New Quartet: ENDLESS NIGHT (Bernard Herrmann)

[Amer 2,237]

WORLD PREMIERE RECORDING:  

 

ENDLESS NIGHTS
Music by Bernard Herrmann

Music Conducted by Fernando Velázquez
Performed by the Basque National Orchestra

 

Quartet Records is proud to present its second world premiere recording of a previously unreleased classic Bernard Herrmann score, following the release of THE BRIDE WORE BLACK in 2018.

 

Herrmann’s score for ENDLESS NIGHT looks both forward and backward in his career. Its romantic elements recall passages from THE GHOST AND MRS. MUIR and VERTIGO, while its more austere aspects anticipate the more motivic-based writing of IT’S ALIVE and SISTERS. To suggest the menace beneath the romance, Herrmann used a Moog synthesizer for its wailing and otherworldly timbres. Some of the score is based on a setting of words from William Blake’s “Auguries of Innocence”. There is also an achingly beautiful love theme, used by Herrmann as a “red herring” in this intriguing plot, and several cues that rely on color (Herrmann was, of course, a master orchestrator) and staid harmonic progressions for their chilling effect.

 

Reconstructed from Herrmann’s original manuscript (provided by the publisher), the music is conducted by prestigious composer/conductor Fernando Velázquez, performed by the Basque National Orchestra, with original Moog synthesizer sessions played by Toni Saigi. We also had the incredibly good fortune of securing the magnificent voice of classical soprano Núria Rial for the vocals.

 

Recorded on the OSE orchestra stage in September 2019 by Marc Blanes, with additional Moog sessions in 2020, the album was produced by Edouard Dubois and Jose M. Benitez (with executive production entirely by Quartet Records) and mastered by Chris Malone. The booklet includes extensive liner notes by associate producer Frank K. DeWald, who discusses both film and score.

 

1. Prelude (2:15)
2. The Opening (0:43)
3. The Balcony (1:12)
4. Gypsy’s Acre (0:49)
5. Flashback I (0:25)
6. The Pictures (1:23)
7. Ellie (1:22)
8. Encounter (1:32)
9. Warning (2:02)
10. Duo I (1:27)
11. The Cats (1:15)
12. The Newspaper (0:44)
13. Marriage (1:38)
14. Greta (Original Version) (2:17)
15. The Seasons (1:39)
16. Broken Glass / Miss T / The Ice (1:11)
17. School Play (0:39)
18. The Gift / The Ride (1:37)
19. The Garden / The Statue (1:54)
20. Duo II (1:15)
21. Endless Night (1:26)
22. Devotion / Binoculars (1:00)
23. Farewell (0:39)
24. The Yellow Pill (0:28)
25. Death (1:26)
26. The Return (1:21)
27. The Couch (0:38)
28. Flashback II (0:25)
29. The Fight / The Song (Film Version) (2:15)
30. Breakdown (0:44)
31. End Title (1:11)

 

Bonus Tracks

32. Encounter (Alternate) (2:22)
33. Greta (Film Version) (2:19)
34. Duo II (Film Version) (0:54)
35. Endless Night (Film Version With Mandolin) (1:27)
36. The Fight / The Song (Original Version) (1:50)
37. End Title (Alternate Version With Moog) (1:08)
38. Endless Night (Vocalise) (3:26)

https://quartetrecords.com/product/endless-night/

 

 

[Yavar Moradi 2,990]

Very good previously-unreleased Herrmann score. An exciting premiere and the samples sound great!

 

Yavar

[MrJosh 895]

Wow, I will order this!

[Amer 2,237]

Whata treat for Herrmann fans. cant wait to devour this! 

[bespinGPT 8,767]

So, any thoughts regarding this release? I added it to my wish list.

[GerateWohl 5,040]

In the meantime one of my favourite Bernard Herrmann releases. At first I had to get used to that moog synthesizer. But the mixture of that with this haunting orchestra and these enchanting vocal parts is simply beautiful.

[bespinGPT 8,767]

I suspendend all my listenings of Herrmann's music since few month, because my basic CD collection was really not at my taste. I purchased many Herrmann CDs in the last few months (mainly re-recordings) and "Endless Night" just poped-up recently... and it is now on my essential wish list.

 

So in few weeks, I'll be able to take it from the top. 

 

Hermann's music needs time, needs respect, I want to make things correctly!