Film Score Superfriday 1/15/99
by Lukas Kendall
Your weeks of tuning into Film Score Friday to see if anything interesting
is going to happen are about to pay off. Check out this news flash!
Daily Planet Extra
15 January 1999
You Will Believe a Soundtrack Can Fly!
"At Last It's Official..."
Many thanks to everyone for their campaigning, patience, and (in
some cases, silence) regarding a proposed expanded original soundtrack
release of John Williams' score to SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE. I am now able to
inform you that everyone's efforts have paid off. Rhino Records will be
releasing a remastered 2-CD set of this score, which is currently being
produced by Nick Redman and myself. Julie D'Angelo is the project supervisor
for Rhino, and the tentative release date is late summer. Specifics will
not be disclosed for a while, but the work is going splendidly and Rhino
is fully supporting my efforts to present the most definitive release possible.
("What more could anyone ask?") Reports on our progress will
be forthcoming. Once again, thank you for your support and persistence,
and happy new year to all!
Michael Matessino, mikem@sharplinearts.com
Wow... needless to say this is one of the greatest scores of all time,
and this news comes after months of letter writing and speculation. I for
one recommend a thread on our message board: "Superman Is Great."
It's amazing to think that the existing album of the score is one 70+ minute
CD, and is pretty inclusive of the movie's high points. This new album
will probably be twice that in length. Stay tuned for updates as they become
available.
In scoring assignment news, Marc Shaiman (The Addams Family, City
Slickers, Patch Adams) will score The South Park Movie.
The Cosmic Beam in Thin Red Line
See yesterday's
CD review:
From: john beal <johnbeal@earthlink.net>
Many, many years ago, I witnessed the most amazing instrument being
played in a little tent on the boardwalk of Venice Beach, CA. Inside the
tent was a guy playing a very long metal beam, like a steel I-bar, with
a few piano type strings stretched from end to end. He had it hooked up
with an electronic pickup, so it could be amplified and use echoplex effects.
In one hand he held a thick metal cylinder, like a giant version of the
one steel guitar players use. With the other hand he plucked, stroked,
bowed and hammered on the strings while moving the bar. The harmonics and
textural magic from this instrument, which literally moved through your
body, was so incredible people would stay for hours. It was called the
"Cosmic Beam." Very few people in the world outside Venice Beach
were ever aware of its existence.
Years later, Craig Huxley developed his version of the "beam"
which has been used to great effect in several films.
Being that Media Ventures is a hop and a skip from Venice Beach,
I wonder if Hans rediscovered the inventor of this wonderful instrument
for Thin Red Line, or if Francesco Lupica is simply someone who learned
to construct and use one well. Either way, it is a phenomenal creation.
I hope your readers are treated to an audio/visual concert with it some
day.
I've never seen a beam played live but it is an essential part of Star
Trek: The Motion Picture.
Weird Disney CD
From: LogieD@aol.com
Subject: Limited Market?
I was checking the Footlight site for any new and interesting issues,
(and boy do they get them) when one of the overseas titles really struck
me, "Les Chansons Des Vilains." Disney Villian songs in french.
Maybe this was also issued in English but I'm not aware of it . What market
is this CD after? Is this an adult CD or a childrens CD? It also raises
the question of what is the market for soundtracks overseas with production
values just for that country or for that matter what is the market for
movie soundtracks overseas? I know it is good, but how good? Is there a
Little Mermaid in Russian?
Probably. Footlight Records (www.footlight.com)
has always done a great job in stocking foreign-language versions of Disney
musicals. It may seem counter-intuitive to soundtrack collectors, but all
the things we really don't care about are liked around 100 times more by
the rest of the world.
Tomorrow Never Dies
This week brought us not only the above Superman announcement,
but news on an expanded Tomorrow Never Dies score CD. Supe and 007
in one week - cool. See
Monday's column for more information.
From: Zatzrite@aol.com
Great news for the new year to hear that Compass III will release
more of the Tomorrow Never Dies score some time this current year. Since
the "official" A&M release last year I have been waiting
for more music from TND and feared that a repeat of the Thunderball score
was inevitable. I'm glad we won't have to wait for a special anniversary
release, ala Thunderball and Goldfinger, as with the EMI James Bond 30th
Anniversary,
It was only recently that I re-viewed this movie and heard some
of the best Bond music composed since the departure of John Barry. The
music that accompanied Bond and Wai Lin's arrival in Saigon, the motor
cycle chase which greatly used the "James Bond Theme," the moments
on the junk between 007 and Wai Lin, and the music for the climactic fight
on the stealth ship are just some of the previously released score.
How much of this music will be released? Time will only tell. Hey,
that sounds like a title of a new Bond film.
Film Music Review Poll
From: Hrogerl@aol.com
Here are the results of the Film Music Review web poll for top 5
favorite soundtracks for 1998:
1. SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (John Williams)
2. THE MASK OF ZORRO (James Horner)
3. MULAN (Jerry Goldsmith)
4. EVER AFTER (George Fenton)
5. PLEASANTVILLE (Randy Newman)
As always at FMR, there are many CD reviews of soundtracks and compilations,
plus my own choices for the best soundtracks, re-releases, compilations
and record labels of 1998. Unlike some other sites, Film Music Review also
has recommended magazine articles (including several from FSM), the SAMMY
Awards list, and lots of other things. Why not take a look? http://members.aol.com/MusBuff/page2.htm
The Prince of Egypt
From: Martin Montoya <mardin17@yahoo.com>
Did anybody else feel cheated by the soundtrack to the Prince of
Egypt. Don't get me wrong, the score was incredible, and the songs were
great, but in my opinion the final tracks of pop songs should have been
taken out to put more of the score in. Three particular sequences from
the movie are greatly missed on the cd: "The Chariot Race (between
Moses and Rameses)"; "Moses' Dream"; and of course the movies
finale/reprisal, which sent shivers down my spine. During my second and
third viewings of this movie, I grew more and more angry about these three
moments not included on the cd. Even without the first two, I feel really
angry about the editing of "Red Sea," and the lack of finale/closure.
Every time I listen to this cd, I am swallowed up in its magnificent music,
until I come to the Red Sea track, which begins so magnificently, yet ends
so quickly, with little climax.
This score is incredible. It is definitely most deserving of the
Golden Globe, as well as Oscar (in the Musical/Comedy category, of course.
"The Mask of Zorro" is definitely worthy of the drama award).
My propostion: a petition of some sort to get a complete album released,
or a sequel album with the missing tracks, so this score can be heard the
way it should be. If there is anybody out there who agrees with me, then
let's do something about it.
I don't know if that will happen, but check this out:
From: "Jim Ganz" <James.Ganz@clark.williams.edu>
I enjoyed Andy
Dursin's review of the Prince of Egypt, but for those who can't get
enough Zimmer, you might want to note that there are four cd releases,
not three. Widely available is a Prince of Egypt "deluxe collector's
package" containing two movie tickets, a children's book, and a cd
containing "Selections from the Prince of Egypt." Two of the
tracks on this cd consist of Zimmer score not found on the soundtrack album:
"It is Only Beginning" (3:43) and "Chariot Race" (6:27).
Rosenman
From: EnterAct@aol.com
It's great to see Leonard Rosenman get coverage here on the FSM
website. He's truly one of the giants of film scoring, and he's criminally
under-represented on CD.
Thankfully, FSM did a great job on "Fantastic Voyage."
Though the source tapes do show their age, the disc still sounds great,
and it's nice to hear the music removed from their visual counterpart.
In fact, not more than a year ago, I bought the pre-recorded video just
for Rosenman's score...also the reason I purchased the "Planet of
the Apes" movies he scored, as well (but more about that in a moment).
(Hey, since you FSM guys are so tight with LR now, maybe you can
do an interview for your print magazine. Just a thought.)
Next, about "The Lord of the Rings." [See
recent article.] While I have not-so-fond memories of the actual film,
today's essay has gotten me wanting to see it again (something film criticism
rarely inspires me to do). When I did see it for the first (and only) time,
the one favorable thing that struck me about it was Rosenman's score. I
found myself more captivated with his music than I did with the rest of
the movie. I was expecting a John Williams-type, bombastic, fun score,
but was rewarded with something very different, but equally satisfying.
The LP version of "LotR" was massively unsatisfying, however;
the CD version is infinitely superior. It's a captivating listening experience.
Finally, I'd like to re-submit the suggestion of Rosenman's two
"Planet of the Apes" scores for FSM's "Silver Age Classics"
series. I recently watched the "Beneath the Planet of the Apes"
video, and was especially struck by the demented hymns the human mutants
sang in praise of their God, the Doomsday Bomb. I'd LOVE to hear THAT booming
out of a CD player...
We have gotten lots of requests for Beneath in particular. As
usual, as to our future CD plans... our lips are sealed.
What Orchestrators Do
From: Chris Mueller <chrismueller@sprintmail.com>
I just finished Mr.
Byrd's interview with John Williams, and I think it is a great interview,
full of good questions and thoughtful answers. I was very happy to read
it.
I have a question, though, that maybe someone here might be able
to answer, and I don't mean it in a negative light:
How much of John Williams's music does he write himself?
This questions concerns me, because in the credits at the end of
the Star Wars films, it says, "Music by John Williams." But much,
much later in the credits, it says, "Orchestrations by Herbert Spencer."
It doesn't say "additional orchestrations by" or "music
copyist: Herbert Spencer." It says "Orchestrations by."
Now we all know that John Williams can write a great theme. Numerous
great themes, for each film he works on! But those lush orchestrations
are part and parcel of what makes his music great, and if someone else
is actually doing the hard work of choosing the instrumentation for each
theme, scoring it all out, writing segues, etc., then that person should
have his name right up there with John Williams'. As a composer, I know
how hard choosing the right orchestration can be, and if someone else is
arranging John Williams' themes (and it doesn't say "arrangements
by;" it says "orchestrations by," whatever the distinction
may be), that person should be as famous (or as infamous, if you're a member
of the Holst family) as John Williams!
So... What's the deal? What does it mean that someone else is credited
with "orchestrating" the scores to the Star Wars films?
It means that due to the pressures of writing music for film, Williams
uses someone to copy his complete sketches (where EVERYTHING is indicated)
and flesh out the details for the copyists to make parts. It's taking a
condensed form of notation and dotting all the i's and crossing the proverbial
t's.
I'm going to head this off at the pass to say that Williams does orchestrate
his work. He also writes all of it. It's all so great - if someone else
was writing it, where are they? See an article on our site for more on
what a film orchestrator does. Basically, the credit for "orchestration"
refers to someone who adapts Williams six or eight line sketches for fully
orchestrated pages. It's all there in the sketch, but in a type of shorthand,
and due to the time-pressures of film composition, someone else is needed
to copy out all the notions and repeat the details. That's it!
FSM Silver Age Classic Reviews
...are on line now at www.filmtracks.com.
Look at the home page, around two thirds of the way down.
Have a Super weekend!
MailBag@filmscoremonthly.com
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