Film Score Friday 4/13/01

by Lukas Kendall

THE TOWERING INFERNO has arrived at our humble offices and we are now buried under hundreds of envelopes, order forms and CDs getting everything out to you, our dear listeners. Thanks for your order and your patience!

Apparently the upcoming two-disc Collector's Edition DVD of Legend, which was to have both the American and European versions, has been canceled by Universal. Or at least postponed again -- retailers received a note saying that the orders in the distribution system at present were being canceled. Our own Laserphile/Aisle Seat fanatic Andy Dursin is looking into it and will have more soon....

From: Judge_HorNet <505@gmx.de>

Check this out guys. In cooperation with this years JEDI-CONVENTION in Cologne (Koeln - Germany) the "Metropolis filmmusicorchestra" presents fine filmmusic as there are themes from:

Indiana Jones
Jurassic Park
Robin Hood
Star Wars (of course)
Dancing with wolves
Ben Hur

The filmmusic is presented with lightning FX as well as projections. It's not only a concert but an audio-visual event of first class. I've never seen it personally but all the press-reviews were very positive.

Here R the dates:
18.00-21.00h on 15th April
@:
Sartory Soeln
Friesenstr. 44 - 48
50670 Koeln
Telefon: 0221-134813
Fax: 0221-136413

Tickets are to buy @ "Koeln Ticket" phone +49 (0)221-2801

More information about the JEDI-CON:
Jedi-Con 2001 Organisation
Telefon: 0821-7291-666
(Mo./Di./Mi.Fr. 13 - 16 Uhr / Do, 13 - 18 Uhr)
info@jedi-con.de
German language webpage: http://www.metropolis-filmorchester.de/Konzerttermine.html

From: "Wolfgang Jahn" <wolfgangjahn@hotmail.com>

You did it! I mean you REALLY embarassed me in an unbelievable positive way. I saw UNTAMED on TV many years ago and this was - as far as I know - the only time this one has ebver been shown on TV in Austria. I was so utterly impressed by the music of this totally unknown film, that I couldn¥t forget it. Anyway, if there¥s any movie I'd ever have bet that would NEVER see a CD relase, this one would have been a sure counter.

And now you released it on CD ... A great moment!

From: "M. Scott Erwin" <Erwin@oupd.ou.edu>

Sir you are the best!

Thank you so much for the release of 'The Towering Inferno" score (I've just ordered 3 copies!).

I think it is safe to say that we all have our "first score"... you know, the one that comes out of nowhere, nails you to your movie seat, and changes your life forever. For me, it was the main title sequence to Towering Inferno.

I was all of eleven years old... just minding my own business... thinking to myself, "this will be a cool movie to go see". I sat there in that theater, during that opening sequence, simply dumbfounded.

Whenever I bought the soundtrack album, I just listened to the main title over and over... I do not remember much else about being eleven years old, but, I do remember the evening I stood in my living room, listening to that score for hours. Everything else after that, for me, has just been icing on the cake.

Thank you very much sir for everything you have done for the filmscore community. I can only imagine what an incredible ride the last ten years has been for you. I think it is safe to say that the best years are still ahead for you and the Filmscore crew. Sincerest wishes for continued success, and again, thank you!

See Jeff Bond's review:

From: Jay Cox, Musicunite@aol.com

Jeff Bond writes, "Purists may argue that Zimmer borrowing from classical composers like Holst and Walton (who himself was untrained musically) is heresy..."

Walton studied music at Oxford University. He left without a degree, but WAS very well versed in composition (ie.he could both read and write music, I don't believe Zimmer can).

I do hope you weren't inferring that Zimmer and Walton had the same musical pedigree? Walton composed symphonies, concertos, ballets and some very fine film scores, all without the aid of computers and hangers-on. He wrote the old fashioned way; with pen and paper.

It continues! See part one and part two, from earlier this week.

From: Laurence Page <laurence.page@bbc.co.uk>

I have just this second finished listening to the entire score of Cleopatra (an eargerly-awaited birthday present) and am slightly overwhelmed after 2 and a half hours!

I can't thank and congratulate you and all those involved enough on this fantastic project. I am a big fan of Alex North (Spartacus - surely now the restoration everybody wants to happen - is probably my favourite score of all time) and now await the release of the DVD here in England - I've never seen a foot of the film but the score has wetted my appetite. I noticed the odd similarity to "Spartacus" (especially in the Sea Battle sequence) and some of the wind writing in "Dragonslayer" but feel that the music is not so immediate - often the sign of great music which reveals itself after careful listening. Which I will be doing a lot of!

Thanks again and I await with impatience the arrival of the Tall Fiery one...

From: Joe Caporiccio, joecaps@earthlink.net

I have been reading more of these Cleo posts and hearing North vs Rozsa, Newman, etc.

This reminds me of friendly arguments broadway show buffs have been having for years about Stephen Sondheim vs other Broadway composers. The arguments are exactly the same: Sondheim is told cold, intellectual, no easy warm emotional melodies. All of us Show Buffs who publicly say we love Sondheim are really sitting at home secretly listning to Jerry Herman scores.

It's amazing how these arguments are exactly alike.

Many film composers felt that they had to make their melodies and scores simpler, more direct to get the message across. North apparently did not feel this way.

Let's face facts, it's easy to get into the sheer life and exuberance of Spartacus (thought there are many subtleties in the score that are never mentioned). There are also scores of North that ARE cold (as are the subjects): Carny, 2001, Dragonslayer.

Then there are the heartbreaking scores: Shoes of the Fisherman, Rainmaker, etc.

The Point is that North, like Sondheim takes time to hear and absorb all that there is to hear in his most complex score - Cleopatra is certainly that - but there is still much to hear.
 
I bought the Cleopatra lp when the film opened back in 1963 - I had no trouble learning and absorbing the music. But even though I have heard every note in this album for 38 years I still heard something new i had never noticed before.

On the CD one the cut is called THE FIRE BURNS. The theme for Cleopatras fate is started on woodwinds going up the scale but the movie is finsihed by two high notes on the strings.

Go to CD two and listen to Cleopatra Death scene called "Anthony Wait" (track 22). at 2:41 the wodwinds are playing the Caesar Cleopatra theme, but at the end of the phrase the strings play the SAME two upward sweeping notes from the Fire Burns! North is telling us that this has always been Cleopatras destiny.

This same piece was on the old LP that I heard hundreds of times but I never noticed this detail until now, 38 years later.

Yes, Alex North takes time and study - but he will reward you over and over.

From: "Howard Liverance" <howardliv@hotmail.com>

I have now read Mr. Lintgen's original letter, Mr. Townson's response and everyone else's responses to this whole imbroglio. I also admit to having had a different take on Mr. Lintgen's position and wasn't sure why there was such an ensuing fuss, but now Mr. Lintgen's counter-response even confuses me!

Let me begin by stating that I just finished watching a tape of AMC's widescreen presentation and that it was the first time I had ever seen the film in its entirety. I took notes for an anticipated response to a Messageboard post and will not get into them here. Just the same, I will state that I did react strongly to a few scenes with Mr. North's music.

For me, Mr. North has consistently composed some of cinema's most deeply penetrating "psychological" music with perhaps no equal other than Bernard Herrmann. I'm thinking particularly of The Misfits and Streetcar. And when I think of Streetcar I think of the scene when Blanche encounters the young newspaperman, for the music captures the inner psychological unrest of Ms. DuBois while Ms. Lee gives poetic voice to one who is most surely on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Her melancholia is a terrible thing to witness on its own, but the music makes the whole scene that much more a devastating, harrowing experience to behold.

Where Mr. North parts company with Mr. Herrmann on my personal scale is something related to my listening habits: the latter not only improves every picture he lays his hands on but his music also makes great full stand-alone soundtracks. For all the pictures his music improves and helps make memorable, I don't listen to Mr. North's music much on its own. I think it's because the music on its own IS cold. And I can't see any reason why I would currently want to buy the Cleopatra CD any more than I would buy Streetcar for all the latter's greatness in the movie.

Now don't get me wrong, my words are not in any way a criticism of Alex North nor his music. I have too much respect for both. And it doesn't matter if his music makes for a good soundtrack nor whether it sells as such; it's just not that important to this appreciator. Thus, I share Mr. Lintgen's sentiments if the above is what he was implying in the letter that started this all. Where he loses me is when he attempts to soften his position by stating his love for the Cleopatra CD. Perhaps I have misstated his sentiments. In either case, I feel the underlying issue here is one of score vs. soundtrack and all that it implies--again, based on the above.

From: Alex_Von_Hauffe@dot.ca.gov

After all that hot air, it all boils down to "different strokes for different folks".

From: "Benjamin Pedersen" <bpfilm@music.com>

Some Composers are more emotional. Some are more cerebral. I can definitely relate to someone saying some of North's music is "ice cold" to them. To me, North is the quintessential experimental composer of his day. Often in his scores, it sounds as if he is willing to experiment with atonal, microtonal, twelve tone, and poly-rhythmic effects, even at the expense of the emotion of his listeners. There is nothing wrong with this, I really admire this.

It is true that North might not be known for his "budding romanticism," such as Rozsa or Newman, but his approach was non the less effective, because it worked well with the films and yet he was trying new things at the same time. Everyone has different tastes and if North doesn't work for you, that's perfectly ok...

And once again, the notorious Mr. Lintgen writes in:

From: Arthur Lintgen <ablintgen@home.com>

I have read with interest and sincerely appreciate the passionate comments of Mr. North's supporters. Perhaps I misjudged the intensity of the heated love for his music. But, perhaps not also. The Cleopatra album is clearly excellent, and has probably given many people a new and more favorable outlook on the score. But my comments were not meant to be disparaging to the score or the cd, and my piece was not a review of the cd. It was meant to address why North is, to quote no less a critic than Jeff Bond, a "sadly neglected" composer. I totally agree with JB. I do not think this should be the case, but it is. If readers of FSM believe, as I do, that North is one of the great film music composers, and is indeed sadly neglected, I would be interested in reading a constructive discussion on this site as to why he is so neglected. The relative coldness of his music (compared to other less neglected composers) was postulated as one possible explanation. Let's talk about other explanations.

MailBag@filmscoremonthly.com