I purchased this score awhile back and just had a chance to give it a full listen while working. The Jane Eyre Theme is absolutely beautiful and the entire score is rich . I am a HUGE Williams fan but this one was unknown to me. I must say it was a wonderful surprise.
This is probably my single favorite Williams score. It is just sublime in so many ways. The album is fantastic but I would love a complete re-recording since the complete original recording of the score is lost.
Not only is it one of my favourite Williams scores, it's in my Top 10 list of favourite soundtracks EVER! Shame that it's for such an obscure adaptation of the Brontë story -- I don't believe it's available anywhere. It's not the best adaptation, but it deserves a proper release, if only because of Williams' music.
I remember seeing this on TV around 1971 or 72. I really hadn't discovered John Williams yet. What I did know was that the music was stunningly beautiful. Just gorgeous. There was no Internet then, so I wrote my brother who collected scores and asked him to track down an Lp if one existed. It took him 6 months. I think he had soundtrack books and wrote to Japan, England and other places trying to find an Lp. Some how he did, and I got this record. Lucky me. Decades later I could buy the CD.
Williams composed one of the loveliest love themes ever written for movie or television show.
Has Williams not said this is one of his own favourites? I didn't have the earlier Silva release so I got it when reissued by LLL. I don't think the sound quality is the best so a rerecording would be welcome in that regard. I always found it strange that in the many Williams compilations I own both by himself and others, this theme never appeared.
The recording is a little "hot" here and there, but it doesn't affect my listening enjoyment. Every track is great, however, I've come to really appreciate Festivity At Thornfield and Restoration.
I am thrilled to see so many fellow FSM members cite this as one of their favorites. Thanks so much. I held back on my praise of this because I think I sometimes I gush about a score and it becomes repetitive. Honestly, how many gushers can one person have?
HOWEVER, this really took my breath away. The main theme is stunning but the entire score just leaves you wanting more. It is over too soon.
Has Williams not said this is one of his own favourites?
Yes, in earlier days he did. In recent years, however, he seems to pull out CLOSE ENCOUNTERS as his favourite of his own work. But I'm sure JANE EYRE still has a place in his heart -- not so much because of the movie, but because it allowed him to delve into a sound he's passionate about; the pastoral, "English" sound inspired by composers such as Ralph Vaughan Williams.
A beautiful masterpiece of a score indeed. And a wonderful suite which I've just heard for the first time. Thanks Mike. I didn't intend to stay up 13 and a half minutes after my bedtime, but once I'd clicked on the link I just had to hear it to the end. As you say, a great companion piece to the score itself. I love how the suite covers the major themes but not in a slavish cut n' paste way. For a few seconds at the start I was going "but it's not the same! Where are the trills at that bit?", but I got over it. Absolutely splendid (suite and score).
