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Taking advantage of my local Blockbuster Video's going out of business sale, I picked up the DVD of this unusual but entertaining adaptation of Rhoald Dahl's story, from Jim Henson and Nicholas Roeg. I'd seen it years before and had forgotten what a fine score it has.
Stanley Myers' main and end titles contain one of the most infectious and appealingly whimsical themes written for a fantasy in the past two decades (which is saying a LOT)...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQGhhYmWdG4
In Heaven's name, why isn't this score on CD? It's a Jim Henson production and a Warner Bros. film -- both of whom have been forthcoming in the licensing of their scores. It really is a crime that Myers' score has never been issued as a recording.
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Posted: |
Jul 5, 2010 - 11:59 PM
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By: |
ToneRow
(Member)
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"The Witches" was rather a departure in style for both Nicolas Roeg and Stanley Myers, whose collaborations, prior to and after "The Witches", can be evidenced by "Eureka", "Insignificance", "Castaway", "Track 29", and "Cold Heaven", which usually starred Theresa Russell.
While director Roeg typically utilized shifting time structures, sophisticated (almost avant-garde) film editing techniques, and contrasting scenes juxtaposed together, since his earliest pictures such as "Walkabout" and "Don't Look Now", well into the 1980s, "The Witches" is a decidedly more commercial venture, and I feel that Stanley Myers had gone into John Williams-style fantasy music territory.
Still, I would like very much to have "The Witches" soundtrack released, being that Myers is one of my favorite composers.
If this score was recorded in the U.K., however, do the copyright clearance rights reside in America or Britain? Indeed, do the master scoring tapes continue to exist...?
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If this score was recorded in the U.K., however, do the copyright clearance rights reside in America or Britain? Indeed, do the master scoring tapes continue to exist...?
I'd assume in America since the Henson organization, Lorimar and WB are American entities.
I'm pretty sure the score was recorded at CTS, so I'd guess the tapes are in England (if they still exist). Myers is of course no longer with us, so I don't what would have happened to his private tape archive (if he maintained one).
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Loved the movie and the score when it came out. The movie STILL hasn't been properly treated on DVD (full-screen only, pffft), so I'd welcome a widescreen DVD re-issue and a score release. It's lively music that served the film well and would be a great listen on its own, too.
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Myers worked a lot with Zimmer between 1982 and 1988. I'm sure Myers influenced Zimmer a lot, but did Zimmer influence Myers too? And if so, on a score like The Withces?
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Posted: |
Jul 6, 2010 - 4:44 PM
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By: |
ToneRow
(Member)
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I'd assume in America since the Henson organization, Lorimar and WB are American entities.
I'm pretty sure the score was recorded at CTS, so I'd guess the tapes are in England (if they still exist). Meyers is of course no longer with us, so I don't what would have happened to his private tape archive (if he maintained one).
I believe the surviving Myers family members own Stanley's private tape archive, because in 2005, the label Finders Keepers had gotten permission from the Myers estate to release his (brief) score for 1972's "Sitting Target" onto CD.
To my knowledge, nothing further has been forthcoming, which is a shame. Think of all those great scores Myers had done that might be just sitting there, unreleased: "The Night Of The Following Day", "Tam Lin", all the music for the Pete Walker films, "Absolution", "The Watcher In The Woods", "Incubus", etc...
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"The Witches" was the I believe the last film released by Lorimar before Warner Bros. phased out the company name.
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Count me in. A complete score release would be most welcome!
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