 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hello all! I'm an Australian-based film composer who's just joined the forum. I'd like to let everyone know about a 2-CD release on the well-known soundtrack label 1M1 Records of four orchestral adventure film soundtracks I composed and conducted in the 1980s, recorded at the Sydney Opera House. It has a 24-page booklet with notes by Jeff Bond, producer Philip Powers and myself.
The 2-CD set is available only on eBay at https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/115109467943 Converted from Australian dollars to US Dollars or Euros the price is quite reasonable even with the currently increased shipping costs out of Australia.
Here is a short clip with some samples
https://youtu.be/8xLfkcH70ao
and also a Sydney Morning Herald feature article about the release https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kjLcKGQXzrUe187m8afw00ddPuuVl90U/view?usp=sharing
..and here are some comments:
"This is tremendously enjoyable, big, old fashioned orchestral film music from a talent I knew nothing about before I was contacted about this project--I absolutely LOVED this music and I think anyone who loves the whole post-Jaws/John Williams world of movie music will enjoy it too--check it out"
JEFF BOND (La La Land soundtrack liner notes, 'Hollywood Reporter', 'Film Score Monthly')
"This handsome set....[Isaacs] proves he can romance, swashbuckle and parade regal with the best of them."
THE WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN Review
"The music is highly attractive, lushly romantic and constantly inventive...highly sophisticated. As producer/editor Philip Powers observes, 'Isaacs had treated a low-budget animated film as if it was a multi-million dollar live-action film, because I could hear him taking all of the emotions seriously. He wasn’t scoring a cartoon. He was scoring A Tale of Two Cities with the same sense of gravitas… [as] Erich Korngold."
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD Spectrum
"A beautifully constructed compilation soundtrack album...Isaacs’ work is brilliant...Mark has accomplished a unique body of works with his orchestration aptitude and his compositional skill – I truly believe they go hand-in-hand....a true epic score with bold statements, reminding me of John Williams’ pounding and memorable adventuristic film scores."
LOUDMOUTH Magazine
"I just found myself standing in the butcher and whistling under my breath the main title music to Rob Roy! I really enjoyed these soundtracks. And boy can Mark Isaacs write a tune! I can absolutely hear why this music was released. It would have been a terrible shame to leave it just sitting there on a shelf."
ANDREW FORD Composer; Presenter: The Music Show, ABC Radio National
"A very worthwhile album by former "part-time" film composer Mark Isaacs with great adventure-film music. Especially score enthusiasts, who like me have been "in business" for a while and urgently need new, previously unknown material, and who can hum all the main themes of the likes of Goldsmith, Williams or Horner in their sleep, should seize this opportunity."
DUSTIN NAEGEL (Germany) Screen composer & soundtrack enthusiast
Please consider checking out this release! And I'd be happy to answer here any questions you might have, whether specific or general.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Just curious how long is/ are the CDs.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hello all! I'm an Australian-based film composer who's just joined the forum. I'd like to let everyone know about a 2-CD release on the well-known soundtrack label 1M1 Records of four orchestral adventure film soundtracks I composed and conducted in the 1980s, recorded at the Sydney Opera House. It has a 24-page booklet with notes by Jeff Bond, producer Philip Powers and myself.
Firstly - Wow. As a fellow Australian....Hi.
Secondly, I didn't know 1M1 were still going.
Thirdly....I'm sold.
Thanks!
|
|
|
|
|
|
I pre-ordered as soon as it was announced (though honestly didn't know the cartoons at all).
I'm a sucker for a lot of kinds of music, but this kind has a special place in my heart - and my ears. Wonderful music in a classical idiom.
And very well crafted. One example: a really smart use of bits of La Marseillaise in Tale of Two Cities, took me a while to realize that's what was being evoked.
I don't think I would have guessed these scores were for cartoons had I not known it already.
Just really well done!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Please consider checking out this release! And I'd be happy to answer here any questions you might have, whether specific or general.
1. Are these the complete (or at least, complete surviving) scores? I know they were for short films but don’t want to assume.
2. This is labeled “Volume One” — are more volumes already in the works? And if so, what will be on them?
Yavar
|
|
|
|
|
|
I got my first 1M1 recording in London at 58 Dean Street records in the form of The Lighthorsemen, a wonderful score by Mario Millo, probably back in the 1980s. To be honest I had no idea that 1M1 had ceased operations, let alone had now returned with this 2-CD set of your scores. I've checked out the samples and I'm already sold. I just have to wait for my Pension to drop into my account this Wednesday. I may even buy the Nigel Westlake CD from the same trader. Is it you ?. Are you still composing. Welcome to the FSM Boards Mark.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Please consider checking out this release! And I'd be happy to answer here any questions you might have, whether specific or general.
1. Are these the complete (or at least, complete surviving) scores? I know they were for short films but don’t want to assume.
2. This is labeled “Volume One” — are more volumes already in the works? And if so, what will be on them?
Yavar
Hello Yaval:
1. No, these are not the complete scores. Philip Powers, producer and label owner at 1M1 curated the existing cues into suites, choosing the best pieces musically for a soundtrack album and finding the most satisfying flow in the ordering. Philip talks about this process in his notes in the 24-page CD booklet.
2. I'd guess the "Vol. 1" is a "hopefully" re a Vol. 2, it's on the "wish list". It depends on the label, and obviously the reception to the first volume. This current set showcases four out of the ten Animated Classics films I did for the Australian film production company Burbank Films. There are another six in the series, with the titles: Kidnapped, Black Arrow, Don Quixote, Black Beauty, Alice in Wonderland, and The Wind in the Willows.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I pre-ordered as soon as it was announced (though honestly didn't know the cartoons at all).
I'm a sucker for a lot of kinds of music, but this kind has a special place in my heart - and my ears. Wonderful music in a classical idiom.
And very well crafted. One example: a really smart use of bits of La Marseillaise in Tale of Two Cities, took me a while to realize that's what was being evoked.
I don't think I would have guessed these scores were for cartoons had I not known it already.
Just really well done!
Thanks for that lovely feedback, Sean
|
|
|
|
|
|
I got my first 1M1 recording in London at 58 Dean Street records in the form of The Lighthorsemen, a wonderful score by Mario Millo, probably back in the 1980s. To be honest I had no idea that 1M1 had ceased operations, let alone had now returned with this 2-CD set of your scores. I've checked out the samples and I'm already sold. I just have to wait for my Pension to drop into my account this Wednesday. I may even buy the Nigel Westlake CD from the same trader. Is it you ?. Are you still composing. Welcome to the FSM Boards Mark.
Thanks George for sharing your memories re 1M1 and for the welcome. I've known label owner and producer Philip Powers for 40 years. Nigel Westlake is a wonderful colleague and friend too.
I'm glad the music grabs you.
I'm still composing heaps, not film music but symphonies, concertos, sonatas and the like, and also jazz. I hope that I might get back to writing film music; I love the meeting of music and screen. I talk about my relationship to film music in a long essay in the current CD's 24-page booklet.
No, I am not the eBay trader selling 1M1 stock.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I pre-ordered as soon as it was announced (though honestly didn't know the cartoons at all).
I'm a sucker for a lot of kinds of music, but this kind has a special place in my heart - and my ears. Wonderful music in a classical idiom.
And very well crafted. One example: a really smart use of bits of La Marseillaise in Tale of Two Cities, took me a while to realize that's what was being evoked.
I don't think I would have guessed these scores were for cartoons had I not known it already.
Just really well done!
Thanks very much Sean, I'm very glad you liked the music so much and that you picked up my veiled use of La Marseillaise.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hi Mark welcome to the board, and congratulations on your CD release!
Thank you, Henry!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Posted: |
Sep 20, 2020 - 4:08 PM
|
|
|
|
By: |
fmfan1
(Member)
|
Mark,
Ordered!
It was a real delight to hear actual tunes - not just vague motifs and one ostinato after another. I was tempted to throw open a house window while playing the YouTube clip, yelling to my neighbors, "Listen, everyone, THEMES!"
Maybe I'll even run down Main Street playing your CDs, tears streaming down my face, screaming to all I pass, 'Themes! Glorious themes!" (Followed by psychotic laughter.)
Anyhoo, congratulations on the impressive scoring, and I look forward to listening to the entire set.
P.S. I'll be mightily ticked-off if the only themes on this set are the ones showcased in the 5 minute YouTube clip and the rest of the double-album is a droning bore!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mark,
Ordered!
It was a real delight to hear actual tunes - not just vague motifs and one ostinato after another. I was tempted to throw open a house window while playing the YouTube clip, yelling to my neighbors, "Listen, everyone, THEMES!"
Maybe I'll even run down Main Street playing your CDs, tears streaming down my face, screaming to all I pass, 'Themes! Glorious themes!" (Followed by psychotic laughter.)
Anyhoo, congratulations on the impressive scoring, and I look forward to listening to the entire set.
P.S. I'll be mightily ticked-off if the only themes on this set are the ones showcased in the 5 minute YouTube clip and the rest of the double-album is a droning bore!
Well, this is a passionate response which I thank you for. I am definitely a "theme" and "melody" person in all the areas of music I work in. I would say that we are living in something of a tuneless era in all those genres, including pop music, so I think my work stands out for that at least.
The YouTube clip contains 3 out of the 4 main themes which appear on the disks in various settings and arrangements. With 4 scores covered on the disks there is a 4th main theme not in the clip. But then there are many subsidiary themes for different characters (one of which appears in the clip). So you'll get plenty more themes on the disks. That said, you surely will understand that there would be cues when themes are developed. And that if it's a (very occasional) battle or fight scene, a thematic ostinato will inevitably appear.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I hope my P.S. wasn't interpreted as serious. We have all had experiences where the showcased clips from a soundtrack release did not truly reflect the majority of the CD. I have NO fear of that in this case. Anyone who takes just a few minutes to listen to the clips will immediately understand that these soundtracks are going to be full of fun, interesting, dramatic, and rollicking cues.
(I'm really not a "theme counter" and I enjoy the occasional effective ostinato. Still, I'm a sucker for what is now old-fashioned melodic scoring. And after 40 years of listening and collecting, I'm excited to hear something in this vein that I haven't heard before.) Welcome to the forum!
All understood, and thanks for the welcome. Do post back your impressions once you hear the disks!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
