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Miklós Rózsa is right up there with Bernard Herrmann, Alfred Newman, and Jerry Goldsmith as my favorite film composer (and one of my all time favorites in any genre). I've already got a really nice collection, thanks to Yavar and the other fine folks here, filled with great sounding rerecordings and reissues.
The problem? I see now that I've kind of neglected the late era of this great composer. I have Sherlock Holmes, J. Edgar Hoover (really fine scores) and Providence (the only score by the master I'm not wild about). Now I'm getting super interested in scores like Last Embrace, Time after Time, Eye of the Needle, etc.
I would love to hear other folks' thoughts on this late era, and please accept my gratitude for everyone's help in advance. You have all been hugely helpful to me during my journey.
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I must say that I LOVE Miklos Rozsa's late-period scores. These occurred in an era right on the cusp of a change in movies to a new harder-edged, fast-paced style. Although his last works, in my opinion, are among hist best, I don't think he would have done well in the films produced afterwards. Take a look at Rozsa's last scores. Most of them take place in the past: (J. EDGAR HOOVER, EYE OF THE NEEDLE, DEAD MEN DON'T WEAR PLAID), and benefited from scores that hailed back to that era. I must also mention one of my absolute favorites, TIME AFTER TIME. in which Rozsa was able to unleash his romantic side one more time. Rozsa's score was an absolute highlight of this film. The FSM CD of this score as well as the Entr'Acte CD of the re-recording of this score are both HIGHLY recommended.
Thanks so much Kari and Jim! I'm really looking forward to exploring this realm of the maestro's work more thoroughly (I've found to my delight that I've also so far missed such great old scores like Diane, looking forward to remedying that soon!).
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Talking about older scores, have you heard this exquisite music; one of my all time favourites?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjbzTDxEMh0
That's a Rozsa score I'm particularly curious about, but have never really listened to yet as I've heard the current editions of this out there are either expensive or not particularly good, though I'm liking what I'm hearing in that video. Hopefully one of our labels can someday put out a good version of this score so I can give it a real good listen.
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Hopefully one of our labels can someday put out a good version of this score so I can give it a real good listen.
Me too!
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A TIME TO LOVE AND A TIME TO DIE is a good score, but, if you have either the old lp or the Japanese CD, you’ve got practically the complete soundtrack. Curiously, the arangement of the Love Theme on Rozsa’s first Polydor album is better than the movie tracks, in that it combines two separate themes into one more effective piece. (BTW, there was a Blu-Ray released at some point that has the isolated music tracks.)
More and more, I wish someone would release those Polydor albums on CD.
As for his late scores, I feel the best word to describe them is crepuscular. They occupy the twilight of Rozsa’s years. He even uses the word to describe a waltz from PROVIDENCE. These scores have a ruminative quality to them, looking back with nostalgia and some regret. Even TIME AFTER TIME has this quality, as Rozsa explores Wells’ disillusionment with a future he’d previously thought would be so promising.
There’s also regret in the projects he was offered. LAST EMBRACE is an updated noir, and DEAD MEN DON’T WEAR PLAID is a noir parody that deliberately parodies Rozsa as well!
Ah well. Many projects at the end of artists’ lives often end up seeming ignominious.
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I wish Varese would release the film tracks for EYE OF THE NEEDLE. Their original album is a re-recording and there's almost an hour of score based on the isolated tracks on the Blu-ray release from Twilight Time.
James
I'd be all over it. To me it seems a bit strange that score HASN'T been reissued.
I liked the movie, but the book was so much better imo. This was back when Follett was very cool imo.
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Don't forget the *first* score in Rozsa's "late era" after his half decade hiatus from Hollywood: THE POWER! And a powerful score it is! WA, you really, really need to buy that Rozsa Treasury and not put it off with other Rozsa scores! 
Yavar
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Like many "silver age brats" my interest in film music was spurred by sci-fi movies (Bond, Star Wars / Star Trek / Spielberg), so naturally I caught Time After Time when it was on TV one time.
Most of Rozsa's scores were from well before my time, and as a teenager I had no interest in things like Young Bess or Spellbound. But I was enthralled by the score for Time After Time. Its romantic, European style placed in 1979 San Francisco perfectly captured the concept of a man from the 19th century lost in the 20th. It remains a favorite score of mine.
It's appalling to think that Orion actually tried to replace Rozsa's score!
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Don't forget the *first* score in Rozsa's "late era" after his half decade hiatus from Hollywood: THE POWER! And a powerful score it is! WA, you really, really need to buy that Rozsa Treasury and not put it off with other Rozsa scores!
Yavar
I now have the means YAY!!!!!!
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Time After Time is fantastic.
Those 3 rpo/Polydor albums were incredible and deserve proper CD releases. There is a 2 cd set that has all of the music from these 3 recordings, but the tracks are out of order, the packaging is not great, and the source . . . who knows? I have the cd, but can't remember the label. The sound is good.
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Some of the scores of this era I find a little repetitive. I think those were the scores he wasn't much interested in.
So, to me, some are most interesting, while others are him up to his usual. Since I didn't know his vast body of work at the time I first got the latter scores, I liked them right away.
Sooooooo.... that's my long way of saying, "it depends." :/
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