The first round of voting (https://filmscoremonthly.com/board/posts.cfm?threadID=156256&forumID=1&archive=0) eliminated some very promising possibilities -- not necessarily forever, only in terms of the next project prioritized. But this second and final round simplifies things with four options, one from each decade from the 1950s to 1980s -- please note the addition of the 1972 TV movie twofer, Pursuit/Crawlspace! Please pick only ONE option that you want MOST out of the following:
1. 1950s - Jerry Goldsmith at The CBS Radio Workshop (1956-1957): The centerpiece of this recording would be the great composer's very first true masterpiece, for the episode "1489 Words", basically a collection of four concert pieces featuring famous poetry set to music. Some people are already familiar with "The Thunder of Imperial Names" because it was later adapted into a concert work for wind band which has had multiple recordings released on album already, but never in Goldsmith's original orchestral version. But if you've never heard the other three incredible works that make up this program, you need to listen to this full radio episode. The opening piece "The Highwayman" is going to blow you away, I promise -- just imagine it in modern sound quality!
But Goldsmith creatively scored at least a half dozen episodes of this series total, over a one year period. Here is our podcast coverage of his first score for the series, very much in his modernist style: https://goldsmithodyssey.buzzsprout.com/159614/14067728-episode-41-storm-cbs-radio-workshop-1956 He also first crossed paths with Ray Bradbury on this series, brilliantly scoring a pair of short story adaptations: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWiDEj-6Xbk All in all, his music for this show constituted the most creative and experimental of his '50s output, with fascinating and unique scores from a whole host of subjects, from scoring the Twilight Zone-esque "Jacob's Hands" to the Shakespearean "Hamlet Revisited"!
2. 1960s - Thriller Volume 3 (1960-1961): This important option would "close the book" on Goldsmith's output for the series, after the two fantastic volumes of suites that Leigh Phillips co-produced for Tadlow Music years ago. Four excellent Goldsmith scores remain unrepresented on album, and in addition to highlight suites from those Leigh also plans to tackle suites 2-3 of Morton Stevens's series scores as well (including the fan favorite "Pigeons from Hell"!) to fill out the disc. To hear excerpts from each of these episode scores (taken from the DVD's music & effects tracks), please listen to this podcast conversation with Leigh: https://goldsmithodyssey.buzzsprout.com/159614/8425660-odyssey-interviews-leigh-phillips
3. 1970s - Pursuit/Crawlspace (1972): These two TV movies released in the same year are definitely Jerry Goldsmith's greatest feature-length works which are yet unreleased (except for a single cue from Pursuit on a Silva compilation). The original tracks seem almost certainly lost forever, so a new recording is probably the only way these will ever happen. Here are the "Advance Liner Notes" I did for this forum years ago, both of which link to accompanying video of the films you can watch online to hear every cue: https://filmscoremonthly.com/board/posts.cfm?threadID=117275&forumID=1&archive=0 https://filmscoremonthly.com/board/posts.cfm?threadID=116952&forumID=1&archive=0
4. 1980s - All-Synth "Trilogy", Orchestrated (1984-1988): Not meant to replace the original all-synth versions of Runaway, Criminal Law, and Alien Nation, this will be something of a re-imagining by Leigh Phillips for orchestra with synth elements, allowing Goldsmith's compositions to flourish in a new context not hampered by budget. Leigh has been intrigued by the prospect of arranging these for orchestra for well over a decade now, and has floated the idea of tackling a 20 minute suite of highlights from each score to create roughly an hourlong album. If there's enough interest, maybe the shortest score Criminal Law could even be recorded complete (the Varese album leaves off a few cues) because with 20 minutes from each of the other two scores, the whole thing would still fit on a single CD. Have a listen to Leigh's mockup of some action music from that score, which gives an idea of what it could sound like if performed by an orchestra. In my opinion it's something of a revelation: https://mega.nz/file/eyQVAZaA#UqwCtT_L9TCdzlLU7Ox0KxMwE6BwGADwgiCjKYun_Xo And here's a mockup he produced for Runaway (which to my ears has the most dated synths of the three): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH0ph8SIecY
Happy voting, all! And remember this time you have to pick only ONE -- your top, most wanted choice out of all of these to be recorded.
I guess the completist in me wants to finish off what's left of Thriller. It's probably why I'm shying away from #4. I'd rather have the whole score redone as opposed to just a suite of highlights.
Still, you can't go wrong with any of these choices.
