Film Score Friday 3/26/99

by Lukas Kendall

Varese Sarabande will release a score album to The Matrix (Don Davis) on May 4. The movie has been getting terrific buzz here in L.A. Jeff Bond saw it and thought it was great, and he's not exactly a fan of Keanu Reeves cybernetics movies.

Prometheus Records in Belgium will release a 3,000 copy limited edition of Breakout (Jerry Goldsmith, 1975) -- that's right, the Bronson picture -- in late April.

This Sunday, look for a segment on the Franz Waxman concert album The Song of Terezin in A&E's Breakfast with the Arts, 9 - 10:30AM.

The first concert performance of Stephen Warbeck's Shakespeare in Love score will be with the Dallas Symphony, conducted by Richard Kaufman, on April 2, 3 and 4.

Intrada is moving on April 1 (no fooling), leaving their store in San Francisco for larger offices in Oakland. Their new address: 2220 Mountain Blvd, Suite 220, Oakland CA 94611, Ph: (510) 336-1612; Fax: (510) 336-1615. Email remains intrada@intrada.com, and see their site: www.intrada.com.

Star Wars Fever

The Star Wars Episode One soundtrack CD (one disc, not two) will be out worldwide on May 4, featuring 17 tracks total, and mastered with 24-bit technology.

Here's another small scoop on the music:

From: "Richard Damien Ng" <richard.ng@RadioLink.net>

Just to let everybody know, the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra has a player with us for a couple of weeks engagement. She's from the London Symphony Orchestra and was involved in the scoring sessions with John Williams for Episode 1 of Star Wars.

One thing for sure, the main title theme of Star Wars was recorded, for the prologue crawl... all new materials from the composer and the orchestration is great... the music is great, too and in her opinion is even better than the first three movies combined... so at least there's some continuity in the music.

She has played with James Horner for the Titanic Suite recording (so many video crews, more than the players!!) and of course she was in the concert with Jerry Goldsmith this year.

Goldsmith and Williams

Hey, let's get Lukas in trouble by speculating about composers' personal friendships or lack thereof!

From: Karl Scott <auth1@opcode.com>

While preparing the original Nightcrossing release with the late Len Engel at Contempo Recording (which was at his home in Bel Air) I asked Len about how often JG and JW got together. He said he brought them together regularly. He had a method. He would call Alex North and invite him to his home. Then he would call JG and JW and let it be known Alex was going to be there. Without invitation both would show up the same evening. Says a lot for their mutual admiration of North. JGs recent recording of the North scores is testament to his love for North's music. Williams dedication appears to be a little more subtle. But still there.

From: IRobiUK@aol.com

Further to J Schuer's letter about whether Williams and Goldsmith are friends, it's interesting to note that they were both in London a few weeks back, each working with the London Symphony Orchestra. It would be nice to think they got together one night and had a meal or something. Don't know if it happened, I'd just prefer to think of them as friends.

From: mstevens@usavgroup.com (Mark Stevens)

First, let me add my praise to those that have gone before. The silver classics series has been an embarassment of riches. The very idea of combining a stereo re-mix of 100 RIFLES with the mono tracks is such a wonderful (yet practical) idea that I can only imagine what further fortuitous couplings you will loose to us salivating fans. I eagerly await both PATTON/PHOENIX and the forthcoming Waxman surprise.

Gush aside, let me reply to Mr. Schuer's note on whether Goldsmith and Williams like each other. In the fall of 1975 I scraped up enough funds to journey to London for an annual film music concert at Royal Albert Hall that was called "Filmharmonic." These concerts usually had 3-4 guest conductors who were film composers who presented concert versions of their own works, and one of the many pops conductors who seem to enjoy endless popularity in the U.K.

Anyway, in '75 the main conductor was Goldsmith, hence my first vacation to Europe. The concert, by the way, was terrific although Goldsmith had not even begun to develop his between music patter. Following the performance, I found myself being dragged backstage by my English friend who wished to get some albums autographed. As I stood back from the incredible crowd of people flooding in on poor Goldsmith, who should walk into the corridor with his date but John Williams. And for about five minutes I had him all to myself.

Of course, given this choice opportunity, I almost totally blanked out on what to ask him except to compliment him on his recent score to JAWS and note that it was a shame that such film music concerts rarely occurerd in the states. My main impression was of an extremely nice individual who had come backstage to compliment a friend and colleague on a fine concert. So it would seem Williams had a fairly high opinion of Goldsmith back then. To this day I have to shake my head at going blank in the presence of one of my cultural heroes.

Once again, many thanks for all your fine efforts on both the web site and the SILVER AGE CLASSICS. (And I promise that when I am flush, I WILL purchase the Fried CD's!)

From: "Miguel Andrade" <migueljw@mail.teleweb.pt>

Regarding JSchuer416@aol.com letter about Williams and Goldsmith being friends (or not) I can add the following: As we all know Williams did recorded with the Boston Pops a few selections of Goldsmith themes (Out of This World, 1983, Philips Classics). In an interview with Nick Shave of Classic FM (August 1997), Williams says that his favourite living composers are "british composers Michael Tippet [who allready died] and Peter Maxwell Davies [who was comissioned "An Orkney Wedding with Sunrise" for the Pops centennary in 1985] and film composer Jerry Goldsmith".

I don't know if Goldsmith thinks the same about Williams, but since Williams as played for him during their early years in Hollywood, I would say that they must be at the very least small friends.

Remembering Ernest Gold

Composer Ernest Gold passed away on March 17. Here are some notes from admirers:

From: Josh Gizelt <Josh.Gizelt@gte.net>

Ernest Gold will be sorely missed. His collaborations with Stanley Kramer are legendary, and his music has always been powerful and interesting, strongly supporting the case that good film music is good music period.

Gold could compose striking original themes, and weave them around the narrative so that the music became another character in the films. The title song to "It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World" is embedded into the fabric of the film, always sounding fresh. Furthermore, he was adept at adapting existing music to the needs of a film. "Old Time Religion" is adapted into "Inherit the Wind," making the folk standard sound positively ominous.

Perhaps someday we'll have an Ernest Gold revival, as we have been having lately with Alex North, but in the meantime we'll have to make due with the RCA "Exodus" CD with crappy sound and switched channels, and RykoDisc's re-releases of "It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World," (a re-recording) and "Judgment at Nuremberg" to listen to in memorial. Things could be worse, I suppose. Two years ago we didn't have the breezy "It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World" or the solemn "Judgment at Nuremberg."

From: Preston Jones <pjones@fulpat.com>

The sad news about Ernest Gold brings back the memory of a happier day. It was at one of the symposiums in that Tony Thomas/Filmex composers' series mentioned in my recent note about Rosenman vis a vis Kubrick. We who are old enough to remember 1960 know how Gold's theme for EXODUS was probably the most famous, pervasive movie theme of its day, beloved even by those of us who hadn't seen the film but who couldn't escape Ferrante and Teicher's gloriously schmaltzy recording on the radio and phonographs. (And those of us who looked forward to the slow dances at our teen parties didn't want to escape it...) But according to Mr. Gold, the day he had recorded that theme for EXODUS and Mr. Preminger had heard it for the first time, the infamous director, from his seat in the control booth, punched a button and bellowed over the loudspeakers: "Mr. Gold -- you have just ruined my picture!"

Of course, any movie should be so lucky as to be ruined like that. I only wish that there were more Gold scores ruining cd's these days. Perhaps as the Silver series continues, it can help to fill that gap. (I have a soft spot for my LP of ON THE BEACH.) In the meantime, I will go home and put on my cd of "Songs of Love and Parting," and be thankful for what a gifted composer has bequeathed us.

From: Philip Harwood, Masteryid@aol.com

Upon hearing of the death of composer Ernest Gold, I began thinking of the themes that stand out in his catalog of film scores. As a student at Hofstra, and producer of a weekly film music program, news of the passing of a a film related individual would lead to a tribute on SOUNDTRACK. The main theme from EXODUS, and the musical voice of Stanley Kramer: the haunting adaptation of "Waltzing Matilda" as Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner face death from Nuclear fallout; The hysterical waltz of greed and wackiness from IT'S A MAD MAD MAD MAD WORLD, not to mention the scores to Kramer classics like THE DEFIANT ONES, INHERIT THE WIND , and JUDGEMENT AT NUREMRG. As with the passing of other great composers of the silver screen, as long as films are preserved, Gold's music will live on for eternity.

E.T. and Hanson

From: Josh Gizelt <Josh.Gizelt@gte.net>

While I do not think that "E.T." is a "wholesale rip-off" of Hanson's Symphony #2 "The Romantic," I must say that certain cues are quite obviously inspired by that work, mostly the bicycle riding cues. I think that this is probably more a homage than plagiarism (I think the liner notes for one of the Boston Pops records that he recorded "Over the Moon" on mentioned Hanson's work).

From: Eric Neill <eneill@cosmoslink.net>

I was amazed to read the note from the guy who said he owned a copy of Howard Hanson's Symphony #2, and had actually played it as a member of an orchestra, but can't hear the similarity between it and Williams' score for E.T. The kinship shared by these two works is overwhelmingly obvious. Williams is known to be an admirer of Hanson's, and I'm sure it's the irresistable tenderness inherent in the latter's music which attracted him. That endearing quality is especially evident in Symphony #2, known as "The Romantic". It is perhaps the most tender of all symphonies, and thus an ideal inspiration---and in this case, model---for music for one of the most tender of all motion pictures. This is to take nothing away from Williams' gorgeous and deeply involving score. There is so much sheer craftmanship on display in his music for this film that he deserves all the accolades it has brought him. (The Oscar, however, should have gone to the unnominated Basil Poledouris for CONAN THE BARBARIAN.)

Have a Patient Weekend!

Finally, I want to offer some words of explanation about our newest CD release, Patton, and its shipping schedule. If you placed an order for the disc and haven't received it yet, please be patient! We have not forgotten you. We have been simply overwhelmed with the response and unfortunately had to spend this week finishing an issue of FSM instead of shoving CDs in envelopes. How strange that we would have to make a magazine, huh? We're very backed up but everything will be taken care of next week. You can help us out by using our secure-server order form and not emailing Lukas -- I swear, I get emails like, "It's me, John. That sounds great, I'll take one, bye!" Dear lord, I love you all, but I don't have you all memorized. If you must email to ask about your order, giving your name and address would be a good idea. But please, let the dust settle before you do that. This summer we're going to hire an intern to do this but for now we are as understaffed as you get.

"An Allan Smithee Film" is on cable as I write this. Good lord, it's the worst, least funny movie of all time.

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