Elmer Bernstein's TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD in Full Score (Chris Siddall Music Publishing)

[chrissiddall 216]

 

Dear Film Music Fans,
 

Chris Siddall Music Publishing is proud to announce that the To Kill a Mockingbird study score is ready for pre-ordering.

Accompanying the film adaptation of Harper Lee’s seminal novel, Elmer Bernstein’s delicate and sensitive score from To Kill a Mockingbird was Oscar-nominated, losing out to Maurice Jarre’s Lawrence of Arabia.
 

In 2003, the American Film Institute named Atticus Finch, the story’s main character, the greatest movie hero of the 20th century and in 2007 ranked the film 25th on their list of the greatest movies of all time.

Heard right from the outset of the score, the beautiful piano solo was played by a man who has become known as one of the greatest film score composers of all time; John Williams.

Please visit ChrisSiddallMusic.com and be the first to own this classic masterpiece today.

137 pages, 9x12 inches. Paperbound, printed in the U.K.

Available Worldwide

Note: Shipped from the UK. Please check with your country for import tax before ordering. This charge will be in addition to the item cost and shipping cost and varies by country.

https://chrissiddallmusic.com/products/elmer-bernsteins-to-kill-a-mockingbird-in-full-score-pre-order

[filmmusic 2,887]

Do we know if one of these releases is the complete score, to follow with the sheet music?

https://www.soundtrackcollector.com/title/2609/To+Kill+A+Mockingbird

[Yavar Moradi 4,071]

Apparently none of the three To Kill a Mockingbird albums (all new recordings; the film recording remains unreleased though Intrada attempted to do it some years back) is complete.

 

Chris made an interesting additional post over in the FSM board thread:

"There's tons to study in it, including cues which don't appear on either the "complete" re-recording which Elmer did, or any other OST release (though they appear in the picture), plus some unused cues. There's also an extensive thematic and cue analysis section (additional to the 137 pages of score). Lots to get your teeth into!"

https://filmscoremonthly.com/board/posts.cfm?threadID=159115&forumID=1&archive=0

 

Yavar

[chrissiddall 216]

19 minutes ago, filmmusic said:

Do we know if one of these releases is the complete score, to follow with the sheet music?

https://www.soundtrackcollector.com/title/2609/To+Kill+A+Mockingbird

 

As Yavar said, none of them.  However, I will be putting together a playlist which everyone can use to read along with, that combines tracks which are available with my notation software playback audio for the unreleased cues.

Who knows, perhaps one day we will record the whole lot!  

[chrissiddall 216]

Looking for a way to listen along whilst reading your new "To Kill a Mockingbird" in Full Score book? Never fear, we've got you covered!

 

 

 

[Jay 44,694]

On 30/01/2025 at 1:54 PM, chrissiddall said:

Heard right from the outset of the score, the beautiful piano solo was played by a man who has become known as one of the greatest film score composers of all time; John Williams.

 

Tim Greiving's latest substack confirms that WIlliams did NOT play piano on this score

 

https://behindthemoon.substack.com/p/johnny-williams-session-player?publication_id=2374439

[Yavar Moradi 4,071]

5 hours ago, Jay said:

Tim Greiving's latest substack confirms that WIlliams did NOT play piano on this score

https://behindthemoon.substack.com/p/johnny-williams-session-player?publication_id=2374439

 

Maybe not... see the comments:

"Frank Lehman

Oh, the TKAM myth is going to be a hard one to let go of. In 2012 on the Classic FM interview, Tommy Pearson asked JW point blank whether he played on that score said "that's correct." (Interview is on the last disc of the 2015 Star Wars Boxed Set; relevant bit is in Part I, 7:52...)

 

Tim Greiving
I continually doubt myself on this because the force behind it is so strong! (And like Fox Mulder, I want to believe.) Thanks for pointing me to that interview. But the AFM receipts don't lie, and when I asked JW myself point blank (after the documentary came out), he accepted that he must not have played on it.

 

Tim Greiving

Just re-listened to that section of the interview. I don't know what to believe! He seems so sure there."

 

Paperwork's not always 100% correct...

 

Yavar

[pete 1,291]

41 minutes ago, Yavar Moradi said:

Paperwork's not always 100% correct...

 

Yavar

 

Wasn't the paperwork needed for the musician to get paid? 

 

[Yavar Moradi 4,071]

Just now, pete said:

Wasn't the paperwork needed for the musician to get paid? 

 

Not necessarily (for one reason or another)... and sometimes people did gigs unpaid as a favor! Jerry Goldsmith gave cue sheet credit for the cool main theme of the TV series Black Saddle (1959-1960) to his brother in law, composer Michael J. Hennagin. The early cover versions of that theme on several albums (most famously Buddy Morrow's Impact) credited Hennagin as the sole composer, until the 1962 album Dick Powell Presents Themes from Four Star Television Productions (conducted by film/TV composer Herschel Burke Gilbert), which was the first to credit Jerry Goldsmith (alongside Arthur Morton, since the latter arranged the season 2 end title version of Goldsmith's theme, which was used as the basis for the extended LP arrangement).

 

Goldsmith did that theme as a favor for his friend, producer Antony Ellis. Maybe he took no pay, or maybe he was paid "under the table". But he couldn't accept credit on it because he was technically cheating on his exclusive CBS contract at the time, as he relayed to Jon Burlingame over 20 years ago. (This wasn't the only time he did, either -- as relayed to Burlingame in that same interview, the first bit of filmed TV he ever scored was a 1956 pilot for a TV version of the popular Crime Classics radio show, done for Revue/Universal TV. I wouldn't be surprised if we uncovered that episode some day and didn't find a Jerry Goldsmith credit on it.)

 

Yavar

[Thor 9,330]

A-ha! I was just lamenting the confirmation of Williams’ lack of involvement over in the other thread, but maybe there’s hope yet.

[Yavar Moradi 4,071]

4 hours ago, Thor said:

A-ha! I was just lamenting the confirmation of Williams’ lack of involvement over in the other thread, but maybe there’s hope yet.

 

For what it's worth, Tim also confirmed to me privately that he didn't see an AFM list for the original Black Patch sessions in his research, so the old rumor that Williams first collaborated as a session pianist with Goldsmith on his very first feature film score (before doing so on his next three, confirmed) might still potentially be true. Requires further research.

 

Yavar

[Richard P 5,060]

16 hours ago, Yavar Moradi said:

Paperwork's not always 100% correct...

 

This is something that turns into a minor peeve of mine, actually - an automatic assumption that a record/paperwork or similar is correct, beyond any contest.

 

For low stakes stuff (like recording session takes used in the film) it's probably wrong quite a lot of the time, given hectic post schedules. For more important stuff like contracts and anything that payments rely on... well.. that can be wrong too. What if a particular artist were contracted to perform on a score, but during a 'jam' session, the composer had a go and the editors ended up using their performance for a cue?

[Yavar Moradi 4,071]

Indeed. I still think it's *possible* that Williams played on the film recording, but I feel compelled to share @Maestro's recent post since he seems more sure now that Williams didn't:

 

Yavar

[Maestro 1,543]

Amidst the comments and confusion about this, I momentarily forgot the real source of my confidence, and it's that TV residuals list (in combination with no OMR records crediting John).