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Roger Webb's theme was released as a single at the time of the series premiere and I would imagine is hard to find these days. There have been lots of lazily put together 'Cult TV Theme compilations' in the UK that could usefully have included this theme, but they all tend to rehash the old Pye/Castle catalogue, so its the same themes reissued again and again.
A CD of music from this series would be most welcome, I agree!
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I think I did a thread on this a year or two ago. I too love the main theme, and I like the World of Hammer theme, too! I'll take anything I can get from either show!
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The "Carpathian Eagle" segment written by Wilfred Josephs is my favorite episode score from this series. Josephs is primarily remembered as the author of the theme for "I, Claudius". I wonder if Josephs was commissioned to score "Carpathian Eagle" because Sian Phillips guest-starred in it (she was also in the "I, Claudius" serial)...?
I would very much doubt it.
This was always my favourite episode of the series, but it was very much Suzanne Danielle's show, not Sian Phillips 
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I remember being very excited as a youngster (more or less) when this was first shown on the telly. The first episode had music by James Bernard, and of course in those days there was no way of knowing beforehand who was doing what, so it was a really thrilling surprise to hear.... "Blimey! That sounds like... James Bernard!"
There's a chapter in Randall Larson's book "Music From the House of Hammer" which explains a little about how the composers were chosen, the budgetary and time restrictions etc. Philip Martell, as musical director, was the big boss in that department. Incidentally, while praising the scores written by James Bernard, John McCabe and David Lindup etc, he's rather lukewarm on the Wilfred Josephs score, calling it "a serviceable assemblage of pop-jazz motifs". I'm an admirer of Randall Larson, but I must admit he does seem to be totally averse to anything which is not "traditional" horror music, particularly the use of jazz, which he is completely dismissive of as a dramatic device.
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I'm an admirer of Randall Larson, but I must admit he does seem to be totally averse to anything which is not "traditional" horror music, particularly the use of jazz, which he is completely dismissive of as a dramatic device.
I enjoy Randall's reviews and web columns too. although I'm not familiar with his Hammer music book.
To be honest, I'm a bit surprised at this, given his fairly enthusiastic album notes for Mike Vickers jazz-rock flavoured score for Dracula A.D. 1972....
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That's funny Simon, because in the Hammer book Larson says that Vickers provided "... a grating, pop-jazz score which was awkward, dramatically out of place, distracting in the fight scenes, and overall sounding more like annoying TV cop-show muzak." Mind you, if I was paid to write liner notes for an album, I wouldn't say how terrible the score is either!
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That's funny Simon, because in the Hammer book Larson says that Vickers provided "... a grating, pop-jazz score which was awkward, dramatically out of place, distracting in the fight scenes, and overall sounding more like annoying TV cop-show muzak." Mind you, if I was paid to write liner notes for an album, I wouldn't say how terrible the score is either!
You ol' cynic, you!
In the notes for the album, Randall says ..."The modern rendition of the main theme with its punchy rhythm section and dominating guitars is quite provocative. The music really serves a dual purpose, fitting both the contemporary environment of the film as well as Dracula's ageless, gothic legacy"
What have you got to say about that then, Randall?
Randall?? Randall! Oh well - he's gone again..... 
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Brillant BSX CD - amazing.
I bought it because I liked a good deal of Vicker's library music - he isn't at all well represented on CD. I found the album notes very enjoyable (in all seriousness, perhaps Randall has changed his mind about the music in the years between the book and the CD) and - while I liked the theme very much - I did find some of the rest of the score to be a bit disappointing.
Nothing to do with the jazz-rock nature of it (I really like that style in general); I just found it all a little boring.
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Posted: |
Jul 3, 2010 - 3:28 PM
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By: |
ToneRow
(Member)
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This was always my favourite episode of the series, but it was very much Suzanne Danielle's show, not Sian Phillips
Agreed.
Perhaps Wilfred Josephs was inspired by the curvaceous figure of Suzanne Danielle rather than the titular "Horror" of the series' title. Josephs' music for "Carpathian Eagle" may not measure up to Hammer's expectations, but in my opinion, it fit this femme fatale like a pair of her panties...
Interestingly, in the book "Hammer Film Scores and the Musical Avant-Garde", author David Huckvale curiously omits the contributions of Wilfred Josephs to Hammer, such as "Fanatic" (aka "Die! Die! My Darling") and this "Carpathian Eagle" episode of the series, while mentioning other composers' work on "Hammer House of Horror" as well as covering the less frequent contributors, such as Benjamin Frankel and Elisabeth Lutyens...
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The "Carpathian Eagle" segment written by Wilfred Josephs is my favorite episode score from this series. Josephs is primarily remembered as the author of the theme for "I, Claudius". I wonder if Josephs was commissioned to score "Carpathian Eagle" because Sian Phillips guest-starred in it (she was also in the "I, Claudius" serial)...?
This was always my favourite episode of the series, but it was very much Suzanne Danielle's show, not Sian Phillips
Agree with Simon and Tonerow
Carpathian Eagle was always miles ahead my favourite Hammer episode too.
Another vote here for Suzanne Danielle - this was probably the one role that was perfect for her. The series/episode pops up occasionally on one of Gold channels or Bravo or something, one of the homes of 70s TV.
Broke my heart when she married that golfer bloke - I mean, what could he offer her that I couldn't???!! Bet he never had a mint copy of Barabbas!
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Has any-one noticed that the “Hammer House of Horror” theme presented in the video, kindly provided above by Timmer, is the greatly expanded version from the 45RPM record? And if you click the link to watch the video on the YouTube site, and read the comments there, you will find out where to go to down-load the MP3 file. Thanks, Timmer!
Roger Webb’s theme is in the quasi-Baroque style that has been discussed on this forum:
http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/board/posts.cfm?threadID=51696&forumID=1&archive=0
This is a style that James Bernard never employed—except perhaps in the “Hammer House of Horror” episode “Witching Time”, wherein Jon Finch portrays a composer using synthesisers to work on a piece in this style. One can reasonably presume that Bernard both scored the episode and composed this music.
It is interesting how flexible this style of music can be. It is usually in the minor mode, and more often than not based upon the Baroque harmonic progression over descending fifths in the bass. Here, it is used for horror, but it is very often used to evoke romance or, especially, the past—both nostalgically and otherwise. Lalo Schiffrin even scored a Western (“Joe Kidd”, starring Clint Eastwood) in this style.
A “Hammer House of Horror” CD would be most welcome, indeed!
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NICE MELODIC HAUNTING THEME and yes I see THE JOE KIDD THEME CONNECTION.
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It is this type of theme music why I got into film music. Cut above type of memorable melody that top 40 often strains to get.To each one's own.It lingers with you long after hearing it, in quiet moments of the day, when your sleeping at night. A lot of pop music compositions don't linger past 30 seconds after hearing them.but TO EACH ONE'S OWN.
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