Just saw this the other day- good film, and noticed there was no thread on it. This was also my first Delerue experience. Some solid music, especially the Kings fanfare stuff, but I found that the music completely disappeared about halfway through the film- so a bit of a disappointment.
I may be wrong (and am certain to be corrected, if so), but all I recall of this score is the title music for the king's barge, some source dance music, and a brief cue for Thomas More in prison. Is that all there is? I love Delerue, but this score (what there is) never made much impression on me (DA--da-da--da-DA ://).
It is a score that could be paired with Anne of the Thousand Days. As most of the film centers on More's trial, there is not much need for background music. Does anyone know who wrote the score for the Heston TBS remake?
It is a score that could be paired with Anne of the Thousand Days. As most of the film centers on More's trial, there is not much need for background music. Does anyone know who wrote the score for the Heston TBS remake?
It is a score that could be paired with Anne of the Thousand Days. As most of the film centers on More's trial, there is not much need for background music. Does anyone know who wrote the score for the Heston TBS remake?
They can't be paired, Anne is Decca (UMG) & A Man FOR All Seasons is RCA (Sony).
GSteven, that cue for the arrival of the King's barge is my primary memory of the score also. I sold off my two LP set of the whole film years back on eBay, and that moment is the only one that stands out, with the possible exception of the opening and closing fanfares.
I love the title sequence with the birds on the Thames, and Delerue's piece really works for it.
Some of the brass pieces are period, and there's background source music for the 'Would that be one of his majesty's own?' since old Henry wrote a fair bit.
That's the sort of thing that I suppose only a 'suite' orientated company would record ... like Silva or something.
Somewhere in storage I have the old 2-lp set. For the life of me I can't remember if there are any music-only tracks on it. I recall liking the musical moments (and of course the movie!) or I wouldn't have purchased the lp set. Delerue is just so damned good at creating brief musical themes that have a way of sneaking into your marrow and resonating throughout an entire film.
Somewhere in storage I have the old 2-lp set. For the life of me I can't remember if there are any music-only tracks on it. I recall liking the musical moments (and of course the movie!) or I wouldn't have purchased the lp set. Delerue is just so damned good at creating brief musical themes that have a way of sneaking into your marrow and resonating throughout an entire film.
I believe that the 2LP set only had the opening fanfare; the rest was dialogue.
I agree with William that the short score is ripe for a re-recording. The revised main title was gripping and the perfect dramatic hook for the story. There was also a series of fanfares for the instillation of More as Chancellor followed by an extended royal fanfare for the King's journey on the Thames to More's estate; a dance heard in the background as More is led to interrogation; a brief cue for the change of seasons during More's imprisonment; and a final fanfare for the end credits. The suite was essentially Delerue's equivalent of Handel's Water Music.
1. Columbia Fanfare 2. Main Title (Hampton to Chelsea) 3. Downstream (Chelsea to Hampton) 4. King's Fanfare 5. Chancellor Fanfare 1 6. Chancellor Fanfare 2 7. The King on the River 8. The King Lands at Chelsea (could be part of no.7) 9. Thomas and the King (source, but we never see the musicians and this plays as score until Robert Shaw as Henry identifies it as his work). 10. The Seasons Change 11. Dance at Richmond Palace (source) 12. Court Fanfare 13. End Cast
I'm guessing there's about 10 minutes of music but there might be some unused source material. And some of those fanfares might be the same. I didn't listen that closely to them.
Is there more than one version? ************************************************
I think that the 6-CD French Delerue compilation has (1) the film version of the Main Title on one of the first CDs in the set. Then, (2) on a later CD, there is an alternate (unused) Main Title (not as good, IMO) with the same timing.
“Georges and I worked very happily together on three films (A Man for All Seasons, The Day of the Jackal, Julia). For some reason I hadn’t heard the title music [for A Man for All Seasons] until the day he was playing it with the orchestra in the recording studio. The music somehow didn’t seem right, didn’t do what I had hoped it would do. I said to Georges that I was terribly sorry, but there was something that didn’t quite shape up. We talked about it and Georges said it was very simple. The orchestra would take a break for about two hours, while he would rewrite the music. I can’t tell you exactly how long the music was; it must have been more than two minutes long. This was quite incredible but he did do it. About two hours later he rang me at the office to say that he was ready. I heard the music and it was excellent. It’s truly miraculous, compared with a lot of other composers, who are brilliant but not as helpful. He is quite unique in this respect.”
The original version of the main title was quasi-source music of the Reformation period, but the revised version was more than that: it musically framed the dramatic conflict that was to come and evoked that unique sense of impending doom.
In those two hours, Delerue not only wrote out his revised main title, but (like Herrmann and Morricone) he also orchestrated it. It only remained for the orchestra members to copy their own parts.
Georges Delerue on his Renaissance/Reformation scores:
“Well, on the one hand you have to come close to the musical language of that particular period, but on the other hand I don’t want to make a historical reconstruction, with a lot of research at the library. What’s needed in my view is to express local colour. I imagine what a visit to that specific period would sound like, taking care not to commit errors of style, of course, but especially respecting the sound of the instruments used during the period, which is very important.”
