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Kritzerland is proud to present two great new releases – one world premiere soundtrack and another in our ongoing Ben Bagley series of reissues:
DEMENTIA
Composed by George Antheil
Conducted by Ernest Gold
Featured Voice: Marni Nixon
and
ERNEST GOLD’S PIANO CONCERTO
Conducted by Leon Barzin
Marisa Regueles, piano
Has there ever been a film that could actually cause Dementia? Well, some would say that the film known as Dementia, a completely one-off, nightmarish journey into the netherworlds of Expressionism, noir, horror, and sexual psychosis, might just fit the bill. Filmed in 1953 but not released until December of 1955 due to censorship battles in New York (the censor board averring the film indecent, inhuman and would tend to corrupt morals and incite to crime). When it finally premiered in New York, the film was reviewed thusly by Variety: “May be the strangest release ever offered for theatrical release.” Dementia features no dialogue at all, just some sound effects here and there and occasional background laughing and chatter. It runs a terse 55-minutes. At some point, producer Jack H. Harris bought the film, made a few changes, and added portentous almost non-stop narration by the one and only Ed McMahon. He also retitled the film, Daughter of Horror, and that version was released in 1957.
One of the biggest contributing factors to the film’s uniqueness was the score by George Antheil, who, in addition to his classical music had written many notable scores for films, including The Buccaneer (1938), Specter of the Rose (1946), Knock on Any Door (1949), House by the River (1950), In a Lonely Place (1950), Sirocco (1951), The Sniper (1952), Not as a Stranger (1955), and post-Dementia, The Pride and the Passion (1957). Antheil’s score for Dementia is almost wall-to-wall music. It’s weird and wonderful, perfectly suiting all of the nightmarish goings on. In fact, one could not imagine a more perfect score for this film. Giving the music an especially eerie texture is the vocal oohs and aahs of Marni Nixon. She was about to become the go-to singer to dub major actresses in film musicals, most notably Deborah Kerr in The King and I (and also An Affair to Remember), Natalie Wood in West Side Story, and, of course, Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady. The score was conducted by Ernest Gold, at the time married to Marni Nixon, and a fine composer of both classical works and film music.
As a companion piece, we’re delighted to include Ernest Gold’s wonderful Piano Concerto, written in 1943. Although not critically well received at the time, the concerto is really terrific, filled with wonderful Gold tunes, some jazzy bits, and sounding every now and then like his film music.
Dementia is appearing for the first time on CD, mastered from a 7 1/2 ips tape. The Gold piano concerto is also mastered from an archival 7 1/2 ips tape.
DEMENTIA is limited to 500 copies only and priced at $19.98, plus shipping. This is a PRE-ORDER – CDs will ship by the third week of August, but never fear, we’ve actually been averaging three to five weeks early in terms of shipping ahead of the official ship date. To place an order, see the cover, or hear audio samples, just visit www.kritzerland.com. Also note that your PayPal receipt is the only receipt you get – we don’t send out confirmations beyond that.
Our second title is another in our ongoing reissues of the Ben Bagley Revisited albums:
JEROME KERN REVISITED VOLUME II
Music by Jerome Kern
Lyrics by Guy Bolton, Anne Caldwell, Dorothy Fields, Oscar Hammerstein, Otto Harbach, Gus Kahn, Herbert Reynolds, Harry B. Smith, P.G. Wodehouse
This is the second volume of Jerome Kern we’ve released and it’s another complete delight, with a great cast including Joanne Woodward, Kaye Ballard, Sandy Stewart, Jerry Stiller, Anne Meara, lyricist Sheldon Harnick, Sarah Rice, Arthur Siegel, and more. The musical arrangements and musical direction are by long-time Bagley regular, Dennis Deal. There are, as always, lots of great Ken rarities, a treasure trove of great tunes with great lyrics by some amazing lyricists, from shows such as Sitting Pretty, Oh! Boy!, Love O’Mike, High, Wide and Handsome, Nobody Home, The Canary, and others. That is the joy of these albums, not hearing the tried and true, but hearing the neglected and unknown. There are two bonus tracks from a revival of Show Boat, too, and as always, we’ve really spruced up the sound, and we of course give you the great Harvey Schmidt artwork.
JEROME KERN REVISITED VOLUME II is limited to 500 copies only and priced at $19.98, plus shipping. This is a PRE-ORDER – CDs will ship by the third week of August, but never fear, we’ve actually been averaging three to five weeks early in terms of shipping ahead of the official ship date. To place an order, see the cover, or hear audio samples, just visit www.kritzerland.com. Also note that your PayPal receipt is the only receipt you get – we don’t send out confirmations beyond that.
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DEMENTIA - fantastic release! What an inspired choice to pair it with the 1943 concerto - I love that vintage sound, and feels like a soundtrack as well. Stupid question - the Dementia tape is music/singer-only, no effects, correct?
Correct, no effects.
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Man, I'd just about written "Dementia" off as a "never gonna happen" kinda thing. Such an amazing film, and score. What a terrific release.
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Wow, what a cool twofer! And, if I am not mistaken, a complete commercial premiere (the Antheil score) being paired with a (no doubt improved sound) remaster of the Gold concerto. I personally really like it when premieres are combined with improved editions of other pieces, and I think it will usually lead to better sales than pairing two reissues would do.
I'm a bit Antheil fan so I'm very interested in this release although I am completely unfamiliar with the score. Correct me if I'm wrong, Bruce... but isn't this only the second time in history that there's been a full length album release of an Antheil film score, after The Pride and the Passion?
Yavar
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Wow, what a cool twofer! And, if I am not mistaken, a complete commercial premiere (the Antheil score) being paired with a (no doubt improved sound) remaster of the Gold concerto. I personally really like it when premieres are combined with improved editions of other pieces, and I think it will usually lead to better sales than pairing two reissues would do.
I'm a bit Antheil fan so I'm very interested in this release although I am completely unfamiliar with the score. Correct me if I'm wrong, Bruce... but isn't this only the second time in history that there's been a full length album release of an Antheil film score, after The Pride and the Passion?
Yavar
Yep.
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I wonder where the Dementia tape was held. Family member or private collector? University archive? Ed McMahon?
Well, private collector, namely me. We left the ticking sounds in because they're really part of the sound design and very musical.
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I was going to jokingly include you in the list of possibilities, but figured then it would have debuted years ago. One wonders what other gems you are sitting on, so to speak.
Many. As I've posted before, many years ago Brian Burney of A-1 Recordfinders got in a huge and rather incredible collection of reel-to-reel tapes from the family of a deceased collector - amazing stuff really, that I've had ever since. They're all in boxes, some here in the garage, some in the warehouse where the Kritzerland stuff is. Occasionally I go see what's there, and then have to have it transferred and cleaned up. Other than titles on boxes, there's nothing really identifying where these came from or how he got them so it's all a crapshoot, but so far we've been lucky.
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I watched both versions of the film in advance of writing the liner notes. Seriously wacky. The director's only feature film and, as far as I can tell, one of two things he directed, the other being a TV pilot he did on the come that never sold.
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Damn Bruce... digitizing that collection should be your #1 priority, in terms of releases. I mean, plenty of other labels are tackling stuff at the studios (though not Golden Age to the degree you have), but you and only you have access to a lot of these real rarities, in your own possession.
The first Antheil film music premiere in over 60 years is a HUGE deal!
Yavar
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