"Fantasy" is a flexible term, but since one of my first ever LPs was "The Fantasy Film World of Bernard Herrmann" back in '74 or '75, I was extremely overawed by the films represented - THE 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD, JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH, THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL and FAHRENHEIT 451. I don't think I'd classify all of these as "fantasy", but since it was in the album title, they're here.
Shortly after that I got "The Mysterious Film World of Bernard Herrmann". I think there are more "fantasy" films on that than on the earlier LP - MYSTERIOUS ISLAND, JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS, THE THREE WORLDS OF GULLIVER... Just because I was at that age, they all blew my mind without my even thinking about what it was that attracted me to that music. Maybe part of it was the scarcity of these kinds of things on the market back then. Whatever, some of them have fallen out of favour a bit with me since then, but they certainly marked my youth.
Sincerely, Dr. Nostalgia
Graham, this was exactly my start in film music appreciation. I was infatuated with Herrmann's Harryhausen's scores from a very early age and saw Fantasy Film World in a record shop and nearly passed out!
Strange to think that very soon after this, I already experienced the dissatisfaction with the tempos that we all know Herrmann changed for these recordings, but in different ways. I got so used to Sinbad on Phase 4 that when the OS was re-released not long after, I was convinced the speed on my uncle's record player (where I listened to it first) was faulty because it sounded too fast. Of course it happened in reverse when hearing the Jason Prelude (which was for me originally on The Composer Conducts compilation), after listening to my off-air audio recording for some time. Even now I think the Jason Prelude is the piece that suffers most being sooooo slow.
But yes, the Phase 4 series got me listening to his other work, and that was it. A lifelong fascination with music written for films.
So for me the Harryhausen Herrmann films are top of the fantasy list, with Steiner's King Kong and Shore's Lord of the Rings trilogy sharing equal billing.
Yeah Paul! Seeing that psychedelic garden cover for "Fantasy Film World" almost sent me into a hippy trip when I was far too young to be experimenting with drugs.
It's funny what you say about the tempos. I always accepted them, even after seeing the films (7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD was always re-released during the school holidays). I would think, "Oh, that's a lot faster - or slower", but I had no critical awareness to be able to form an opinion. It was all great. I must have been like a giant baby or something.
Kull the Conqueror - Not to be confused with Krull. Dragonheart - Synth but beautiful. The Secret of NIMH-If we open it up to animated films I could mention many more.
There are lots of films with great scores that fall under that broadest of umbrellas, fantasy—Star Wars, The Secret of NIMH, even Big Trouble in Little China or Frankenstein—but when I think fantasy I think of sub-genres like "high fantasy" or "sword-and-sorcery." The opening post appears to be referring to these specific sub-genres as well, by mentioning only LOTR and Dragonslayer, but of course the very next post that follows includes The Wizard of Oz and E.T. and people are, of course, welcome to post whatever they like. Field of Dreams certainly falls somewhere under the massive umbrella of "fantasy," if not in the same corner of said umbrella as the likes of LOTR and Dragonslayer.
I echo the applause for Manderley's list, and also approve the various proposed additions. I'd like to add to the additions:
Mockridge THE LUCK OF THE IRISH (still available at Kritzerland, BTW!)...
Hey Preston you mentioned this one on another thread some time back and I tried to find a DVD and came up empty. Man do I STILL want to see it. May have to compromise my orthodoxy and settle for the CD first!
PS forget that--just ordered DVD off ebay pretty cheap; hope it's watchable
Legend- Goldsmith, even if the most impressive cue is cribbed directly from Ravel.
I'm not up on my Ravel. Which piece is quoted?
Parts of Legend are heavily influenced by the the style of Daphnis et Chloe, but I wouldn't say any part of the score is actually "cribbed" from this or any other work by Ravel.
Hope you like LUCK, Howard. I don't know what you picked up at Ebay, but the only DVD of it I've ever found is as one of the titles in this fully sanctioned box set...
"Donkey Skin" or "Peau d'Ane" (1970), adapted by Jacques Demy from a fairy tale by Charles Perrault about a king who seeks to marry his daughter. An unforgettable score by Michel Legrand. Not to mention a handful of great songs sung by the characters.
Another is "The Tales of Hoffmann" (1952) utilizing the opera by Jacques Offenbach.
Then there's "Orpheus" (1950) by Georges Auric, about a poet who pursues his unhappy wife into the Underworld, all while falling in love with Death herself.
That gets to "What Dreams May Come" (1998) with two scores. Michael Kamen did the film, but Ennio Morricone did an equally wonderful score that was rejected.
Hope you like LUCK, Howard. I don't know what you picked up at Ebay, but the only DVD of it I've ever found is as one of the titles in this fully sanctioned box set...
Oh krep I ordered the wrong DVD and should have known better. It's a double feature including Irish Luck. I read into the title what isn't there. At least it's not a big $ loss. Senile!
"Fantasy" is a flexible term, but since one of my first ever LPs was "The Fantasy Film World of Bernard Herrmann" back in '74 or '75, I was extremely overawed by the films represented - THE 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD, JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH, THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL and FAHRENHEIT 451. I don't think I'd classify all of these as "fantasy", but since it was in the album title, they're here.
Shortly after that I got "The Mysterious Film World of Bernard Herrmann". I think there are more "fantasy" films on that than on the earlier LP - MYSTERIOUS ISLAND, JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS, THE THREE WORLDS OF GULLIVER... Just because I was at that age, they all blew my mind without my even thinking about what it was that attracted me to that music. Maybe part of it was the scarcity of these kinds of things on the market back then. Whatever, some of them have fallen out of favour a bit with me since then, but they certainly marked my youth.
Sincerely, Dr. Nostalgia
Graham, this was exactly my start in film music appreciation. I was infatuated with Herrmann's Harryhausen's scores from a very early age and saw Fantasy Film World in a record shop and nearly passed out!
Strange to think that very soon after this, I already experienced the dissatisfaction with the tempos that we all know Herrmann changed for these recordings, but in different ways. I got so used to Sinbad on Phase 4 that when the OS was re-released not long after, I was convinced the speed on my uncle's record player (where I listened to it first) was faulty because it sounded too fast. Of course it happened in reverse when hearing the Jason Prelude (which was for me originally on The Composer Conducts compilation), after listening to my off-air audio recording for some time. Even now I think the Jason Prelude is the piece that suffers most being sooooo slow.
But yes, the Phase 4 series got me listening to his other work, and that was it. A lifelong fascination with music written for films.
So for me the Harryhausen Herrmann films are top of the fantasy list, with Steiner's King Kong and Shore's Lord of the Rings trilogy sharing equal billing.
The same for me with those Phase 4 series.
Herrmann/Harryhausen films plus Journey to the Centre of the Earth, Thief of Bagdad by Rozsa as well as the Shore masterpieces.
It got the bobbengan seal of approval: "Bumping this, because music this good deserves a release! It's the best early James Horner score he never wrote!"
