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Escape From Alcatraz by Jerry Fielding / Hell Is For Heroes by Leonard Rosenman (New Intrada CD Feb 5 2013)


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INTRADA Announces:

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ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ

Composed and Conducted by JERRY FIELDING

HELL IS FOR HEROES

Composed and Conducted by Leonard Rosenman

INTRADA Special Collection Vol. 236

From the pitted war zone of the Siegfried Line to the rough-hewn cliffs of Alcatraz Island, few directors equaled Don Siegel when it came to navigating the stark landscape of masculine cinema, frequently populated by tough men under extreme duress. This new release from Intrada features two such scores: Jerry Fielding's Escape from Alcatraz and Leonard Rosenman's Hell is for Heroes.

Hell is for Heroes was inspired by a true story from World War II about a small squad charged with holding an indefensible position along the Siegfried Line. The impressive ensemble cast included Bobby Darin, Fess Parker, Harry Guardino, James Coburn and Nick Adams, along with Bob Newhart as an out-of-his-depth private. But the star of the show was Steve McQueen as Reese, a rough outsider with a tarnished past who speaks bluntly and acts independently.

Leonard Rosenman was no stranger to war pictures, having previously scored such films as Pork Chop Hill (1959) and The Outsider (1961). Following Hell Is for Heroes, Pirosh would hire him to score the television series Combat! in much the same vein as his score for this feature. Rosenman’s sparsely spotted score makes the most of its relatively brief moments in the picture using skittering low strings and scattered piano figures to create a bleak portrait of war as a state of constant unease and agitation. The studio archived Hell Is for Heroes on three-track 35mm mag, allowing for a present-day true stereo mix.

Based on true events, Escape from Alcatraz focuses on the prison in June 1962, when three convicts managed to create dummies for their beds, dig through their cell walls and escape into San Francisco Bay. Unconfirmed sightings fostered rumors that they had survived the treacherous waters. Alcatraz prison closed less than a year later.

It immediately became apparent that the film required an unconventional, amelodic approach. Fielding opted for musique concrète, an electro-acoustic form, involving sonic manipulations beyond the normal spheres of melody, harmony and meter. Using techniques developed in his personal studio, Fielding dramatically altered the speed and pitch of individual instruments (as well as sound effects from the film) to achieve an intensely eerie atmosphere. A result of Fielding’s creative vision, however, is that the score only exists in the finished mixes, archived on three channels of 4-track ½˝ tape. Some cues are monaural, some are multiple monaural (grouping instrumental sections for dubbing purposes, but not reflecting the physical layout of an orchestra), and some are mostly monaural with isolated effects. This premiere CD presents the tracks in varying forms of stereo and artificial stereo for optimal listening purposes.

INTRADA Special Collection Vol. 236

Retail Price: $19.99

Available Now

For track listing and sound samples, please visit

http://store.intrada.com/s.nl/it.A/id.7970/.f

ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ / HELL IS FOR HEROES

Label: Intrada Special Collection Volume 236
Date: 1979 / 1962
Tracks: 29
Time = 70:04
World premiere of two dramatic soundtracks to Paramount films directed by Don Siegel. Appearing first is brief score by Leonard Rosenman for intense, highly regarded WWII action film HELL IS FOR HEROES starring Steve McQueen, Bobby Darin, Fess Parker. Rosenman launches with one of his most exciting "Main Title" sequences of his career, then settles in for closer look at psychology of men in war. Intrada presents complete score in stereo from original three-channel scoring session masters. Second up is longer, highly complex score by Jerry Fielding for Clint Eastwood prison picture ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ. Combination of director Siegel, star Eastwood, composer Fielding guarantees success, this one is no exception. Deliberate movie allows composer to examine confined spaces, cold conditions of containment through use of 'musique concrete' techniques. As Fielding described score in 1979 lecture: "It's all hardware... steel on steel... it's Alcatraz. There's nothing lyrical about it; there's nothing poetic about it. It's an awful place." Quietly intense, slow-buring music was first played by orchestra, then manipulated in variety of manner during later mixing phase to create distinctly unorthodox, experimental music, highly unusual for films. Complete score appears, including alternates. Due to unusual nature of score, where much of it was created mechanically in studio after recording, finished mixes in varying stages of mono, multiple mono and stereo are necessarily the only elements that can be presented. They have been expertly mixed here into two-channel stereo by Chris Malone to afford optimal listening pleasure. Flipper cover allows original Paramount campaign artwork from either film to show as front cover (you choose your favorite!) plus stills, liner notes by John Takis and complete cue assembly details help round out exciting package. Leonard Rosenman, Jerry Fielding conduct. Intrada Special Collection release available while quantities and interest remains!
Hell Is for Heroes
Composed and Conducted by Leonard Rosenman
01. Main Title 1:45
02. Reese 0:54
03. Off Limits Bar 0:34
04. Belligerent Reese 0:53
05. Homer’s Disappointment 1:15
06. Back to the Line 2:29
07. The Mine Field, Part 1 4:35
08. The Mine Field, Part 2 1:20
09. Battle Shock and Reese’s Rage 0:59
10. Kennedy’s Speech/End Title 1:09
Total Time: 16:14
Escape From Alcatraz Composed and Conducted by Jerry Fielding
11. Main Title 4:25
12. Welcome to Alcatraz 1:45
13. Solitary and Home Again 3:12
14. Carpenter Shop 1:55
15. Cockroach 0:48
16. Welding in the Cell/Digging the Grill 3:36
17. Wedge and 1st Montage 3:39
18. Utility Corridor 5:12
19. Trial Run 1:29
20. Nosey Cop 1:59
21. The Pipe 1:25
22. Bye Boy (film version) 0:26
23. Wedge and 1st Montage 1:58
24. Beginning of Escape 2:17
25. To the Finish Line 7:41
26. End Credits (film version) 2:58
Total Time: 45:21
The Extras
27. Welcome to Alcatraz (unused) 6:39
28. Bye Boy (original version) 0:27
29. End Credits (original version) 4:02
Total Time:11:13
Jerry Fielding / Leonard Rosenman

Price: $19.99

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