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I was wondering. Which version do you prefer?
The original recording, which can be found on CD4 of the Jerry Goldsmith at 20th Century Fox box, or the composer conducted re-recording, with the LSO, on the Intrada RIO CONCHOS CD?
I fell in love (probably cos I heard it there first) with the LSO/Intrada version, but think I now prefer the original version.
Don't forget that the original track also appears on Varese Sarabande's 2004 Club CD of The Agony and the Ecstasty, which is the expanded edition of the Alex North soundtrack.
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I prefer the original sessions over the digital recording.
Seems as though this piece might be the earliest Goldsmith composition which Kev McG likes?
[I think I recall reading that KMcG did not care for such 1963 Goldsmith efforts as A Gathering of Eagles or The List of Adrian Messenger]
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This might be my favorite Goldsmith piece. Though scored to picture, it plays brilliantly as a concert work, with concert work style development. There are a few little nods in it to Miklos Rozsa, or so I like to think. It is a sublime and perfect 12 and a half minutes.
As to recording preference, the Intrada is the better performed and the better recorded. I mean, it's the LSO in the 80s so no surprise there. I prefer some aspects of it, such as the way the brass notes flow into each other for the main recurring motif. It is literally without fault and I suspect that with the LSO at his disposal, Jerry may have taken the time to refine some nuances of the piece in terms of performance.
That said, the original recording has its own unique merits and I would not be without either recording. There are times when I'm far more in the mood for the intimacy and delicacy of the original performance and recording, even if neither are as "perfect". It frankly has a very different feel, the LSO much more epic-sounding...but then I don't always want epic-sounding.
Yavar
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This thread is making me want to watch the prologue again (I saw it once on TCM) - does anyone know if the blu ray of The Agony and the Ecstasy includes the prologue? I'm not getting a clear answer in an online search.
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Again? I've never been able to see it once. I'm very curious as well how it might be seen.
Yavar
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Posted: |
Aug 11, 2016 - 4:04 PM
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By: |
bobbengan
(Member)
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This might be my favorite Goldsmith piece. Though scored to picture, it plays brilliantly as a concert work, with concert work style development. There are a few little nods in it to Miklos Rozsa, or so I like to think. It is a sublime and perfect 12 and a half minutes.
As to recording preference, the Intrada is the better performed and the better recorded. I mean, it's the LSO in the 80s so no surprise there. I prefer some aspects of it, such as the way the brass notes flow into each other for the main recurring motif. It is literally without fault and I suspect that with the LSO at his disposal, Jerry may have taken the time to refine some nuances of the piece in terms of performance.
That said, the original recording has its own unique merits and I would not be without either recording. There are times when I'm far more in the mood for the intimacy and delicacy of the original performance and recording, even if neither are as "perfect". It frankly has a very different feel, the LSO much more epic-sounding...but then I don't always want epic-sounding.
Yavar
Beautifully put, Yavar. Indeed it sounds like a great concert work as much as it does a film score. Even in the LSO version, the expansive nature still feels like it has a tasteful restraint, like the full power of the piece is only hinted at, only suggested, and never stated forthright. An incredible fine line Goldsmith walks here, and he does so brilliantly.
I'm usually over-critical of Goldsmith, if only because the disproportionate amount of adulatory praise he's given around here is faintly mystifying to me, but this is a piece I could listen to endlessly. It's a deeply inspired, evocative and concert-worthy work of art and perhaps my favorite musical depiction of the human creative process ever, and for me a creative high point in Goldsmith's career.
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I have to start by saying that I prefer the original, 20th Century-Fox rendition of the piece. It is a magnificent composition by Goldsmith however, and both renderings have their merits.
What made it doubly interesting for me was getting to attend the recording session at Abbey Road, the only time I've ever been priveleged enough to witness such an event. What do I remember most about it? Cigarette smoke! After each rehearsal, Mr Goldsmith would walk back to the glass-covered booth where my friend Tom and I stood at the back trying to take everything in... Bruce Botnick sat at the controls. And as soon as he alighted from the podium, Mr Goldsmith would automatically light up a cigarette and smoke it in this small room while he listened to the playback. Phew!
One's memory fades over the years of course, but I can still recall a few remarks; for instance, Goldsmith saying to Bruce Botnick, "Play that again, I just wanna HEAR it!" And he likened a section of his piece to being like "pure Vaughan Williams".
From Bruce Botnick : "Take four, The Agony and the Agony..." !
In the few seconds when Tom and I had a chance to speak to the Maestro, Tom mentioned to him that I was from Scotland. "I've never been to Scotland", said Jerry G, though of course that would change as he would later work with the RSNO in Glasgow. And, I imagine, still with those damned cigarettes...
James.
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Oh no Zardoz..I love his Twilight Zone TV scores and things like Lonely Are The Brave, Spiral Road and Freud (you're right about List Of Adrian Messenger. I don't care for The Stripper either).
I do love many parts of A Gathering Of Eagles (I dislike the soap opera/melodramatic cues, but really dig the fanfare and action tracks). I really like Lilies Of The Field too.
I see, Kev McG, that from your perspective it's not how old the music is - it's whether the music sounds sentimental or jazzy or comedic which determines how much you like (or dislike) the music.
If you don't care for strings performed in older idioms (or any music in a jazzy manner), then you probably have obstacles getting into music by Alex North or Hugo Friedhofer plus many others.
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To answer my own question above: the prologue IS on the film on Netflix, so I assume also on blu ray. Worth seeing.
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