'll add that trying to be less old fashioned didn't do the movie any favours.

[Incanus 5,714]

2 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

 

I'll add that trying to be less old fashioned didn't do the movie any favours.

Agreed.

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

4 hours ago, publicist said:

There's one cue i like which is called 'Pin-Ultimate Experience'. 

 

Garish, cliched score, but I'm with you on that if that's the track with that delightfully Space Agey tune. 

[Disco Stu 15,495]

One man's "garish" is another man's "bright optimism."  That score almost feels like Giacchino's enthusiastic, eager "mission statement" as a composer.  So it makes sense you're not very into it.

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

If I'm ever in the mood for optimistic, stirring music from him, I've got the Lost finale. 

[publicist 4,643]

 

Wild Rovers - Jerry Goldsmith

 

For whatever reason Blake Edwards chose Goldsmith, not Henry Mancini for this autumnal western swan song about two drifting cowboys, played by William Holden (wonderful) and Ryan O'Neal. Originally conceived at 2,5 hours, it was heavily edited and changed by MGM, including a reversal of the ending from a negative one to a positive. It's part buddy movie, part doe-eyed reflection about the end of the old west (or better, a demystification of cowboy life).

 

Goldsmith responded with one of his most lyrical Coplandesque tunes (partly based on the traditional 'Ride Old Paint') though the mood alternates between bright & bucolic and dark & chilly. The protagonists spend a lot of time with riding and breaking horses and these are the big show pieces of which Goldsmith performed one, 'Bronco Bustin', in concert often. The longer one, 'Wild Horses', builds from a sprightly americana scherzo with honkytonk piano interludes into a broad and expansive reading of the big theme (at 01:40 in the cue above) in the strings that remains one of the moments from my early childhood (for whatever reason the movie ran often on german tv back then) that helped to cement my interest in movie soundtracks. It took me over 10 years to find it in a London speciality shop on LP, though. 

 

But beyond the obvious there's a lot of smaller moments here that betray JG's unusual talent at coming up with inventive ideas. The cue 'The Knife', for instance, goes from an uncertain reading of the main theme into an impressionist mood that makes good use of a wind machine culminating into a frenzied, cold piano run of the comical honkytonk tune that betrays a trip gone sour as the two friends have robbed a bank and now must face the consequences (being shot and hunted).

 

The brisk album (33 minutes, later released as 79' FSM album) contains a separate session held in London and the playing of the NPO is brilliant. Goldsmith's daughter sings a few songs, including Jerry's main theme. Together with 'Take a Hard Ride', it's one of Goldsmith's most memorable themes and a recommendation for every friend of ageless americana.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

6 hours ago, Disco Stu said:

One man's "garish" is another man's "bright optimism."  That score almost feels like Giacchino's enthusiastic, eager "mission statement" as a composer.  So it makes sense you're not very into it.

I agree, and it wholly makes sense that the film is all about being optimistic. 

6 hours ago, TheGreyPilgrim said:

If I'm ever in the mood for optimistic, stirring music from him, I've got the Lost finale. 

Which finale?

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Giacchino showed promise at on time, but he's turned out to be a colossal disappointment. Many were hoping he would carry on the torch. What we got instead was the film composer equivalent of Michael Jordan playing for the Washington Wizards.

[publicist 4,643]

Deformers - Austin Wintory

 

Leave aside that the first minute or so of each track features narration, the rest again shows Wintory in fine, almost balletic form for another video game - though it needs to be said that idiomatically this whimsy mix of Piazzolla/Rota (Tango), Elfman and spaghetti western will turn off most film music fans. That Wintory is continually able to stake out a niche for himself beyond the dreaded trailer music trivialities that so many of his colleagues fall prey to is worth a hearty recommendation. The concentration on small ensemble is another giveaway that he's today's closest answer to early Jerry Goldsmith (in his ability to stay original and also in his iron-tight grip on matters of construction).

 

Hearing a concert reading of Tyler's lame 'main' theme for the new 'Mummy' makes me yearn for a Wintory blockbuster score...though for reasons stated above that probably will never happen.

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

8 minutes ago, publicist said:

he's today's closest answer to early Jerry Goldsmith 

 

 

Yep.  Best way of putting it.

 

2 hours ago, Koray Savas said:

Which finale?

 

The finale.

[Incanus 5,714]

55 minutes ago, publicist said:

Deformers - Austin Wintory

 

Leave aside that the first minute or so of each track features narration, the rest again shows Wintory in fine, almost balletic form for another video game - though it needs to be said that idiomatically this whimsy mix of Piazzolla/Rota (Tango), Elfman and spaghetti western will turn off most film music fans. That Wintory is continually able to stake out a niche for himself beyond the dreaded trailer music trivialities that so many of his colleagues fall prey to is worth a hearty recommendation. The concentration on small ensemble is another giveaway that he's today's closest answer to early Jerry Goldsmith (in his ability to stay original and also in his iron-tight grip on matters of construction).

 

Hearing a concert reading of Tyler's lame 'main' theme for the new 'Mummy' makes me yearn for a Wintory blockbuster score...though for reasons stated above that probably will never happen.

Oooh thanks for the heads-up pub! I am sure to check this one out ASAP! I love how the composer is able to make most of the resources at his disposal and craft very interesting sounds and inventive instrumental combinations, even when he is going all out bonkers and eclectic like with Deformers (I have heard the tango-style preview a while ago).

[Koray Savas 2,251]

1 hour ago, TheGreyPilgrim said:

 

The finale.

I don't know, I've never found "Moving On" particularly optimistic. Bittersweet and melancholic, to me. Certainly not compared to "Parting Words."

[Disco Stu 15,495]

12 hours ago, Selina Kyle said:

Giacchino showed promise at on time, but he's turned out to be a colossal disappointment. Many were hoping he would carry on the torch. What we got instead was the film composer equivalent of Michael Jordan playing for the Washington Wizards.

 

I think he's developed his own voice, and yes it lacks complexity compared to your Goldsmiths, Williamses, Horners, etc., but it is very much his voice, whether you like it or not.

[publicist 4,643]

 

Thriller: not sure yet of its repertoire value, first impression would be that it's a bit sketchy - musically high caliber, without doubt, but the sardonic 'danses' and the icy string quartets (Bartok & Co.) are known commodities and the Goldsmith catalogue has them in more fully realised incarnations (sometimes it feels like 'Adrian Messenger' with the set pieces taken out). The irish melody of "Hay-Fork and Bill-Hook" is a novelty. Needs some more listens, though. Recording and sound is top notch.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Bernard Herrmann Great Film Music - Herrmann conducting the National Philharmonic

 

Only recently discovering the series of albums that Herrmann recorded with Gerhardt's orchestra.  Essential stuff!

 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,514]

I'd love that! What are the Varèse re-recordings like?

 (edit) just looked at my CD collection; I have TDTESS. It's good. I also have the iso, on the Blu; not too shabby, either!

 

  OUTLAND, OST. 

 

Hot Water is fanfrackingtastic!!!!!!

[Marian Schedenig 8,191]

2 hours ago, Disco Stu said:

Bernard Herrmann Great Film Music - Herrmann conducting the National Philharmonic

 

Only recently discovering the series of albums that Herrmann recorded with Gerhardt's orchestra.  Essential stuff!

 

Those are two great albums.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Just now, Marian Schedenig said:

 

Those are two great albums.

 

It's a little confusing because this album:

 

https://www.discogs.com/Bernard-Herrmann-National-Philharmonic-Orchestra-The-Mysterious-Film-World-Of-Bernard-Herrmann/release/5247273

 

Reuses Gulliver from the album I own, but also has Mysterious Island and Jason.

 

And then there's this one:

 

https://www.discogs.com/Bernard-Herrmann-Charles-Gerhardt-National-Philharmonic-Orchestra-Kiri-Te-Kanawa-Joaquin-Achucarro-C/release/2381233

 

So is it 2 or 3?

 

Also, there appears to be a couple of other albums he recorded with them of music other than his own:

https://www.discogs.com/Bernard-Herrmann-National-Philharmonic-Orchestra-Bernard-Herrmann-Conducts-Great-British-Film-Music/release/6945351

https://www.discogs.com/Bernard-HerrmannNational-Philharmonic-Orchestra-Music-From-Great-Shakespearean-Films/release/5753816

 

Looks like the Shakespeare one has never been re-released.

[Marian Schedenig 8,191]

I have "Music from Great Film Classics by Bernard Herrmann" (in red) and "Great Film Music - Bernard Herrmann" (in green). I think they are combination albums made of separate individual albums as originally made by Herrmann.

 

The red one has 9 tracks recorded with the LPO in 1970 (Citizen Kane, Jane Eyre, The Devil and Daniel Webster, The Snows of Kilimanjaro) and 9 more tracks by the NPO in 1975 (Mysterious Island, Jason and the Argonauts). The green one is all NPO, with 22 tracks recorded in 1975 (Journey to the Center of the Earth, The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad, The Day the Earth Stood Still) and 13 in 1975 (Fahrenheit 451, Gulliver's Travels).

 

So there might originally have been three, one by the LPO in 1970 and two by the NPO in 1974 and 1975. (For the record, I've been referring to these two compliation thingies).

 

You linked to the Gerhardt album there above, but I guess that was by accident?

 

And weren't Herrmann's Planets also originally from the "phase4stereo" series, or am I misremembering?

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Speaking of Herrmann, this week I found this piano transcription of "Scene d'Amour" from Vertigo.  It's...wow, somethin' else; a truly extraordinary performance/arrangement.  I've been in a Herrmann mood all week, listened to his "Welles Raises Kane" suite a bunch of times too.

 

 

[nightscape94 965]

I listened to Tron Legacy this past weekend.  First time hearing the whole thing as it's not typically music I listen to.  It's not a score I own (heard it on Spotify), but I wouldn't mind owning at least one CD with that type electronica variety.  Moody, rhythmic, energetic, heroic, dark, etc.  Nice score if a bit generic in it's more cinematic moments.

[publicist 4,643]

It's great. Love how the orchestrations channel Goldenthal's buzzing brass licks.

[Loert 2,511]

Howard Shore - The Fellowship of the Ring

 

My favourite track:

[Sharkissimo 1,973]

If this really was one continuous track, it would probably be my favourite. Just oozing with atmosphere from beginning to end and provoking so much warm, cosy nostalgia. 

 

 

 

[Bilbo 3,709]

Nostalgia for LotR. We're all so very, very old.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Yeah, passing the 15th anniversary of FOTR was a weird feeling.  I remember in May 1992 how ancient 1977 seemed, like Star Wars was a text passed down by many generations.

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

2 hours ago, Sharky said:

If this really was one continuous track, it would probably be my favourite. Just oozing with atmosphere from beginning to end and provoking so much warm, cosy nostalgia. 

 

 

 

 

This would be my pick from the first score as well, though Balin's Tomb and The Road Goes Ever On Pt. 1 are close behind. 

[Gnome in Plaid 219]

3 hours ago, Loert said:

Howard Shore - The Fellowship of the Ring

 

My favourite track:

 

2 hours ago, Sharky said:

If this really was one continuous track, it would probably be my favourite.

There is only one acceptable answer here:

 

[Disco Stu 15,495]

3 minutes ago, Gnome in Plaid said:

 

There is only one acceptable answer here:

 

 

Yes, the single LOTR cue I'd put in a time capsule or whatever if I had to choose just one.

[KK 3,307]

3 hours ago, Sharky said:

If this really was one continuous track, it would probably be my favourite. Just oozing with atmosphere from beginning to end and provoking so much warm, cosy nostalgia. 

 

 

 

 

Ditto. FotR is full of highlights (including the obvious "Breaking of the Fellowship"), but this one "cue" best encapsulates the dramatic range of Shore's design for Middle-Earth. And the Mordor theme statement at 5:51, with those brilliant aleatoric figures, is probably my favourite statement of that theme. Also the 8min mark always gives me chills. And I love how he uses the lower range of the flutes for atmosphere around the 13min mark.

 

Not to mention it's one of the best sequences of film in the saga.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

1 hour ago, Disco Stu said:

Yeah, passing the 15th anniversary of FOTR was a weird feeling.  I remember in May 1992 how ancient 1977 seemed, like Star Wars was a text passed down by many generations.

 

It's weird because 1977 did seem ancient in 1992. But 2001 doesn't feel that long ago in 2017.

[Sharkissimo 1,973]

9 hours ago, KK said:

And the Mordor theme statement at 5:51, with those brilliant aleatoric figures, is probably my favourite statement of that theme in the whole saga.

 

It perfectly captures the Dantean hellishness of Bara-dur. I love that vertiginous camera move that starts on a tower over the lava chasm, tracks away to tilt up and reveal that it's only one of dozens, lit by a flood of torches. It's like PJ's tribute to the Star Destroyer shot from ANH.

 

What's the flutish instrument at 6:12-17, rolling around on Sauron's pitch set (A5, Bb5, C#6 and D6)? Maybe one of the whistles? It sounds too sine wavy and close-miked to be one of the concert flutes. Maybe @Doug Adams could chime in?

 

Also:

 

9 hours ago, KK said:

Also the 8min mark always gives me chills.

 

What are the aleatoric violins doing behind the harmonics? It's an effect that returns with the dolly zoom shot in A Shortcut to Mushrooms. Again Doug, if you're there...

 

 

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

I've wondered about that harmonic texture too.  Always assumed it was harmonics played with very high bow pressure.

[Jay 37,346]

4 hours ago, Disco Stu said:

Yeah, passing the 15th anniversary of FOTR was a weird feeling.  I remember in May 1992 how ancient 1977 seemed, like Star Wars was a text passed down by many generations.

 

Woah.  Star Wars was an old of a film when I got into that series, as LOTR is now.  Weird.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

We're getting old man!

[Naïve Old Fart 9,514]

On this day of days, I feel that there is only one score I can listen to, and I'm listening to it, right now.

[publicist 4,643]

[crocodile 8,000]

Pleasant Newman-esque score.

 

Karol

[Sharkissimo 1,973]

6 hours ago, TheGreyPilgrim said:

I've wondered about that harmonic texture too.  Always assumed it was harmonics played with very high bow pressure.

 

The strange thing is there's quite intracate chromatic noodling there, that would be impossible with harmonics - artificial or natural. In the second instance I can hear a G#6, A6, Bb6, D6 and F7. I think it's just a set of pitches with the manifesto system played sul tasto + muted. 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,514]

So...nobody's listened to you-know-what, yet?

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Sleeping Beauty - George Bruns

 

My 2nd favorite Disney animation score of the 50s/60s era (after Bruns' own 101 Dalmatians).  My daughter loves listening to it in the car and it's such a delightful mix of Bruns' wonderful original material with his Tchaikovsky adaptations.  Love all the lighthearted music for the fairies and of course the still chilling cue for Aurora's hypnotized procession to the spindle.

 

Two thumbs up!

 

[Romão 2,274]

I love that one. And the cue for Aurora's hypnotized procession you mentioned is indeed fantastic. Is that one also an adaptation of Tchaikovsky material?

[Disco Stu 15,495]

1 hour ago, Romão said:

I love that one. And the cue for Aurora's hypnotized procession you mentioned is indeed fantastic. Is that one also an adaptation of Tchaikovsky material?

 

It's Tchaikovsky:

 

 

Turns out this Tchaikovsky fella was pretty good.

 

I believe the bulk of Bruns' original music was in the climax of the film (prince storming the castle, fighting the dragon and whatnot).

[Bespin 8,480]

Happy 40th to Star Wars!

 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,514]

At last! Happy birthday, indeed.

[crocodile 8,000]

 

Karol

[Naïve Old Fart 9,514]

Ooh! The OST. Nice.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

The Battle of Neretva - Bernard Herrmann

 

Trying to acquaint myself with some of the lesser known Herrmann scores.  This OST is unrelenting!  It's very novel to hear Herrmann writing in a militaristic style.  I like it!

 

Check out this march.  It's on fire!

 

 

When he marries this militarism with his more usual cerebral style, it's positively breathtaking.  Just check this shit out:

 

[Brónach 1,302]

I love that one.

[crocodile 8,000]

 Tale of a Lake by Panu Aaltio. One of the most enjoyable soundtrack albums of the past few years and a recent favourite of mine. It's a bit like George Fenton's scores to BBC documentaries but with a greater sense of wonder and thematic consistency. Wish bigger films sounded anything like this. It's a shame I discovered it so late - the CD pressing for this was so small it's impossible to track down now.

 

 

Karol