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

[Dixon Hill 4,236]

Well tomorrow at 4 AM we begin our big southward drive to my brother and sister-in-law's place. On the listening schedule:

A smattering of Williams concert pieces, including but not limited to: TreeSong, The Five Sacred Trees, Heartwood, and the flute/cello concerti.

All 5 Shore Middle-Earth scores

Zimmer's Inception

Jeremy Soule's 3 Elder Scrolls scores

Mahler 2 & 8

R. Strauss' Also Sprach Zarathustra and Tod und Verklarung

Ligeti's Requiem, Atmospheres, Lontano, and Lux Aeterna

Selected Pink Floyd albums: Atom Heart Mother, Meddle, Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, The Wall

The depressing thing is that will STILL leave a portion of the drive unscored. I dread what might be chosen to fill that void.

[Glóin the Dark 1,280]

That's enough music to cover a drive from here to Jupiter...

[Dixon Hill 4,236]

Actually you're right, I miscalculated! I forgot Skyrim by itself is almost 4 hours. I might just avoid the Katy Perry after all.

[KK 3,308]

Are you listening to the CRs of the Middle-Earth scores? That list could fill up your drive there and back.

[Dixon Hill 4,236]

Of course. But in reality it'll only cover less than half.

Heh unless I include the Rarities too. This keeps getting better.

[Koray Savas 2,254]

Where the hell are you driving to?

[BloodBoal 7,541]

Hell.

[Dixon Hill 4,236]

Basically from NYC to the southernmost point of the US.

[alicebrallice 134]

ooooooooooh lord my heart is melting.

[BLUMENKOHL 1,081]

I think you accidentally misspelled "sleeping."

[KK 3,308]

ooooooooooh lord my heart is melting.

It's a very good score, from the Coolman

[Dixon Hill 4,236]

Yes, it is charming. Between the Coolman and Snoozeman camps I'm definitely in the former.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,376]

Coolman rules!

[Bespin 8,673]

 

 

 

 

[crocodile 8,408]

QB VII by Jerry Goldsmith

For someone like myself, who knows the composers mostly from films below his enormous talents, this one is very different (and rare) beast indeed - serious, personal, exploring penetrating and delicate subjects. It's a very interesting mix of his boisterous epic sound, with some Jewish influences, quasi-Kilar lush strings and The Book Thief-like melancholy. Very rich in thematic material and instrumental colour, at times epic and sprawling (as with the choral tracks), but often tiny and fragile (quite a lot of solo instrument passages) - it all sounds very heartfelt. I know, I know... A lot of Goldsmith music is, but not quite in this way. For my money, quite a unique entry in his filmography and, as such, belongs in all your collections (whoever cares to read this). Add COPP/Tadlow flawless treatment along with the informative liner notes and you can't go wrong. A real stunner, this one.

Or, should I say, just another day at Tadlow Music.

A Christmas Carol by Alan Silvestri

This is slowly turning into one of my favourite Christmas albums. Its only sin is that there is nothing really surprising about it - an stereotypical festive period music - with a mixture of fantasy, comedy, Gothic horror, action with several quotes from holiday songs sprinkled throughout - all of that in under 50 minute album, which never outstays its welcome. Add a really great theme and we have a winner.

Karol - who needs to check out The Salamander some time very soon

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,376]

DoS SE!

[Marian Schedenig 8,890]

QB VII by Jerry Goldsmith

You already have it!?

[crocodile 8,408]

Yup, arrived this morning.

Karol

[Bespin 8,673]

 

 

[Marian Schedenig 8,890]

Yup, arrived this morning.

Neat. They only took my money yesterday evening.

[Trent B 340]

Back To The Future by Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra on Grooveshark

Never heard that rendition for the theme, that's actually pretty cool.

I'm currently listening to the complete GNP release for Star Trek Insurrection.

I can't wait to get the Varèse complete release for Star Trek Nemesis next month. Grant like a lot of people I've had the boot for years but as we know it wasn't complete. I'm looking forward to hearing the entire score including the alternates.

I have a funny feeling the boot had the alternate mixes for some of the cues that are on the Varèse release.

[A24 4,536]

Holy cow, The Book Thief is on Spotify, why haven't I been notified?!

At first glance, it sounds a bit like Stepmom, doesn't it?

Alex

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,376]

And Angela's Ashes

[crocodile 8,408]

And John Williams.

Karol

[Bespin 8,673]

 

 

[crocodile 8,408]

QB VII and Lethal Weapon 4.

Yup, arrived this morning.

Neat. They only took my money yesterday evening.

Same.

Dragonslayer

Karol

[A24 4,536]

And John Williams.

Karol

No need to keep pointing that out. We all know Williams doesn't reinvent himself!

[crocodile 8,408]

And yet it managed to disappoint a hell lot of people.

Karol

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,376]

Their problem, not JW's!

[A24 4,536]

I just ordered the CD!

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,376]

What do you think of the score? You are a discerning listener, even with JW.

[A24 4,536]

I have to listen to it a couple of times more before I can form an opinion but it's John Williams in an autumnally mode so the purchase is a no-brainer. I haven't bought a John Williams CD in .... (walks away without completing the sentence).

Alex

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,376]

You like Stepmom?

[A24 4,536]

Yes ... and Stanley And Iris, The Accidental Tourist ...

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,376]

Good, undervalued stuff.

[Jay 39,156]

The Accidental Tourist is really lovely. I still need to check out Stepmom and Stanley and Iris one day.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,376]

I really can't defend the film Stepmom, but the score is lovely.

[Glóin the Dark 1,280]

Randy Edelman's Gettysburg.

[Dixon Hill 4,236]

Randy Edelman's Gettysburg.

What wonderful main title sequence music. I've not heard any more of the score on its own though.

[crocodile 8,408]

Yes ... and Stanley And Iris, The Accidental Tourist ...

Never heard either of them.

Stepmom is fine - the guitar tracks are great. One of his better subtler themes, that's for sure.

Karol

[Glóin the Dark 1,280]

Randy Edelman's Gettysburg.

What wonderful main title sequence music. I've not heard any more of the score on its own though.

Would have been a great addition to your cross-country soundtrack!

[Dixon Hill 4,236]

Perhaps the return journey.

[The Great Gonzales 6,199]

I am not sure there will be a return journey...

[Wojo 2,456]

I like Journey. Got everything they did on my iPod.

[Bespin 8,673]

 

 

[Naïve Old Fart 10,297]

QB VII and Lethal Weapon 4.

Yup, arrived this morning.

Neat. They only took my money yesterday evening.

Same.

Dragonslayer

Karol

What do you think of "Dragonslayer", and "QB VII", Croc? "Kaddish For The Six Million" is truly great.

The Accidental Tourist is really lovely. I still need to check out Stepmom and Stanley and Iris one day.

"Stepmom" is ok, but just ok. It's "The Accidental Tourist", with glitz, but without the heart.

[publicist 4,647]

I posted a short review for QB VII in the respective thread. Here's the accompanying suite to judge for yourself if this is worth your time:

https://soundcloud.com/erdnussberg/jerry-goldsmith-qb-vii-suite

[crocodile 8,408]

QB VII and Lethal Weapon 4.

Yup, arrived this morning.

Neat. They only took my money yesterday evening.

Same.

Dragonslayer

Karol

What do you think of "Dragonslayer", and "QB VII", Croc? "Kaddish For The Six Million" is truly great.

You can read my impressions here. In short? It is a stunner. Imagine Schindler's List done in Golden Age of cinema. The score has everything - intimate instrument solos to big Goldmsith epicness.

As for Dragonslayer, it is a truly ambitious fantasy score, likely to put off most listeners. But a journey well worth taking. I always liked how he reused the ballet sequence from his rejected 2001 score - this is some of my favourite material from that score. Even if it's not something you could enjoy on a daily basis, the score deserves respect it - this kind of experimentation in such genres is unheard of.

Speaking of North, my sister gets a brownie point for picking the coolest thing ever for my Christmas present - namely the infamous Spartacus box set! Yay, how friggin awesome is that? I think I've ordered this once or twice before but always had to cancel for various reasons. Not had a chance to unwrap it yet. The sheer size/length of this thing is truly formidable. I'll get into it when I have some more spare time. All in all, probably one the most thoughtful presents I ever got.

Karol

[crocodile 8,408]

Spartacus

I've started my exploration of the set from the complete score presented in mono. And while you can hear some difference between this master and some stereo tracks presented on disc 1 (which I'll listen to sometime later), this complete monoaural is a perectly enjoyable presentation. It's a flat and boring mono I was expecting - some effort clearly went into making it as spacious as possible, not completely unlike Family Plot release. So, all in all, for a 53 year old recording of this nature, it sounds really good indeed.

The music itself. It's easy to see why this work is held in such high regard by critics, film composer colleagues and listeners. It's a very emotional score, actually - much less of a loud epic. Character work comes first and that is something that makes it completely relateable even to our modern ears. There is, of course, a lot of impressive playing here, very imaginative orchestrations and plenty of thematic development. All of that will be further revealed by future listens, I'm sure. It's a lot to take in, with all the alternates, the complete scores is 3 hours long! I might prepare myself a 75 minute playlist based on a unproduced Goldsmith re-recording that they planned to realise in the early 90's - that might be a just perfect dose for more casual listens.

I also read the book. It's surprising there are so many connections and known names attached to this project. For example, John Williams' dad played on this recording, so did Armin Steiner, and John Neufeld's father was a concert master. And there is more. There are several quotes from Williams and Goldsmith, among other people.

All in all, it's probably more accessible than I expected. Or maybe I'm more seasoned listener (one might hope!) to the one I was when I first heard Alex North's music. I'm very happy with it - great music and great set!

Karol

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,376]

Bah! Mono!