Composer Threads Elmer Bernstein Thread

[Incanus 5,713]

Since we have threads for many of the new generation composers I thought why not start one for an old school film composer. After a quick search I could not find a thread dedicated to Elmer Bernstein so here is one. Discussion on his music, the man and his life and possible new releases of his music is the purpose of this thread even though it is not labeled Official. Appreciation and insights, analysis and memories are more than welcome. And if by a chance I missed a possible official thread, would some of the moderators move this one in it.

Elmer Bernstein was a long time just a name at the periphery of my film music hobby among many other composers. But over the years after reading and coming across high praise for his work and even listening to some music on compilations came across one score that turned me into a Bernstein fan. This score was To Kill a Mockingbird which has remained a firm favourite ever since. This music exhibited timeless lyricism and deep understanding of the wonderful film based on an equally wonderful novel and showed film composer's subtle mastery at its best. After this I began to explore Bernstein's catalogue a bit more widely and found time and time again classic scores for classic films of the yesteryear that were brazenly dramatic and inventively melodic. I had been only familiar with the comedy scores of the 1970's and 1980's period of his career and even though they were iconic and famous, and in all honesty they had never been my favourites. So it was a joy to find his different sides as it were beyond comedy, which he often scored very straight faced which lended them that clever coat of humor.

And digging deeper I found brilliant and touching scores like Birdman of Alcatraz and Far from Heaven, jazzy noirish scores of 1960's like the Sweet Smell of Success and Man with the Golden Arm and his bigger spectacles like Ten Commandments and the trend setting Western score of The Magnificent Seven.

And so my exploration still continues and I am always happy to find a new Bernstein score, full of his indelible sound and style. He is a composer that should be remembered among the greats of his generation even though the later phases of his career did not make him widely famous to cinema goers in the late 90's. He was also a strong advocate of film music in general and did a lot of work for the prestige and recognition of the art form, not only by being outspoken but by releasing recordings and being part of series of re-recordings to make classic film music available for a wider audience to listen to and appreciate.

[Faleel 5,340]

The Ten Commandments was an impressive score, the re-recording is a better preformance, but alot of the good tracks were left off.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Probably one of the best thematic composers of all time. The Great Escape, The Magnificent Seven, Ghostbusters, and Stripes are my favorites.

[Dean1700 4]

Just looking at his filmography and he certainly was one of the most prolific composers in his time scoring a lot of big name films. Love The Great Escape though, surely one of his greatest (but don't call him shirley!).

I know JW writes concert suites and pieces outside of the movies but did Berstein ever do anything like that?

[Joe Brausam 214]

Now this is a thread!

Probably one of the best thematic composers of all time. The Great Escape, The Magnificent Seven, Ghostbusters, and Stripes are my favorites.

Absolutely agreed.

His music had such a distinctive voice too, it is rather easy to recognize a Bernstein score, but at the same time he proved to have a very wide compositional range. He excelled with jazz and drama scores, his playing it straight comedy scores were excellent, his epic scores like TTT were very very good - and how can one not know and love his Westerns, where he was certainly one of the 3 unique voices of the genre, the others being Tiomkin and Morriconne.

He had a very distinctive use of woodwind instruments, that is something that you can recognize from the start. They have a very important role in many of his scores and I think are a critical part of that Bernstein "flavor". And his Film Music Collection did a wonderful service to his scores and those of others, I treasure that box set from FSM! One day I have to get his magazine compilation from the Film Music Society.

It's hard for me to pick a favorite out of oeuvre, but I do love The Great Escape, Magnificent 7, Ghostbusters, To Kill a Mockingbird, Desire Under the Elms, The Ten Commandments, True Grit, The Birdman of Alcatraz....heck I could go on forever.

[MSM 126]

My 4th favorite film composer of all time. Too many good scores there are. My favs are Ten Commandments, The Comancheros, Magnificent Seven, The Scalphunters, The Sons of Katie Elder.

[Marian Schedenig 8,177]

Bernstein is a bit hit and miss for me, but when he was great, he was great indeed. My favourite of his scores is, rather untypically, The Hallelujah Trail. A shame the complete score is lost, there's so much more to it still than what's on the CD. A brilliant, entirely leitmotif-driven Western musical.

[MSM 126]

Bernstein is a bit hit and miss for me, but when he was great, he was great indeed. My favourite of his scores is, rather untypically, The Hallelujah Trail. A shame the complete score is lost, there's so much more to it still than what's on the CD. A brilliant, entirely leitmotif-driven Western musical.

Oh forgot that one, love it.

[STORM 1]

Loads of good scores from elmer!,but one of my faves is slipstream,love the themes and the style and performance by the lso! grat stuff.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I misread this as the Albert Einstein Thread.

[Incanus 5,713]

I misread this as the Albert Einstein Thread.

Didn't you know that besides inventing the theory of relativity he was also a ghost writer for Franz Waxman, Miklós Rósza and Korngold.

[Omen II 1,235]

The BBC Concert Orchestra will be premiering The Great Escape live to picture at the Royal Festival Hall in London on 21st September this year.  Elmer's son Peter will be conducting.

 

The Great Escape

[Jurassic Shark 12,033]

That's great!

[Kasey Kockroach 2,343]

The only two E. Bernstein scores I'm familiar with are The Good Son and Buddy.

[Jurassic Shark 12,033]

On 8/8/2011 at 8:57 PM, Marian Schedenig said:

Bernstein is a bit hit and miss for me, but when he was great, he was great indeed. My favourite of his scores is, rather untypically, The Hallelujah Trail. A shame the complete score is lost, there's so much more to it still than what's on the CD. A brilliant, entirely leitmotif-driven Western musical.

 

I have a suite of that on the James Sedares CD of The Magnificent Seven, but it never gave me the impetus to check out the OST. Perhaps I should.

 

A recent-ish Bernstein discovery of mine is his score to True Grit, as rerecorded by Fitzpatrick on Tadlow. It would be a stretch to call it a great score, but it offers some very nice variations on the main theme.

[The Illustrious Jerry 3,356]

Oh yeah, The Magnificent Seven is another great one. When watching, Calverro's theme was a real treat.

 

E. Bernstein is definitely one worth looking into some more.

[Marian Schedenig 8,177]

2 hours ago, Jurassic Shark said:

I have a suite of that on the James Sedares CD of The Magnificent Seven, but it never gave me the impetus to check out the OST. Perhaps I should.

 

If you like the Sedares track, you'll like the OST. If not, then not. The leitmotif drive underscore might be for those who don't like the songs, but the album is woefully short on that.

[publicist 4,643]

The thing to take away from the Sedares is the 7-minute 'Hallelujah Trail', anyway.

[Jurassic Shark 12,033]

Is there a modern release of The Ten Commandments other than the 6 CD box Intrada released in 2016?

[Thor 7,478]

What do you mean with "modern"? I have the original re-recording that Bernstein did in 1959, 3 years after the movie's premiere.

[Jurassic Shark 12,033]

I meant a modern remaster.

[Romão 2,274]

I hope something like a re-recording by Tadlow is in the cards

[Jay 37,322]

1 hour ago, Jurassic Shark said:

Is there a modern release of The Ten Commandments other than the 6 CD box Intrada released in 2016?

 

That's as definitive of a presentation as has ever been released and there's nothing newer or better

[Jurassic Shark 12,033]

Yeah, I don't doubt that, but I was looking for something smaller, like a single or double album.

 

Something like the 1-CD Spartacus by Varese.

[Jay 37,322]

There isn't one

[Thor 7,478]

46 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

Yeah, I don't doubt that, but I was looking for something smaller, like a single or double album.

 

Something like the 1-CD Spartacus by Varese.

 

Again, just get the 1959 re-recording. The sound is fine, and it's a well-curated hour.

[Jurassic Shark 12,033]

43 minutes ago, Thor said:

 

Again, just get the 1959 re-recording. The sound is fine, and it's a well-curated hour.

 

I can only find rereleases from the late 80s or early 90s. Which one are you familiar with?

[Thor 7,478]

Only the 1959 one. And the suite on the ELMER BERNSTEIN BY ELMER BERNSTEIN compilation.

[Jurassic Shark 12,033]

Ah, the '95 rerelease.

 

This is the '57 recording, btw.

[Thor 7,478]

37 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

Ah, the '95 rerelease.

 

This is the '57 recording, btw.

 

I'm fairly certain it's from '59. I think the CD of this first came out in '89.

 

It appears, however, that I linked to the wrong one, i.e. a Japanese version (that has the same cover). This is the right one.

[bruce marshall 1,315]

The appeal of TTC continues to elude me; film or score.😒

[Jurassic Shark 12,033]

At least you should find something to like in the prelude.

 

 

[Tom Guernsey 2,280]

https://uk.7digital.com/artist/elmer-bernstein-orchestra-chico-hamilton/release/sweet-smell-of-success-original-motion-picture-soundtrack-15190075

 

Just saw this pop up at 7 Digital... anyone aware of it? I have the version that pairs Sweet Smell of Success with Walk on the Wild Side. Not that they are Bernstein scores I know well...

[Thor 7,478]

1 minute ago, Tom Guernsey said:

https://uk.7digital.com/artist/elmer-bernstein-orchestra-chico-hamilton/release/sweet-smell-of-success-original-motion-picture-soundtrack-15190075

 

Just saw this pop up at 7 Digital... anyone aware of it? I have the version that pairs Sweet Smell of Success with Walk on the Wild Side. Not that they are Bernstein scores I know well...

 

Yes, I'm aware of it, but there are SO many versions of SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS, it's easy to get lost.

[Tom Guernsey 2,280]

8 minutes ago, Thor said:

 

Yes, I'm aware of it, but there are SO many versions of SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS, it's easy to get lost.

Haha, fair enough... might have to revisit the version I have in any event.

[Thor 7,478]

I was being serious, though. Type in SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS on Spotify, and you'll get something like 7-8 different soundtrack versions. I have the original one, which is all I ever need.

[Tom Guernsey 2,280]

17 minutes ago, Thor said:

I was being serious, though. Type in SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS on Spotify, and you'll get something like 7-8 different soundtrack versions. I have the original one, which is all I ever need.

I believe you! Given that I don't really recall it, even I'm happy enough with the version I've got, although doubtless it's one of those scores that could use some TLC in the sound department given its age.

[Tom Guernsey 2,280]

Happy 100th birthday Elmer! We still miss you…

 

For all you Elmer fans out there, BBC Radio 3’s Composer of the Week this week is the man himself featuring interviews with his son Peter. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0015vrz

[karelm 2,903]

I got to hang out with Peter when he visited my school's orchestra (Elmer taught there only a few years before).  I remember him being a very kind man and his sister/Elmer's daughter is now a Pilates coach in Santa Monica.  She's also super kind and gentle soul.  Lovely family.  The concert Peter conducted was a tribute of his dad's music - most of which I never heard live before.

[Bespin 8,480]

This is another Pandora box to open for me... My God, Another biiiiig biiiiig box!

 

I started with very easy entries for Elmer Bernstein The Composer.

 

I already got these two:

 

 

Then I just purchased The Age of Innocence and the re-recording of How to Kill a Mockingbird.

 

[Jurassic Shark 12,033]

You must get The Magnificent Seven and The Great Escape (the Intrada 3 CD box).

[Edmilson 7,396]

To Kill a Mockingbird is a masterpiece. By far my favorite Elmer score.

[Jurassic Shark 12,033]

The Ava collection isn't bad, and includes Mockingbird.

 

[Disco Stu 15,495]

As I’ve probably said many times before Mockingbird is my #1 non-Williams film score of all time

[Jurassic Shark 12,033]

How many times did he record that one? Three apart from the original film recording?

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Yes three.  1963, 1976, 1997.  The ‘97 is my preferred.

[Jurassic Shark 12,033]

Has the '76 gotten a CD release?

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Yeah but I’m pretty sure only as part of a big 12 disc FSM box collecting all of his 70s re-recordings.  All of these albums have digital/streaming releases.

 

 

https://filmscoremonthly.com/cds/detail.cfm/CDID/366/Elmer-Bernsteins-Film-Music-Collection/

[Jurassic Shark 12,033]

Yeah, I just remembered that box. One of the labels should make these recordings available on CD again.

[Bespin 8,480]

I have parts from this box, like The ghost and Mrs Muirs.