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


Ollie

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Summer dreams ripped at the seams...

 

John Williams - Presumed Innocent - Expanded Score

Jerry Goldsmith - First Knight - Expanded Score

Jerry Goldsmith - Air Force One - Expanded Score

Michael Kamen - The Iron Giant - Expanded Score

 

(Be patient there is only one left!)

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E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (Music From The Original Motion Picture  Soundtrack) - Album by John Williams | Spotify

 

I don't know what I can possibly add to the praise and decoration that this score has already been rightfully gifted.

 

Listening to this end-to-end is simply one of the greatest musical adventures that you can ever embark on.

 

And to think that Williams achieved this greatness (plus Raiders, come to think of it) in-between two Star Wars films. This really was the peak of his output.

 

 

That big fanfare at the end of The Departure is still my favourite moment of music, in any genre, ever ever ever ever ever ever. Nothing has ever matched the emotional hit of that final pounding of brass and timpani. Ever.

 

Never has a tutti crescendo meant so much....

 

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:heart:

 

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I love Powell's blend of traditional Hollywood superhero scoring with rock, blues and electronic elements. The result is a fun score with some surprising emotional depth. And The Moon and the Superhero is one of Powell's most vibrant, uplifting cues he ever wrote.

 

Come on, Marvel is producing another dozen movies, DC has its "ten year plan"... Someone please give JP a big budget super-hero movie!

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17 hours ago, LSH said:

 

That big fanfare at the end of The Departure is still my favourite moment of music, in any genre, ever ever ever ever ever ever. Nothing has ever matched the emotional hit of that final pounding of brass and timpani. Ever.

 


It’s the ultimate payoff for everything that comes before too.  Having the “Chase” leitmotif for the “I’ll Be Right Here” moment is beyond brilliant and fits the emotion better than the flying theme or signal motif or any other. 
 

Those last 15 minutes are career best in my opinion.   I get a throat lump every listen, even in the car.  I am moved not by just the music, or it’s connection the the film, but that I somehow exist in the time when this was made and that such a wonder of nature even exists at all.  How does he do it?  I just marvel at it every time. 
 

Im ripe for a listen, but I’m delaying because I will be seeing the film in IMAX this week, so I want to be musically hungry for it. 
 

And believe me I will cry happy tears. 

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19 hours ago, LSH said:

That big fanfare at the end of The Departure is still my favourite moment of music, in any genre, ever ever ever ever ever ever. Nothing has ever matched the emotional hit of that final pounding of brass and timpani. Ever.

 

Stravinski's The Firebird?

 

But seriously:

 

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Varese Compilation - A 25th Anniversary Celebration

 

Wow!  Across these 4 long discs, I heard a lot of film music tracks I wasn't familiar with, but really liked.  Sadly I didn't have time to jot any of those observations down so might have to pop the discs back in again to remember everything I wanted to check out, but boy is this a nice and fun way to discover new film music

 

https://www.discogs.com/release/8935477-Various-Varèse-Sarabande-A-25th-Anniversary-Celebration

 

 

Sonic Images Compilations - Watch The Skies

 

A nice compilation of tracks already released on various Silva Screen and Telarc albums, all sci-fi based scores, mostly from the 90s, with some older stuff too.  I enjoyed it

 

https://www.discogs.com/release/6477255-Various-Watch-The-Skies

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I purchased all these (the difference between those and these, I'll never get it, sorry) VR anniversary boxsets.

 

It's great sometimes, just to hear something different.. and yet they managed to arrange the tracks by moods, by themes... anyway... there are highs and lows, some flights, it's really great how they created these compilations, it's not just one track after another.

 

And I respect VR so much, it's a great pleasure to have this Record Label in my world!

 

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3 minutes ago, AC1 said:

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Alex North will be the next John Williams!

The next Jerry Goldsmith, surely?! 😜

Although in all seriousness, this is an absolutely gorgeous score. For those who can find some North’s music more challenging, this is delicate and beautiful. Great performance and recording conducted by Jerry too.

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29 minutes ago, Tom Guernsey said:

The next Jerry Goldsmith, surely?! 😜

Although in all seriousness, this is an absolutely gorgeous score. For those who can find some North’s music more challenging, this is delicate and beautiful. Great performance and recording conducted by Jerry too.

 

The reflective mood of those ultra low woodwinds chords (which North also ulilizes on 2001: A Space Odyssey), I can't tell you the effect that has on me. And it's almost as if North is one of the few film composers that has used bass woodwinds in such a way. Of course, the most famous example are the ominous low woodwinds in Bernard Herrmann's Citizen Kane. I wouldn't mind a movie score with just bass flute, contrabassoon and bass clarinet. 

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2 hours ago, AC1 said:

 

The reflective mood of those ultra low woodwinds chords (which North also ulilizes on 2001: A Space Odyssey), I can't tell you the effect that has on me. And it's almost as if North is one of the few film composers that has used bass woodwinds in such a way. Of course, the most famous example are the ominous low woodwinds in Bernard Herrmann's Citizen Kane. I wouldn't mind a movie score with just bass flute, contrabassoon and bass clarinet. 

Agreed, the textures in that score are wonderful and the Varese recording actually brings them out really well too. Is there actually another score like Virginia Woolf in North's catalogue? I can't think of anything offhand, his other drama scores are somewhat more astringent and melodramatic (although I confess I'm less familiar with this area of his output).

 

1 hour ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

Alex North: the most ignored, disrespected, unlistened to, and underrated film composer, ever.

He really does deserve much better.

I'd certainly have to agree that his name doesn't get mentioned nearly as much especially compared to golden age composers who themselves don't exactly get as much bandwidth as they deserve sometimes (especially if you exclude Bernard Herrmann, not that he doesn't deserve it!). I wonder if maybe people think North is hard work, especially if you dive straight into Dragonslayer (as I did many years ago) and realised that, no, it's not like Krull or The Beastmaster or Conan. Although it's well worth persevering with (and the film itself is worth a watch and helps with enjoyment and appreciation of the music).

 

However, he wrote plenty of music that is instantly enjoyable; The Agony and the Ecstasy, Viva Zapata!, The Shoes of the Fisherman, Spartacus, 2001A Streetcar Named Desire, not to mention Unchained Melody, most unlikely famous piece of music written by a film composer almost nobody has heard of. I always hope he and his estate did well out of that...

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13 minutes ago, Tom Guernsey said:

Agreed, the textures in that score are wonderful and the Varese recording actually brings them out really well too. Is there actually another score like Virginia Woolf in North's catalogue? I can't think of anything offhand, his other drama scores are somewhat more astringent and melodramatic (although I confess I'm less familiar with this area of his output).

 

When it comes to Alex North, I'm actually mostly familiar with the stellar Jerry Goldsmith versions (which I love because I never buy old recordings). The recording of Virginia Woolf is magnificant indeed.  I wish Jerry never stopped recording with the NPO (but no, he had to go to Prague :angryfire:). 

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2 hours ago, AC1 said:

 

When it comes to Alex North, I'm actually mostly familiar with the stellar Jerry Goldsmith versions (which I love because I never buy old recordings). The recording of Virginia Woolf is magnificant indeed.  I wish Jerry never stopped recording with the NPO (but no, he had to go to Prague :angryfire:). 

I really like all of his North recordings even if the tempos are a touch slower here and there. I don’t think he recorded in Prague though, the recordings that aren’t with the NPO are the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. 

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31 minutes ago, Tom Guernsey said:

I really like all of his North recordings even if the tempos are a touch slower here and there. I don’t think he recorded in Prague though, the recordings that aren’t with the NPO are the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. 

 

Damn, it's so long ago, that in my memory it became Prague. Before I was going to buy this new North/Goldsmith CD, I asked if I could listen to it first, because I noticed it no longer was recorded with the NPO. I didn't like the recording (orchestra felt too far away) so I ended up not buying it at all. And, really, I was a fan of the first three (with Streetcar being my least favorite).

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16 hours ago, AC1 said:

 

Damn, it's so long ago, that in my memory it became Prague. Before I was going to buy this new North/Goldsmith CD, I asked if I could listen to it first, because I noticed it no longer was recorded with the NPO. I didn't like the recording (orchestra felt too far away) so I ended up not buying it at all. And, really, I was a fan of the first three (with Streetcar being my least favorite).

I think it may have been more to do with the recording venue and setup than anything, which is a shame as the RSNO is a fine orchestra (and Usher Hall in Edinburgh is a great venue), I have a lot of classical recordings by them. However, agree that the sound is a bit more distant in their recordings, there are similar issues with some of their Herrmann etc., albums (although I still think they are great but then I'm not a fan of super dry recordings), notably the infamously boomy Torn Curtain recording. I would still say they are worth picking up, although the North recordings that Elmer Bernstein have more snap to them.

 

12 hours ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

Alex, you really should listen to the C&C CLEOPATRA.

I thought about including Cleopatra, but I remember finding it a touch hard work by the end as it's pretty long and is a bit more low key than, say, Spartacus. Still worth persevering of course. Currently on Good Morning, Vietnam, which is quite a strange assignment for a composer like North. Nice, if somewhat fleeting - with a weird hint of the misnamed Entr'acte from the 2001 rerecording (actually from his music to the documentary about Africa as I recall) in the track Chasing Tuan.

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North's score for John Huston's last movie, 'The Dead', is also a very good 'quiet' score. As for him being underrated: there's a reason Spielberg recommended North to his friends Robbins/Barwood for 'Dragonslayer' but he himself used JW, a big North admirer, and usually wanted him to be more Steiner than North. And Spielberg was right. North is too cerebral for regular audiences, even if he did catchy things occasionally.

 

Interesting trivia: WB studio chief Jack Warner was a big fan, which was surprising, because Warner was a Steiner and Korngold kind of guy. When Mike Nichols did 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf', he wanted André Previn (a personal friend). Warner let Nichols run pretty much his own show on this movie, but there he put his foot down and told Nichols to 'get the fuck off my lot' and barred him from editing and scoring, which as ultimately done by North.

 

 

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If Goldsmith had recorded Cleopatra with the NPO at Abbey Road Studios with Mike Sheedy as the recording engineer then the CD would have been mine on the very first day of release! Did you guys ever listen to the timpani and brass track on North's 2001? Audiophile nirvana!

 

PS: Oh, I have the one that Pubs posted too. Wasn't cheap either.

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30 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

I haven't listened to it in a long time, but from what I remember, the sound on Cleopatra is perfectly solid (less aged than on Spartacus).

I think they both sound pretty good, indeed the sound on the expanded Spartacus is excellent. The only disappointment being that the full score is in mono only. However that sounds good and what’s available in stereo is a pretty good representation. Given the improvements in technology in the interim, I expect any rerelease of Cleopatra would sound even better although I’m guess North doesn’t really sell in sufficient quantities to justify such a release alas. 

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It's one of the great, rousing adventure scores from Hollywood's Golden Age (and the recording is fair, though not matching Gerhardt's, but who is?), but then i felt the same problem i often have with recent releases: it's too much bloody music. Would have been twice as great at 50 minutes. Jack Warner apparently was as ignorant as modern producers, saying to Max Steiner at one point: 'Look, why don't you just compose for all the scenes, we can still cut out some stuff later'.

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Some forgotten (especially by me!) albums from 2015.

  • Howard Shore - Nobody's Fool Expanded (very nice and gentle score for a sunny summer day!)
  • James Horner - Pas de deux (lovely lovely album ❤️ ♥️ 😍)
  • John Williams - Rhythm in Motion / So Nice (jazzy Johnny!)
  • James Horner - Krull Expanded 
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The Roots of Heaven/David Copperfield - Sir Malcolm Arnold

 

A rather unusual album for the Naxos Film Classics re-recordings.

First, these are not Golden Age scores. The first one is from the late 50s, the second from 1970. Secondly, they are from a British composer. Such a recording would usually fit better into the Chandos series of Rumon Gamba.

Anyway, the scores are melodic, majestetic, romantic. Even though the subjects of the movies are not very funny, rather particularly depressing, the music is energetic, colorful and dramatic. Clear recomendation from my side.

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42 minutes ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

Will John Barry's rejected score for this ever see the light of day?

Did he even get around to writing music, for it?

 

No, only some theme demos, nothing even recorded with an orchestra, afair.

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23 hours ago, GerateWohl said:

The Roots of Heaven/David Copperfield - Sir Malcolm Arnold

 

A rather unusual album for the Naxos Film Classics re-recordings.

First, these are not Golden Age scores. The first one is from the late 50s, the second from 1970. Secondly, they are from a British composer. Such a recording would usually fit better into the Chandos series of Rumon Gamba.

Anyway, the scores are melodic, majestetic, romantic. Even though the subjects of the movies are not very funny, rather particularly depressing, the music is energetic, colorful and dramatic. Clear recomendation from my side.

Just read in the liner notes of the CD that John Williams was originally contracted by the producers to score David Copperfield after he already had scored Heidi for them. But then he had other duties, so Arnold did the job.

Anyway, beautiful score.

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From time to time, I love to listen to shorter score programs, the old-fashioned way, ie under 47 minutes.

 

Here's the latest playlists I made:

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* The Anthology, except for two tracks I prefer from the 2015 remastered OST
 

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2 minutes ago, Bespin said:

From time to time, I love to listen to shorter scores programs, under 47 minutes.

 

Here's the latest paylists I made:

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The Empire Strikes Back program is the single LP program plus Lando's Palace, isn't it?

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On 15/08/2022 at 12:31 PM, GerateWohl said:

The Empire Strikes Back program is the single LP program plus Lando's Palace, isn't it?

 

Yes, that's basically the original Promo LP, but in order (the US 1980 promo LP featured Lando's Palace, but on European releases, like in France, they replaced it by Battle in the Snow.  Then on the 1985 CD, they kept Battle in the snow also)

 

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2 minutes ago, GerateWohl said:

The Empire Strikes Back program is the single LP program plus Lando's Palace, isn't it?

Is that all you can say???!!!!! What about the dog's breakfast he made of STAR WARS.

Sometimes I'm ashamed to be a JWfaner.

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On 14/08/2022 at 11:21 AM, publicist said:

 

It's one of the great, rousing adventure scores from Hollywood's Golden Age (and the recording is fair, though not matching Gerhardt's, but who is?), but then i felt the same problem i often have with recent releases: it's too much bloody music. Would have been twice as great at 50 minutes. Jack Warner apparently was as ignorant as modern producers, saying to Max Steiner at one point: 'Look, why don't you just compose for all the scenes, we can still cut out some stuff later'.

I was just listening to this today and was thinking the same. But it is such a fine and fun score along with the Arsenic and Old Lace. I think the way Steiner utilizes popular music in his scores (like in Arsenic and Old Lace here) is so very emblematic of his style and he does it very well and must have in part influenced film scoring in general when it comes to using popular music and folk tunes etc. to conjure time, place and other associations.

 

And apparently Jack Warner indeed wanted Steiner to score everything wall-to-wall. It feels almost like it was a point of pride and prestige to Warner to have Steiner's music blasting through every scene even when a more minimal spotting would have been in order. :lol: 

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2 hours ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

What the bleeping heck is that?????!!!!!!!!

You've gutted a perfectly good score!

You are proper naughty, you are! Do not do that, again!

 

 

And isn't it a minor miracle that this isn't what we got in the first place? What the hell was a Star Wars and why did it get a double-LP?

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11 hours ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

Will John Barry's rejected score for this ever see the light of day?

Did he even get around to writing music, for it?

 

Richard, what happened to your memory?????????????

 

 

 

 

On 18/12/2019 at 5:08 PM, Jay said:

@Naïve Old Fart, I have big news for you!

 

Quote

Hey everybody,

 

John Barry's demos from CLASH OF THE TITANS can be heard on the latest Harryhausen podcast.

 

15 minutes recorded in August 1980.

 

Sounds to like 'Heroic 1' was reworked into Legend of the Lone Ranger. No, it doesn't have a Western vibe, and it's not exactly the Legend melody, but you can hear melodic and rhythmic ideas that seem to have been reworked into that. I have no doubt it would have worked when fully orchestrated.

 

https://soundcloud.com/rayharryhausenfoundation/episode-30-the-music-of-ray-harryhausen-vol-5-clash-of-the-titans

 

Cheers

 

Quote

Start times for the demos:

 

6:48 in ("Heroic 1"; not heard in full)
1:27:10 ("Andromeda"; not heard in full)
1:28:43 ("Persius Growing Up"; not heard in full)
1:30:49 ("Scorpion"; not heard in full).

 

https://filmscoremonthly.com/board/posts.cfm?threadID=138713&forumID=1&archive=0

 

On 19/12/2019 at 3:45 PM, Naïve Old Fart said:

I've been very busy, lately, but I've just now listened to the tracks.

Ok, how does one compare a rejected score, to the score used in the film? It's easy to say "I understand why it was rejected", but that's because we have heard the used score. At that time, Rosenthal wasn't on the scene. All they had was Barry.

Anyone who days "Sorry, but it's not working", to anybody, is seen as a bit of a betrayer. The fact is, they put Barry's music up against the images, and it didn't marry. The demos sound nice, and maybe they would have worked in another film (it once took JG three goes to get his score onto the screen). This doesn't mean that Barry's music doesn't have merit, just that Harryhausen, and Schneer didn't think it was right, for the film. Perhaps if they had stayed with Barry, he might have come through.

Just because a demo doesn't sound "right" for a film, it doesn't mean that it won't sound "right", in the end. Goodness knows what Campbell, and Broccoli thought, when they first GOLDENEYE, yet it's a good score, setting itself against the images, not aligning itself with them. In the end, it was an intelligent, if esoteric, choice.

Yeah, his score was said "take a hike", to. I think it was a missed opportunity, but I'm just a film music fan, so what do I know?

 

 

On 19/12/2019 at 3:53 PM, Jay said:

Interesting!

So did the demos meet your expectations after so many years of longing to hear them?

 

On 19/12/2019 at 4:00 PM, Naïve Old Fart said:

Interesting question, Jay. If they were complete, orchestrated cues, I might be able to pass comment on them. What we have here, however, are rough charcoal sketches, and not full color paintings. They are embryos. Having said that, any music by the greatest, most famous, and most celebrated English film composer ever, however "rough" it sounds, is worth hearing :)

 

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36 minutes ago, Incanus said:

And apparently Jack Warner indeed wanted Steiner to score everything wall-to-wall. It feels almost like it was a point of pride and prestige to Warner to have Steiner's music blasting through every scene even when a more minimal spotting would have been in order. :lol: 

 

 

In Steven Smith's immensely entertaining book are numerous references to that in Steiner's jokes to orchestrator Hugo Friedhofer on top of his cue sheets (some of them are absolutely hilarious, in a Porky's kind of way, like he informs his orchestrator how actress Viveca Lindfors exits a scene, while Errol Flynn stands on - and that *his* is standing, too, at the sight of the young beauty). 

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:music: The Dune Sketchbook by Hans Zimmer. As a concept album, it evokes the feel and the scope of Frank Herbert's book very well. The album is bit long and some of the pieces towards the end veer more towards grating sound design. But the sheer majority of it is still very enjoyable (especially the first four pieces). I like it so much that the actual film score as heard on the other album feels like a slight letdown. But that often seems to be the case with Hans - he has really cool ideas but some of them don't stick in context. Plus the film itself is more muted anyway. But as a whooe, this is a win.

 

Karol

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