Love this guy, from ROBOTJOX to THE TEMP (that end title!) to his fantastic DeWolf music to his utterly awesome ASTERIX AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES - That one's just fantastic.
I really wish someone would release EDGE OF SANITY. Marvelous score in that rich classically-elegant horror style, a la Robert Folk's THE SLAYER or (as mentioned elsewhere) Williams' THE FURY. Here's the main theme:
Someone above mentioned his score from Delta Force 2. This was a movie that my family rented when I was in high school. I was going to hang out with friends, and the movie was godawful so I never finished watching it, but the music that I did hear from the first ten or fifteen minutes or so made a huge impression. Unfortunately, I never caught up to the soundtrack album, which is now hovering around the $50 mark on Amazon. I would definitely buy a re-release, but who knows who owns what there …
The only CD of his that I've never warmed to is FORTRESS (promo score CD from Intrada). It's okay in small patches (Kick Fight, Freedom), but I find it too sombre and dull overall.
Although I'm French - or maybe because I'm French (!) - I must say the American-sounding style of this composer very seldom appeals to me. I like the religious piece VINUM ET SANGUINEM, his MOLIERE and to a lesser extent THE CHILDREN OF TIMPELBACH. Yet I listened to various other soundtracks such as LE BRASIER, ANTHONY ZIMMER, LES AIGUILLES ROUGES, ASTERIX AUX JEUX OLYMPIQUES, LAISSE TES MAINS...but they didn't do much for me. My favourite album is probably the library music CD PAST LIVES, PAST TIMES: just superb.
The only CD of his that I've never warmed to is FORTRESS (promo score CD from Intrada). It's okay in small patches (Kick Fight, Freedom), but I find it too sombre and dull overall.
As far as I can remember, Frederic Talgorn was not particularly happy with the orchestra performance and never really pushed for a commercial release, apart from the promo cd.
Someone above mentioned his score from Delta Force 2. This was a movie that my family rented when I was in high school. I was going to hang out with friends, and the movie was godawful so I never finished watching it, but the music that I did hear from the first ten or fifteen minutes or so made a huge impression. Unfortunately, I never caught up to the soundtrack album, which is now hovering around the $50 mark on Amazon. I would definitely buy a re-release, but who knows who owns what there …
You what?! I have both "Delta force" DVDs and "Delta force 2" is enormously entertaining, and the scene at the end where they are dragged through the jungle by a helicopter surpasses many scenes in the James Bond franchise. Talgorn's music I remember because I remember that I noticed the composer was the same as the one who brought me the fantastic "Robotjox" soundtrack (his best, and a great film too) but was disappointed by the cheap execution. It suffers badly from horrific 1990s trend of the cost cutting "synthesizer replacing orchestra syndrome", which is why I never bought the CD.
Talgorn's official Youtube channel has been active lately, as mentioned in a couple of other threads. Last night a rousing 19 minute suite from ANGELS IN THE ENDZONE appeared. It only makes me want this on CD even more.
I had the pleasure of interviewing Mr. Talgorn by phone and corresponding with him by email several times for my book, Composing Adventure. He was extremely personable, knowledgeable and good-humoured. If anything, I'd say that he was very humble. He seemed surprised and extremely grateful that people enjoy his music and remember his work from over the years. Mr. Talgorn is extremely talented and he was wonderful to speak with.
The budget-dictated electronics on Delta Force 2 work quite well in setting the scenes and underscoring Billy Drago's villany. The orchestral parts are quite entertaining, esp. the ending.
RobotJox is incredibly exciting music with thematic material that takes time to pick out, but is well worth it.
The Temp is one of the best scores for a 90s '(blank) from Hell' thriller. The action variation of the main theme is nicely exhilarating and his writing for Ondes martenot is as good as anything Jarre or Bernstein ever did.
Who knows if the ego stuff is true (though, like Herrmann, he has the talent to back up such an attitude), but it's a shame he didn't have a bigger career.
