Bernard Herrmann's THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH & ON DANGEROUS GROUND - Intrada Records 2022 Kickstarter

[Jay 37,322]

New Intrada Kickstarter Coming soon!

I can't reveal the titles just yet, but we're hoping by late next week we'll be announcing a new Kickstarter campaign. This will require the largest sum to date, so it will be a test for sure. Get your wallet ready! And no, it's not Joan of Arc.

 

http://www.intrada.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=8905

[Jay 37,322]

5/17/2022

 

Bernard Herrmann excitement! Following on our continuing series of successful re-recordings of film music with Maestro William T. Stromberg on the podium and myself tapping him on the shoulder every time we want more French horns in bar 27, we’re readying the scores and parts to two incredible scores Herrmann scored in the fifties: Alfred Hitchcock’s The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) and On Dangerous Ground (1951).

 

Only a brief portion of the Hitchcock score has been previously recorded, Now listeners will finally have all of the music Herrmann composed, including four minutes of music never-before-heard that was scored but then dropped from the finished film! And that “Prelude” is one of his most exciting with brass and tympani getting center spotlight. Some of the quieter cues with James Stewart searching for his kidnapped son are extraordinary as well. On Dangerous Ground of course features the ferocious “Death Hunt” which we’ll be doing replete with eight horns, six trumpets and trombones and two tubas! In balance are the numerous lovely passages for solo viola d’amore and strings. All-in-all an incredible array of Herrmann music.

 

We’ll post the official Kickstarter goal and launch here in just a few days as we complete the session line-up requirements for this extraordinary recording event. We’ve got a nice track record with this series, thanks to the support from all of you!

 

http://www.intrada.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=8915

[crocodile 7,989]

Now, this is exciting.

 

Karol

[Marian Schedenig 8,177]

It'll be hard to record a Death Hunt that can live up to Gerhardt's version (partly because he got the *sound* so right and a drier recording probably wouldn't let the horns shine as much), but sure, count me in!

[publicist 4,643]

Since we have Gerhardt's, i don't mind. But there's actually more great stuff in that score, as well as slow-tempo variations of the Death Hunt theme.

[Romão 2,274]

I will back this

[Marian Schedenig 8,177]

47 minutes ago, publicist said:

Since we have Gerhardt's, i don't mind. But there's actually more great stuff in that score, as well as slow-tempo variations of the Death Hunt theme.

 

Certainly. And I have the FSM as well, I should listen to it again…

[bruce marshall 1,315]

I would rather have FRENZY...😒

2 hours ago, Marian Schedenig said:

 

Certainly. And I have the FSM as well, I should listen to it again…

 I had that and traded it away.

Sound quality was wretched.

The Gerhardt is fantastic!

[Jurassic Shark 12,033]

On 18/05/2022 at 7:18 PM, Marian Schedenig said:

It'll be hard to record a Death Hunt that can live up to Gerhardt's version (partly because he got the *sound* so right and a drier recording probably wouldn't let the horns shine as much), but sure, count me in!

 

It will be interesting to see if Stromberg can surpass his own recording of Death Hunt.

[Jay 37,322]

Doug says

 

 

 

The decision to go with these two scores was actually a consortium of minds here: Roger and i have talked about The Man Who Knew Too Much for many years, On Dangerous Ground is a favorite of William Stromberg's, and our contractor in Europe, Paul Talkington, is an amazing supporter of everything we do together. ODG is badly in need of a full length, state-of-the-art new recording. William and i talked at length about just what was involved in the scoring for TMWKTM, being a shorter score and as it it turned out - yayyy! - we discovered there is additional music that Herrmann wrote for the movie that was never used. So we started jumping at the thought of doing the 30-35 minutes of music Herrmann wrote for this Alfred Hitchcock movie, the last Herrmann/Hitchcock film score yet to be released. This now gave us a 45-minute score and one running just over a half hour, that would result in an incredibly exciting and well-packed album.

 

One of the cool tidbits that excites me, if not our audience, is that we'll be doing that spectacular "Death Hunt" in ODG with the scoring for full orchestra that includes eight French horns, six trombones, six trumpets... and two tubas! What a sound! And the solo viola d'amore will make for a beautifully haunting contrast. As to TMWKTM, that "Prelude is one masterful piece of brass and tympani-led excitement. With maestro Stromberg's expert knowledge of these two scores and his ability to get both passion and nuance from our players, this should be a really fantastic release to make Bernard Herrmann fans delirious!

--Doug
 

 

http://www.intrada.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=85125#p85125

[Yavar Moradi 2,591]

On its fifth day out of the gate, this Kickstarter is already halfway to its goal of $50,000! (Technically, for The Man Who Knew Too Much to be included as well, the stretch goal takes it to $60,000.)

 

Here's the link, for anyone here who wants in!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/129145902/on-dangerous-ground-the-man-who-knew-too-much-new-recordings

 

Yavar

[bruce marshall 1,315]

Wow!

I'll wait to see the final product.

Im worried this will be another " collection of cues" release as BH tended to write many short cues

[Marian Schedenig 8,177]

Backed, of course. Although the shipping cost of $18 for a $30 CD does hurt.

 

Here's a new Jeff Johnson video:

 

[Jurassic Shark 12,033]

On 30/05/2022 at 4:29 AM, Jay said:

One of the cool tidbits that excites me, if not our audience, is that we'll be doing that spectacular "Death Hunt" in ODG with the scoring for full orchestra that includes eight French horns, six trombones, six trumpets... and two tubas! What a sound!

 

 

[Yavar Moradi 2,591]

Today would be Bernard Herrmann's eleventy-first birthday (as Bilbo Baggins would say) and I can't think of any better way to celebrate it than to support Intrada's Kickstarter to have William Stromberg conduct TWO great Herrmann scores in new recordings!

 

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/129145902/on-dangerous-ground-the-man-who-knew-too-much-new-recordings

 

On the verge of entering its FINAL WEEK, this Kickstarter has just hit 400 backers and stands at $43,256, or just $6,744 away from the first goal to fund On Dangerous Ground! But there's still $16,744 left to go to fund The Man Who Knew Too Much as well -- I believe we can do it!

 

Yavar

[Omen II 1,235]

Thank you for the reminder, @Yavar Moradi  Although money is tight at the moment, I owe it to Benny on his 111th birthday to help bankroll a recording of the score to the film in which he appears.  It's what the old curmudgeon wouldn't have wanted.  To Lenny!  To Benny!

 

I attended a BBC Proms concert at the Royal Albert Hall a few years ago in which the overture from The Man Who Knew Too Much was played.  Keith Lockhart played Herrmann that day but they missed a trick by not having a shooter in one of the grand tier boxes.

 

 

[Jay 37,322]

WIth 28 hours to go, they are still $8,000 away from being able to record The Man Who Knew Too Little

 

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/129145902/on-dangerous-ground-the-man-who-knew-too-much-new-recordings

[Yavar Moradi 2,591]

21 hours ago, Jay said:

WIth 28 hours to go, they are still $8,000 away from being able to record The Man Who Knew Too Little

 

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/129145902/on-dangerous-ground-the-man-who-knew-too-much-new-recordings

 

$7,563 left to go at the moment, with 27 hours remaining! Buuuuut... the following was shared at FSM by user nocturne_cvs:

 

Quote

I took the liberty of messaging Roger and asked him. I hope he doesn't mind if I quote him verbatim:
"these stretch goals are never a guarantee but we really want
to record it. So the closer we get to $60,000 the more chance we will be
able to record it. I would say we don't have to hit $60,000 head on though
for it to happen."

 

So let's try and get this thing as close as possible!

 

Yavar

[Jay 37,322]

$6k to go

 

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/129145902/on-dangerous-ground-the-man-who-knew-too-much-new-recordings

[Marian Schedenig 8,177]

46 minutes ago, Jay said:

$6k to go

 

[Jay 37,322]

Just over $4k to go now

[Yavar Moradi 2,591]

6 minutes ago, Jay said:

Just over $4k to go now

 

Kudos to whatever donor(s) made that big jump happen!

 

Yavar

[Tom Guernsey 2,281]

I wish I could contribute more but some life changes preclude it... out of interest, does anyone know what proportion of the overall cost the Kickstarter is meant to cover? I assume it doesn't cover everything (hence there is some flex even if they don't get to the top target)?

[Yavar Moradi 2,591]

2 hours ago, Tom Guernsey said:

I wish I could contribute more but some life changes preclude it... out of interest, does anyone know what proportion of the overall cost the Kickstarter is meant to cover? I assume it doesn't cover everything (hence there is some flex even if they don't get to the top target)?

 

I'm pretty sure they said it's meant to cover the recording costs... but oftentimes the ultimate recording costs more than the prediction, so yeah... Roger's quote above would seem to indicate that if they get close enough to $60,000, which seems likely at this point, they'll make TMWKTM happen even if the Kickstarter funding falls short of that stretch goal.

 

 

BTW, I just double checked out of curiosity and there are STILL a couple special add-ons left, for anyone wondering who might be tempted to increase their pledge to get one. You don't see these on the main page (only after you select a pledge level), so I'm posting the details here in case it's helpful:

SEE NO EVIL CD (Limited)
$55+ $0 shipping
Get a copy of Intrada's out-of-print CD of SEE NO EVIL (Elmer Bernstein)

TRUE STORY OF JESSIE JAMES CD (Limited)
$55+ $0 shipping
Get a copy of Intrada's out-of-print CD of THE TRUE STORY OF JESSIE JAMES / THE LAST WAGON (Leigh Harline / Lionel Newman)

I have both of these releases and can recommend them! See No Evil is one of my favorite Elmer Bernstein scores, and probably my favorite thing that he did in the 70s (a prolific decade for him)! And pretty much any score by Leigh "Pinocchio" Harline is absolute GOLD... especially if it's a western like this (though I confess Broken Lance on FSM is my absolute favorite).

Oh...there's one last SPECIAL ADD-ON which bears mention, for anyone here interested to increase their pledge last minute:
INTRADA SHIPPING MANAGER VIDEO SHOUT-OUT
$50
Select this Add-on and shipping manager Jeff Johnson will create a new "Jeff Johnson, Intrada shipping manager" video in which he gives you all a shout-out. He has over a hundred subscribers on his YouTube channel and doesn't care if he pronounces your name correctly, so you'll hear your name likely mis-pronounced in a video that literally dozens of people will see. He might even do a video where he attempts to sing all of your names -- poorly -- and again probably pronounced wrong. In fact, if you attempt to contact Jeff because you are concerned about having your name pronounced correctly in the video, then Jeff will mis-pronounce your name deliberately.

Here again is Jeff's own video about this add-on:

 

 

Yavar

[Jay 37,322]

You already Reacted to this video when @Marian Schedenig posted it above...

[Yavar Moradi 2,591]

2 minutes ago, Jay said:

You already Reacted to this video when @Marian Schedenig posted it above...

 

Yeah, but as I'm sharing it again to remind people of the add-on perks, I watched it again and reacted again.  

 

Yavar

[Yavar Moradi 2,591]

With JUST 45 MINUTES to go, the Kickstarter stands at an incredible $59,588 from 507 backers, breaking all previous film music new recording crowdfunding campaign records!

 

If you haven't pledged yet, now is your last chance to help get it past the $60,000 threshold!

 

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/129145902/on-dangerous-ground-the-man-who-knew-too-much-new-recordings

 

This incredible last half day push has been amazing to behold. When I got up this morning it was still over $6000 away.

 

Yavar

[Jay 37,322]

Fully funded! 

 

$60,703

pledged of $50,000 goal

511

backers

[crocodile 7,989]

This will be a fantastic album. Can't wait to hear it.

 

Karol

[Marian Schedenig 8,177]

[Jay 37,322]

7/14/2022

 

I thank all of you that helped us reach not only our Kickstarter goal for recording Bernard Herrmann’s On Dangerous Ground but also the additional stretch goal to record Alfred Hitchcock’s The Man Who Knew Too Much, also scored by Herrmann. This one will probably be the headline score due to the Alfred Hitchcock name. That director has his own followers, and deservedly so. I think he might be the most influential director there was in Hollywood, and likely the only director who’s name was literally the key selling point, no matter who the famous stars were that appeared within. Currently we have engaged our friend Mike Ross to be our man in the booth. Mike’s work for us on Herrmann’s Jason And The Argonauts remains my favorite of all the many projects we have done together with him. Herrmann’s music, typically written with orchestral color being vital, is probably best presented when recorded with that classic “Phase 4” sound that London utilized on all those Herrmann collections back in the day. That’s the sound we got with Jason, and we’re chasing that sound again for the above recordings. Anyone not quite sure what this is can be satisfied knowing primarily it means crisp, detailed, close mic recordings with an emphasis on the left and right channels over the center channel… and with mics placed everywhere you’ll hear just where the clarinets are seated, exactly where muted trumpets are sitting, where an oboe solo is coming from, that haunting viola d’amore, so on and so forth.

 

I’m also particularly excited about our brass requirements which will include eight French horns yelping their way through that virtuoso “Death Hunt” cue, supported by six trumpets, a battery of trombones… even two tubas! This should also make the “Prelude” for The Man Who Knew Too Much a sonic spectacular, especially when balanced with all that ferocious tympani. And speaking of percussion, getting that steel brake drum (or anvil) for On Dangerous Ground will surely add to the excitement. Okay, with all that power lined up, I am going to admit the single piece of music I am most excited about finally recording is that brief piece in The Man Who Knew Too Much, following the phone call James Stewart receives about his son being kidnapped. It’s a deceptively simple cue scored just for two vibraphones and violins. I’ve had it as an “ear worm” in my head for years. Now it’ll finally come out of my speakers! Anyway, we’ll keep everyone posted as these two scores are prepared for release.

 

http://www.intrada.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=8945

[Jay 37,322]

This banner is currently up on intrada.com:

 

[DangerMotif 1,037]

why do they need a re recording? were the recordings lost or were some stuff never recorded?

[Archive Collection 214]

9 hours ago, Gibster said:

why do they need a re recording? were the recordings lost or were some stuff never recorded?

 

The original recordings still exist, but they have deteriorated significantly because of their age.

 

I believe TMWKTM had some unrecorded music as well...

[Yavar Moradi 2,591]

9 hours ago, Archive Collection said:

The original recordings still exist, but they have deteriorated significantly because of their age.

 

I believe TMWKTM had some unrecorded music as well...

Pretty sure only fragments of TMWKTM still exist… in mono… poor sounding mono. No evidence that the complete score exists. Intrada works with the studios and has released other original Hitchcock film score tracks, so I’m sure they made sure this was worth doing before proceeding.

 

19 hours ago, Gibster said:

why do they need a re recording? were the recordings lost or were some stuff never recorded?

Conductor William Stromberg did tell me on FB that there’s a tiny bit of On Dangerous Ground that was written but never recorded. But I take it you haven’t heard the FSM release of the original recording or you wouldn’t be asking these questions… much of the original recording only survived on poor sounding acetates, and music this awesome deserves to be heard in great sound.

 

Yavar

[GerateWohl 4,343]

I would say, every good score from before the 70s could use a proper re-recording.

[Yavar Moradi 2,591]

33 minutes ago, GerateWohl said:

I would say, every good score from before the 70s could use a proper re-recording.

Sure, but some need them more than others. And there are some 50s recordings that sound noticeably better than lots of 70s recordings, to be honest.

 

Yavar

[GerateWohl 4,343]

1 hour ago, Yavar Moradi said:

Sure, but some need them more than others. And there are some 50s recordings that sound noticeably better than lots of 70s recordings, to be honest.

 

Yavar

That is true. Even though they are professionally restored, I was appelled how bad particularly Williams' desaster scores sound, particularly Poseidon Adventure and Towering Inferno in the desaster box. 

I mean "The Cowboys" and "Poseidon Adventure" are from the same year, Towering Inferno even from two years later. But Cowboys and Earthquake sound really brillant, PA and TI not so much in my ears.

[GerateWohl 4,343]

https://www.facebook.com/groups/95015405220/permalink/10167505901010221/ 

 

Recording started today.

[Jurassic Shark 12,033]

You know too much.

[Tom Guernsey 2,281]

4 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

You know too much.

That puts him on dangerous ground...

[crocodile 7,989]

I am super excited about this.

 

Karol

[Jay 37,322]

01/22/2023

Success! We’re back from Glasgow! And I’m already at work with the session masters, helmed by Mike Ross-Trevor, the extraordinary engineer we’ve had on our Excalibur team dating all the way back to our 1986 re-recording of Jerry Goldsmith’s Islands In The Stream, when we were still in our infancy. We had not yet given the Excalibur brand to our re-recordings, mainly because we had no idea that the series - or even our label - would ever survive. But it did! And now we have our new recordings of Bernard Herrmann’s The Man Who Knew Too Much and On Dangerous Ground “in the can” and ready for assembly. Some 90 players of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra brought these two truly classic Herrmann film scores to life, both under the peerless direction of William T. Stromberg. Mike Ross was also with us when we did Ivanhoe and Julius Caesar in London. And in particular, he gave us that crisp, clean sound for Jason And The Argonauts, our first Herrmann release, under the baton of our dear friend Bruce Broughton. So it be that we again went for the crisp and detailed sound that Herrmann’s music begs for… and we got it! The “Prologue” from The Man Who Knew Too Much is a powerhouse piece, led by Nathan Van Cleave’s “VistaVision” logo. And the action music for On Dangerous Ground is legendary amongst Herrmann aficionados, understandable given the virtuoso writing for the massive French horn section. Balance this with the haunting viola d’amore solos that weave in and out of the score and you get the textbook definition of a classic!

 

http://www.intrada.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9009

 

[DangerMotif 1,037]

Is there any real improvements that the re recording would offer from the FSM one for ODG? I tend to prefer the composer’s original recordings 

[Jurassic Shark 12,033]

Sound quality for ODG.

[DangerMotif 1,037]

7 hours ago, Jurassic Shark said:

Sound quality for ODG.

Yes but it’s hard to imagine the performance will be better

[Jurassic Shark 12,033]

34 minutes ago, DangerMotif said:

Yes but it’s hard to imagine the performance will be better

 

It doesn't have to be better. 

[Yavar Moradi 2,591]

12 hours ago, DangerMotif said:

Is there any real improvements that the re recording would offer from the FSM one for ODG?

The fact that it’s not from (sometimes quite scratchy sounding) mono acetate discs? I take it you don’t even have the FSM or you wouldn’t ask. They literally apologize for the sound quality on their product page! (I’m still grateful to have the original performance under Herrmann’s baton release, to be sure.)

 

https://www.filmscoremonthly.com/cds/detail.cfm/CDID/281/On-Dangerous-Ground/
 

Quote

Unfortunately, master tapes to RKO productions are long since destroyed, and this CD has been mastered from acetate discs in the Bernard Herrmann collection at the University of California at Santa Barbara. IMPORTANT: Although these discs have been transferred and denoised by specialists, the sound quality is entirely in mono. Many of the most important cues have been mastered from 16" 33 1/3 rpm discs in excellent sound (including the "Prelude" and major chase cues), but the remainder of the cues exist only on 12" 33 1/3 rpm discs with a great deal of surface noise. We have made every effort to improve the sound quality without distorting the music.

 

12 hours ago, DangerMotif said:

I tend to prefer the composer’s original recordings 

Then buy the FSM and see what you think.

 

40 minutes ago, DangerMotif said:

Yes but it’s hard to imagine the performance will be better

 

Have you… not heard any previous albums of William Stromberg conducting Herrmann? He conducts Herrmann better than Herrmann did. (And WAY better than Herrmann did when he re-recorded his own material, IMO.)

 

Mysterious Island is my #1 favorite Herrmann score that I grew up with in the movie since childhood, so I know all the original performance nuances. But the Tribute Film Classics recording under Stromberg’s baton is a candidate for greatest re-recording of all time, and I prefer it even performance-wise (not just sound quality-wise) to the film.

 

Yavar

[Jurassic Shark 12,033]

7 minutes ago, Yavar Moradi said:

Mysterious Island is my #1 favorite Herrmann score that I grew up with in the movie since childhood, so I know all the original performance nuances. But the Tribute Film Classics recording under Stromberg’s baton is a candidate for greatest re-recording of all time, and I prefer it even performance-wise (not just sound quality-wise) to the film.

 

Too bad the score is so repetitive. 

[Yavar Moradi 2,591]

3 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

Too bad the score is so repetitive. 

It’s got much more variety than the average Herrmann score. If you find it too repetitive you must not like much Herrmann at all (at least in complete form).

 

Yavar