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I just received my Godzilla score from La La Land which I ordered a couple weeks after the North disc. Still no North though. However, I'm sort of glad to hear some haven't received their copies yet as I was beginning to worry that my order was missed (my credit card debit certainly wasn't though!).
EDIT- I just checked the Varese website and my order says it's still being processed.
NP- Arnold's Godzilla (Complete Score)- very enjoyable BTW
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Posted: |
Jul 24, 2007 - 4:08 AM
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By: |
gumdrops1
(Member)
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When I used to order records by mail 20 years ago, it often took a month or more for my package to arrive. And you know, the longer it took, the more anticipation I had, and it was fun anticipation. I never once complained to the seller about "where's my records, dammmit?!"
You tell 'em, Sir Triple MMM! These youngins don't know what it wuz like in dem thar ole days.
But it's true. The longer it would take for an album to be delivered, my anticipation grew and grew. By the time it would arrive(usually a month later), I would scream, "THANK GAWD IT'S HERE!" Yuk Yuk. Those were the days.
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You tell 'em, Sir Triple MMM! These youngins don't know what it wuz like in dem thar ole days.
But it's true. The longer it would take for an album to be delivered, my anticipation grew and grew. By the time it would arrive(usually a month later), I would scream, "THANK GAWD IT'S HERE!" Yuk Yuk. Those were the days.
Yes, those were the days, trust me I was there. But this is now, in an age of instant ordering and rapid delivery. My days of "Lengthy anticipation" ended when I was 25.
If I "anticipate" anything at this point, it's a likely foul-up in my order.
I don't usually get concerned about these things, reasonably easy going am I. But my credit card hasn't even been charged. Conclusion? My order hasn't been shipped.
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My credit card wasn't charged until the day AFTER my order arrived.
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How do you describe the musical style of "Les misérables" inside North's 1950's body of work? Is it a typical one? Does this score remind another one of the same period?
North's most-remembered opus was "A Streetcar named Desire": can you compare "Les misérables" with it?
Well, it certainly doesn't share any of Streetcar's stylistic roots, but it is similar in that it's an extremely intense psychological study. Surprisingly, given how many North scores strive for cultural authenticity, here there's very little attempt to play to the period or region. Essentially, you get 55 minutes of North using his extremely modern harmonic language to musically capture Valjean and Javert's tumultuous inner struggles. Thick, thick, thick harmonies abound and almost never let up - it's tonal, but I'd hesitate to call it melodic (at least not in the sense that melodies are ever easy to pick out). I also can't think of a North score that's more string-heavy. The brass and winds get more than their fair share too, but thick string choirs really dominate this one. I don't know what you're looking for in a North score, but I hope that helps. Again, I highly highly recommend nabbing it if you get the chance.
Pedestrian Wolf
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Posted: |
Jul 24, 2007 - 8:23 AM
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By: |
MMM
(Member)
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"My credit card wasn't charged until the day AFTER my order arrived."
I believe that's what happened to me, too. Not that it will calm anybody down, though. All I know is that I've never worried whether I would receive an order from a record label, and I've been ordering for decades, and through the years I have ordered a ton of recordings from Varese Sarabande, Screen Archives, FSM, Intrada, STAR, and even from individuals and stores all over the world, including Belgium, England, Australia, and on and on.
Only once in decades did I not receive what I ordered, and it was an extremely limited-edition (surf music) release that was sold-out by the time I discovered my copy hadn't arrived. And you know, I was forced to look for a copy through other sources, and three years later I found a copy on eBay, and was happy to spend a little extra because I really wanted the release.
But the other 99.9% of the time, everything I've ordered has eventually reached me, and I would venture to guess that if you added up all the orders that all the FSM posters have made, you'd find that close to this percentage applies to them as a whole as well. So despite the fact that we live in a "faster" age, that doesn't mean people can't just try to slow down a little in their anticipations and/or anger and/or fears, and just assume that the Universe will keep on as it's always been keeping on, and that eventually about 99.99% of what you order will arrive safely at your door.
However, I can't promise that you'll enjoy every last bit of it, as I probably only "love" about 40% of what I end up ordering. Perhaps that aspect of the film music business should be discussed with the intensity that this shipping issue is being discussed? Does anyone get half as mad that they bought something that turned out to be a letdown as they do when their package is a week or two delayed?
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Well, it certainly doesn't share any of Streetcar's stylistic roots, but it is similar in that it's an extremely intense psychological study. Surprisingly, given how many North scores strive for cultural authenticity, here there's very little attempt to play to the period or region. Essentially, you get 55 minutes of North using his extremely modern harmonic language to musically capture Valjean and Javert's tumultuous inner struggles. Thick, thick, thick harmonies abound and almost never let up - it's tonal, but I'd hesitate to call it melodic (at least not in the sense that melodies are ever easy to pick out). I also can't think of a North score that's more string-heavy. The brass and winds get more than their fair share too, but thick string choirs really dominate this one. I don't know what you're looking for in a North score, but I hope that helps. Again, I highly highly recommend nabbing it if you get the chance.
Pedestrian Wolf
I am glad that "Les Misérables" is on the modernist side: the side I like the most in North. What a relief!
I'm not an epic or jazz-oriented listener when it comes to North's music.
Thank you again.
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Have any of you noticed the few seconds of audio from the recording sessions at the end of the CD? I don't suppose you could identify who says, "You're so wonderful" at 2:23? My guess is that it's either Alfred Newman (who conducted the score) or Alex North. I'm not so sure it's Newman, because I've heard him speak, and it doesn't quite sound like him. I might be wrong though.
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Given my new kinder, gentler, approach to this shipping situation, I'll just force a grin and "wait my turn".
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This is just a wonderfully rich "discovery" of a score almost unknown in North's canon that is going to blow many people away.
It IS very accessible, yet one can hear antecedents to things like SPARTACUS and CLEOPATRA in it. I thought I'd be listening more to Waxman's ANNE OF THE INDIES, but this is the one I find myself playing over and over. North's combination of great themes with very sophisticated and forward looking orchestration is something to truly savor.
It's 1953 sonics are quite good, and Alfred Newman does the score proud, conducting a tremendously energetic performance by the Fox orchestra.
Thank you, Misters Townson and Redman, for bringing this heretofore neglected North into our collective consciousness.
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It's 1953 sonics are quite good, and Alfred Newman does the score proud, conducting a tremendously energetic performance by the Fox orchestra.
Thank you, Misters Townson and Redman, for bringing this heretofore neglected North into our collective consciousness.
Yeah, I can't believe I forgot to mention Newman's superb performance. I half-wonder if the heaviness in the string section is at least partially due to Newman's signature conducting. They don't necessarily sound like Newman strings, but you can definately hear his influence.
Pedestrian Wolf
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I don't find LES MISERABLES to be "modernistic," or however one person characterized it. That word, at least to me, implies dissonance, something North has used at times. But I find LES MIS to be a very tonal and lovely listening experience.
I didn't mean modern in that sense - I only meant that the harmonies that North employs are extremely modern. They're tonal, but they're still extremely complex and (to my ear) unpredictable. The aggressive disonance may be gone, but I don't think anyone would ever mistake this for anything other than an Alex North score.
Pedestrian Wolf
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Varese has still yet to process my order for this so I ordered it via Intrada along with Donaggio's Hercules and Newman's The Phantom. Boy oh boy am I gonna have a big credit card bill next month! 
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Today, I received my copy of "Les Misérables" along with "The Sound and the Fury" (what a good surprise and thanks again Castile for your piece of advice).
Find my favourite banner from SAE:
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