Label Threads The Official Quartet Records Thread

[Rachael Foley 10,043]

4 minutes ago, BloodBoal said:

Meanwhile, in an alternate universe:

 

The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring

Music composed by Wojciech Kilar

 

The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers

Music composed by James Horner

 

The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King

Music composed by Basil Poledouris

In another alternate universe...

 

Wilst thou soar? Or wilst thou suck? The Legend of Zelda: by Basil Poledouris

[Richard P 5,262]

Of those three I'd pick Poledouris to do the trilogy. I'm barely aware of Kilar's music, but what little I've heard wasn't quite my thing. I think nine hours of Horner fantasy would wear me out - there are only a small handful of his bigger scores that I can handle in full.

 

But I like that Shore's music feels authentic to Middle Earth without becoming pretentious - it's fun and spectacular and scary. No doubt PJ made the right choice.

[BloodBoal 8,570]

21 hours ago, The Score Cleaner said:

In another alternate universe...

 

Wilst thou soar? Or wilst thou suck? The Legend of Zelda: by Basil Poledouris

 

It already exists and it's glorious:

 

 

[Rachael Foley 10,043]

2 hours ago, BloodBoal said:

 

It already exists and it's glorious:

 

 

As if that wasn't what I was referencing  (and the OOT trailer before it)

[Edmilson 12,263]

6 hours ago, Richard P said:

Of those three I'd pick Poledouris to do the trilogy. I'm barely aware of Kilar's music, but what little I've heard wasn't quite my thing. I think nine hours of Horner fantasy would wear me out - there are only a small handful of his bigger scores that I can handle in full.

 

But I like that Shore's music feels authentic to Middle Earth without becoming pretentious - it's fun and spectacular and scary. No doubt PJ made the right choice.

A Horner LOTR would've sounded exactly like most Horner scores from the time. I can already see people bitching both then and now: "Aragorn's theme is just Tristan's theme from Legends of the Fall!", "The Shire music is just Braveheart leftovers!", "Why is Celine Dion singing the Aragorn and Arwen love theme!?".

 

Now, I'm a massive Horner fan and apologist, and his post-Titanic up to The New World (which was exactly when he got the invitation) is my favorite period of his career, so I probably would've enjoyed it, whether it'd be just one score or the whole trilogy. Still, I wouldn't change what we got for it.

 

I'm not sure about Poledouris (would he had made it his third Conan score, or his style changed too much in the years since?), but Kilar's music would probably be a bit too European and classical-sounding. Shore rooted his music in the European orchestral and operatic tradition, but he still made it just"Hollywood-y" enough so as to not alienate the audience - precisely the mistake Gabriel Yared committed with Troy.

[filmmusic 3,222]

On 08/03/2026 at 7:44 PM, #SnowyVernalSpringsEternal said:

Nobody does is better

I like Poledouris' score for Conan the Barbarian, more than anything in the Lord of the Rings.

So, if it was possibly on that level, I think it would be great!

[BloodBoal 8,570]

Poledouris' The Lord Of The Rings could have been really something.

 

While both his Conan The Barbarian score and Shore's work are of course vastly different, there is one thing they have in common that really elevates those them: how the composers brilliantly capture musically the "distant, really ancient world" aspect of their respective films. Both scores absolutely nail that sound to perfection.

 

Just tell me this would not feel right at home in Middle-Earth:

 

 

[Rachael Foley 10,043]

16 minutes ago, filmmusic said:

I like Poledouris' score for Conan the Barbarian, more than anything in the Lord of the Rings.

So, if it was possibly on that level, I think it would be great!

It's the cover isn't it, with almost shirtless Arnold

[Rachael Foley 10,043]

1 hour ago, BloodBoal said:

Poledouris' The Lord Of The Rings could have been really something.

 

While both his Conan The Barbarian score and Shore's work are of course vastly different, there is one thing they have in common that really elevates those them: how the composers brilliantly capture musically the "distant, really ancient world" aspect of their respective films. Both scores absolutely nail that sound to perfection.

 

Just tell me this would not feel right at home in Middle-Earth:

 

 

That first one almost feels Rozsa-ish, like Quo Vadis.

 

 

[BloodBoal 8,570]

7 hours ago, The Score Cleaner said:

That first one almost feels Rozsa-ish, like Quo Vadis

 

Ah, nice catch!

 

It almost sounds like you can hear the 'Quo Vadis Domine' phrase at 01:09.

[Rachael Foley 10,043]

9 minutes ago, BloodBoal said:

 

Ah, nice catch!

 

It almost sounds like you can hear the 'Quo Vadis Domine' phrase at 01:09.

The opening, also reminds me of a cross of On the Doorstep and the end of Return to Vulcan (album version I think)

[Marian Schedenig 11,618]

11 hours ago, BloodBoal said:

19 hours ago, The Score Cleaner said:

That first one almost feels Rozsa-ish, like Quo Vadis

 

Ah, nice catch!

 

It almost sounds like you can hear the 'Quo Vadis Domine' phrase at 01:09.

 

Some of the stuff that was left off the Conan album versions has always reminded me of Rózsa.

[Mr. Hooper 8,703]

On 7/3/2026 at 7:36 PM, Mr. Hooper said:

'Looking for Richard'

 

An intimate portrait of one man's (Jurassic Shark) quest to find his friend (Naïve Old Fart), on the unforgiving dune pastureland of the Outer Hebrides, off the west coast of mainland Scotland.

 

Mark Kermode hails it as "A triumph of the indomitable human spirit... But he really could've just mailed that CD."

@Naïve Old Fart

I don't think I'll ever get around to seeing this, but I need to know which CD Jurassic Shark felt it necessary to travel all that way to hand-deliver to you...

 

Please put the answer in a spoiler box so not to ruin it for others. 

[Marian Schedenig 11,618]

9 minutes ago, Mr. Hooper said:

I don't think I'll ever get around to seeing this, but I need to know which CD Jurassic Shark felt it necessary to travel all that way to hand-deliver to you...

 

Probably Lady Jane… 

[Jurassic Shark 16,376]

30 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

 

Probably Lady Jane… 

 

Sadly it's OOP, so it would have to be Roy Budd's Phantom of the Opera.

[Andy 7,570]

@Jurassic SharkI never heard of Lady Jane until you mentioned it a couple weeks ago.  What am I missing out on?

[Mr. Hooper 8,703]

"Did someone call for me?"

 

 

Me: "No, he said "Lady Jane," not "Lady Jaye." 

 

 

 

"Fine, but you don't know what you're missing..."

 

 

 

[Rachael Foley 10,043]

I am not convinced that outfit's proper regulation....  

[Andy 7,570]

I’m glad I’m not the only one whose mind went to Lady Jaye. 

[Jurassic Shark 16,376]

5 hours ago, Andy said:

@Jurassic SharkI never heard of Lady Jane until you mentioned it a couple weeks ago.  What am I missing out on?

 

It can't be explained. It has to be experienced. 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 12,223]

Lady @Jay?

 

Did I miss a transformation?

[Holko 12,023]

New release:

 

https://quartetrecords.com/product/the-ipcress-file/

 

 

Quartet Records presents its fifth newly recorded release of a classic film score, and its third devoted to the music of John Barry, following Séance on a Wet Afternoon and the three television films starring Katharine Hepburn. The unforgettable music of this five-time Oscar-winning composer continues to be celebrated around the world, and the impact of his innovative scores for dozens of films from the 1960s through the ’90s still reverberates today.

 

THE IPCRESS FILE, directed by Sidney J. Furie in 1965, is an iconic film in British cinema. The first in the series centered on spy Harry Palmer (the anti-Bond), it marked Michael Caine’s first leading role, immediately catapulting him to stardom. The story is set entirely in London, where a small group of mundane civil servants quietly tracks an even smaller band of traitors.

 

During one of the most prolific and successful periods of his career, when he was producing one masterpiece after another, John Barry composed a memorable score for THE IPCRESS FILE. He sought a unique sound specific to the story and characters, one that would distinguish the humdrum world of real-life British spies from the larger-than-life fantasy of James Bond. The score features an equally iconic main theme, jazz-flavored and highlighted by a cimbalom soloist. For Barry, the Cold War backdrop of the movie provided an ideal showcase for this instrument.

 

Around the time of the film’s premiere, Barry assembled a lavish album for Decca, though it consisted mainly of wonderful variations, arrangements and jazz improvisations on the main theme. Barry wrote nearly 50 minutes of original music for IPCRESS, of which only 17 minutes were included on the album—edited, rearranged and presented alongside jazz variations for an optimal listening experience. This left around 35 minutes of previously unreleased material—more than enough to justify this new recording.

 

We haven’t attempted to recreate the various jazz variations because no professional jazz musician would replicate another performer’s improvisations—nor should they. Transcribing them onto paper is ultimately a futile exercise that could never truly capture the spirit of the original performances. Even so, we have always viewed this album as a complement to, not a substitute for, the irreplaceable original release. Each represents a different yet equally fascinating world.

 

In the bonus section, we have reconstructed—using our own recordings—the versions of the original score presented by Barry on the Decca album, including the edits and alterations he made. We have also included an alternate version of the main theme, featuring a slower tempo that gives our trumpeter, Miroslav Hloucal, the freedom to improvise; a version of “A Man Alone” based on the arrangement Barry created for a 45 rpm single at the time; and the themes from the television series Vendetta and The Persuaders!, both featuring the cimbalom, which conclude the program.

 

Leigh Phillips has painstakingly reconstructed and orchestrated the score and produced the recording. Performed by the prestigious City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Adam Klemens and recorded at Smecky Studios by Vítek Král, the album has been meticulously mixed and mastered by Chris Malone in the spirit of Barry’s original recording, delivering an authentic “Barry sound” reminiscent of his years at CTS. Elegant design by Nacho B. Govantes, with cover art by Jim Titus, graces a 20-page booklet featuring an in-depth essay by film music journalist, writer and renowned Barry connoisseur Jon Burlingame.

[Quppa 549]

This is an outstanding new recording, and they're not kidding about capturing the 'Barry sound' - if you'd told me it were a restored 1960s recording I'd almost believe you. Highly recommended for JB fans.