The recent complete OMEN CD is pretty close to being complete. Which is great news. I've asked people I thought might know over the years, some at FSM, if they know what the deal with what I'll call THE DOG synth music in the film and no one had any answers for me. The liner notes for this Cd mention briefly near the end that some music is still missing, including THE DOG music and the climax at the church music.
I sort of suspect that both cues are actually music edit jobs as they appear in the film itself, not additional scored to picture pieces. THE DOG music sounds like an edit of the synth music for the trailer for the film. But who did the trailer music? Did Goldsmith do it--if so why not use the choir he so famously uses in the film?
Don't get me wrong I think THE DOG music and trailer music are great and certainly he could have written it--her certainly wrote music specifically for trailers. Perhaps due to time running out it ended up being done a synth as the rest of the score had probably already been recorded in England. But what's used in the film is pretty obviously editing and mixed down from the full piece as it appears in the trailer. Did someone love the trailer music so much they then went back and edited bits of it into the film acting, more or less, as THE DOG's theme music?
There was a comment that I'm trying to recall the source for - possibly the laserdisc release? (so take it for what it's worth) that Donner wanted to hold back on the choir until the ride to the church sequence. The dog music in the film was simply tracked in from the trailer (which Goldsmith did not create).
Had to find the trailer so I could remind myself about the synth music in question. So why not share?
I understand why some folks have wanted this on record, but personally, I'm just as glad it hasn't been found - it would mess up the feel of the score if it played in sequence, and it's not interesting enough for me to want it as a bonus track. (And this from a guy who really digs electronic music.)
Had to find the trailer so I could remind myself about the synth music in question. So why not share?
I understand why some folks have wanted this on record, but personally, I'm just as glad it hasn't been found - it would mess up the feel of the score if it played in sequence, and it's not interesting enough for me to want it as a bonus track. (And this from a guy who really digs electronic music.)
Thanks! This is fascinating, as I’ve always wondered about those synth notes as well, and thought they were a highlight. I noticed that underneath those synth notes (0:26, 1:10, 1:48,…) is this (Library?, found at 1:50) music. Quite the Grail for many of us NFL Films music fans. That particular piece was used in several late 60s, early 70s bits, but hasn’t yet been identified as far as I know. Anyone who can id it would be a hero. Sorry to sidetrack.
The video in the post above has been deleted, but I found the music that's underneath the synthesizer at 1:45 in this video here:
That identifies it as being written by Ivor Slaney.
Gergely Hubai told me on Facebook that it actually comes from an English library music LP from Impress Music.
Who created the synth overdubs?
It's hard to imagine that would have been Goldsmith—why would he use library music?
Unless it happened the other way round. Maybe Jerry replaced his own choral cue for the dog with the pulsating synthesizer cue and then maybe someone else added the library music after.
Or maybe whoever chose the library music got someone else to add a synth overdub.
Who knows?
Anyway, there you go—Ivor Slaney is your man and it's one of the 'short link and patterns'.
I'm more interested in the other alleged dog music. In one of the special features, Donner talks about the whispering choral material for the dog stalking Robert when he returns to his home near the finale. That cue isn't on any album and I don't really miss it, but Donner talks about Goldsmith having allegedly written a more musical approach before he told him all the scene needed was voices. I'm sure it's lost since it wasn't on the newest release, but if Donner wasn't mistaken I'd love to have heard the original pass.
The Varèse Sarabande 40th Anniversary Edition of the score adds what was for me the most important cue missing from all previous releases (and which should have been on the original soundtrack release to begin with), which is the music from the Italian monastery, when Thorn and Jennings visit father Spiletto. The other cue, which sadly remains unpublished on album so far, is the track where the dog is stalking Thorn in his house near the end of the movie. I would actually re-buy THE OMEN again just for that one whispering chorus cue.
The synthesizer dog cue is obviously not an integral part of the "score" proper and doesn't really belong into the musical construction Goldsmith made. It would be a nice bonus cue, but it's not essential to the film score as music.
So crazy that this piece of stitched together library music actually sounds like it could be Goldsmith’s electronics. Also crazy that it was used again for the Damien Omen II ads. https://youtu.be/iCvPIk2Ig7o
For me, the missing dog music was the chorus whisper loop used when the rottweiler was walking inside the house ("sanguis bibimus - corpus edimus", a capella so to speak).
Mike Matessino and Gergely Hubai have added more information that makes the story almost complete.
So, basically this 'dog' music which replaces Goldsmith's choral music...
1. Was created by editor Stuart Baird.
2. Is a mix of of two library music tracks laid one on top of the other.
3. One is an Ivor Slaney piece from a UK library music LP—Impress Music, IA385 Percussion Galore.
4. The other is the synthesizer overdub which was also library music but not specifically identified yet.
5. Baird and Donner liked it better that Goldsmith's music for the dog so used it instead.
6. Goldsmith was not involved.
The only thing needed to make the story fully complete is the identification of the source of the synthesizer overdub.
I'm greatly indebted to Gergely Hubai and Mike Matessino for providing the information that extended this story.
Cheers
It's actually 2 pieces from Ivor Slaney - When the Nanny sees the dog 2 tracks from Percussion Galore are used - A15 Short Links 15 followed by A14 Short Links 14, in the trailer and when Damien sees the dog A14 Short Links 14 is used.
