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Posted: |
Sep 22, 2021 - 3:49 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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Just this time, I'll risk repeating myself. Without "The Sea Hawk" there's no Gerhardt series. There's no Rozsa Polydor series. There's much less of a Korngold revival. Possibly -- this is a stretch -- there's no "Star Wars" with a Korngoldian swashbuckling score. It's the most important album in the history of film music.
"The Sea Hawk' album was released in November 1972, which would prove to be a most pivotal year in film music, with that release being preceded by the publication of Elmer Bernstein's article, "What Ever Became of Great Movie Music?" in the July 1972 edition of High Fidelity.
In December 1973, RCA released the sales figures for the first five albums in the Gerhardt series. They were:
The Sea Hawk [Erich Wolfgang Korngold] (November 1972) - 38,000 copies
Now, Voyager [Max Steiner] (May 1973) - 25,000
Captain From Castile [Alfred Newman] (August 1973) - 16,800
Classic Film Scores for Bette Davis [Various] (September 1973) - 17,190
Elizabeth and Essex [Erich Wolfgang Korngold] (October 1973) - 9,500
Not a lot by pop standards of the time, but probably more than most classical recordings. And those figures certainly dwarf most releases produced by our specialty labels over the last 30 years.
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Incidentally that Warner Bros. album could not have made much money. In 1963, when I started buying records, it was already out of print, though still listed in the Schwann catalog. A number of sales people recalled it as a treasurable item but were unable to turn up a copy. So that album was not a breakthrough. George had to nurture his dreams through the Reader's Digest projects of the 1960s.
One cool thing about this album - it was recorded in August 1961, the month I was born. Sort of heralded me into the world!
Finally picked up a copy a few years ago. Really a strong record in its own right, even if not a success on the order of the '72 Gerhardt album, which again, I also love. And the only disc in my collection, I believe, with the month and year of my birth right on the cover.
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I only own the Tiomkin album in its SACD incarnation on Dutton Vocalion. I love it!
Does anyone know of any reason not to get the remaining Dutton Vocalion SACD's, and the David Raskin album to boot?
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Thread bump. Same question.
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I never picked up the Empire album but a friend of mine raved about it at the time. Was it really that good? It’s on Apple Music so I’m tempted to download it, but really hard to see how it can improve on the OST
Well, five of the 13 cues are taken from Williams' own concert version sheet music, including "Han Solo and the Princess." Instead of cutting away abruptly as in the movie, "Han" has a more natural and satisfying resolution. I love it. Gerhardt is my go-to guy for Star Wars music.
John Williams praised Gerhardt very highly in the liner notes too, and he says he was thrilled with this recording of TESB. You don't get a better endorsement than that. 
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