Film Score Friday 1/21/00
by Lukas Kendall
Sorry about the glitch on the site right now which is causing old articles
to appear at top. We're on the case.
Angela's Ashes (John Williams) has been released in England with
music only; the U.S. release also includes dialogue/narration.
We just got a copy of Broken Arrow in the office -- no, not the '90s
John Woo film, but the 1950 Fox western with music by Hugo Friedhofer.
I've heard those "in the know" rave about Friedhofer for years
but haven't spent much time with his music. I LOVE this CD... this is one
of my favorite styles of film music, that introspective, Copland/Americana
style of the '50s and early '60s -- George Duning is one of my other favorite
composer of this era. It's lovely, introspective stuff, and I prefer the
quieter moments to the more thunderous ones. If you love John Williams's
Americana writing as in Superman and Conrack you should consider this --
it doesn't exactly sound the same but the warmth and tone are similar.
Brigham Young have pressed the CD, most of it in stereo; order from Screen
Archives.
Mail Bag
In response to a letter in yesterday's
column:
From: "Russell, Kirsten" <RussellK@brevard.cc.fl.us>
I was puzzled by Donny Gilbert's discussion of Bernard Herrmann's
scores for NORTH BY NORTHWEST and VERTIGO in his response to Dan Hobgood's
essay "Defining a Good Score."
1) Mr. Gilbert seems to believe that the NORTH BY NORTHWEST fandango
is heard "in all the action sequences and the main titles." No,
after the main titles the fandango is fully repeated only twice -- during
Cary Grant's wild ride early in the film, and during the climb down Mount
Rushmore in the climax. A short quote from the fandango is heard as Grant
escapes from the United Nations building. Variations of phrases from the
fandango are heard in brief cues as Grant leaves Townsend's mansion the
second time, as Grant leaves George Kaplan's hotel room with his mother,
and -- in the otherwise silent crop-dusting sequence -- after the crop
duster crashes. All the rest of the music underscoring action sequences
are variations of other themes -- two different motifs and even the love
theme (as in some of the suspense music preceding the Mount Rushmore sequence).
I think this score is a bit more complex than Mr. Gilbert realizes.
2) Mr. Gilbert also seems to believe that the love theme from VERTIGO
is heard in the film "whenever Kim Novak and Jimmy Stewart are on
the screen." No -- other than in the climactic love scene, the love
theme is scarcely heard in the picture. It's briefly introduced and scarcely
developed in the first love scene, as Stewart and Novak embrace on the
beach. It's developed somewhat further in the first scene at the mission,
as Novak is leaving Stewart to stage a suicide from the bell tower. It's
developed into a dark fugue in the climax of the movie, and only briefly
reprised in its original form near the end. There is, of course, a great
deal of other music in the picture, but I can't tell you how many times
I've listened to that score, and to my ears it never gets old. By the way,
the score has inspired one reviewer to rate it -- among 20th-century works
of classical music -- as "one of the masterpieces of the century."
Not the sort of score that repeats a simple love theme ad nauseam, as Mr.
Gilbert seems to imply.
3) Mr. Gilbert asks us to remember that the Main Title music is
repeated in VERTIGO "one more time," and asks if Mr. Hobgood
or anyone else knows where. I'm not sure what point Mr. Gilbert is trying
to make here, but I presume he knows that the Main Title theme is briefly
reprised in the scene at the beauty shop, when Judy is once again transformed
into Madeline.
I certainly don't expect everyone to appreciate Bernard Herrmann
as much as we Herrmann fans do, nothing provokes me (and I daresay any
Herrmann fan) the way an inaccurate assessment of his music does. Thanks
for the forum.
Thanks for taking advantage of it! And received from the same reader
later that day....
From: "Russell, Kirsten" <RussellK@brevard.cc.fl.us>
Further to my earlier epistle on Donny Gilbert's discussion of Herrmann:
Some of the soft-pedaled suspense music leading up to the Mount
Rushmore sequence in NORTH BY NORTHWEST is a variation of the Main Title
fandango. But musical variations are interesting. It's not always obvious,
and fun to discover, how they relate to the original theme.
The climactic music in VERTIGO is not a fugue! It's a variation
of the love theme (with a fandango rhythm). Offhand, I can think of only
fugue in symphonic movie music -- in the climax of JAWS, when the men are
putting together Hooper's shark cage, John Williams constructs a fugue
out of a vigorous action theme (which I've read is a variation of the simple
shark theme).
The last paragraph of my earlier e-mail doesn't make sense (I left
out a conjunction). Never mind. Let's just say I'm an incurable Bernard
Herrmann fan.
Superman Letters
Responding to Wednesday's
article on the upcoming Superman 2CD set release and the various
versions of the love theme contained within:
From: juanluis@d2.com (Juan-Luis Sanchez)
Just read your daily article on Superman and 'Can You Read My Mind'.
(Excited about the CD!).
Not certain whether it's relevant, but when I was first getting
'into' soundtracks (in the mid 80s), one of my school librarians offered
me the original double-LP of Superman, which she didn't want any more.
Included in the double-LP was a single with a recording of 'Can You Read
My Mind', with the vocal sung by a female vocalist.
I seem to remember she was well known at the time, and that the
backing music was towards the 70s synth rather than orchestral. My memory
could be faulty, however, and I have no way to check up on this, since
in my adolescent idiocy, I threw away the single (I thought it was stupid).
I don't know if this has any relevance to the main article or the
original intentions for the Flying Sequence, but since it wasn't mentioned,
I thought it might be of interest.
Michael Matessino responds:
This is the first I've ever heard of this, and I would guess that it
was a single of the Maureen McGovern cover version added to the set by
the library. I've never seen a 2-LP set with a single enclosed, but stranger
things have happened.
From: mleneker@webtv.net (mark leneker)
I have read from Leslie Bricusse that the song was originally recorded
by Toni Tenille and then late in the game Richard Donner--in an efforrt
to keep "verisimilitude, I guess----decided to use Kidder speaking
the lines and the piece was re-recorded. Bercuisse says Tenille (who was
popular as a singer in the 70s) did a bang-up job and the song would have
been a shoe in for an Academy nod, but alas, it never came to be...
This story is documented as an introduction to "Can You Read
My Mind" in Bercuisse's Vocal Book--available at most large record/sheetmusic
shops.
Michael Matessino responds:
I've only heard rumors about Toni Tenille, but I guess it's possible.
Another reliable source reports that Karen Carpenter recorded a demo version.
I can only tell you that there was no vocal component on any of the tracks,
so if it was recorded, then it was junked. No documentation exists to tell
us anything other than the fact that Kidder's vocal was done later than
the pop version, but prior to the recording of the underscore we hear it
in the film. On the discrete track you can hear a scratch piano track way
in the background.
It's Joe!
FSM's esteemed art director chimes in with an observation that might
be of interest:
From: joe sikoryak <joe@designwell.com>
Last night I went to a revival theater and was thrilled to see a
trailer for the restored version of Rear Window. As the familiar Hitchcockian
suspense unfolded on the screen, I detected a curiously different intensity
to the music. It wasn't Waxman, it wasn't Herrmann--- no, it was Trevor
Duncan. Specifically, the folks at Universal had tracked "Grip of
the Law", the library music used as the title theme to Plan 9 from
Outer Space.
If it's good enough for Ed Wood, I guess its good enough for Sir
Alfred.
Oscar Acceleration
From: Matt Barry, Bigbearmdb@aol.com
This may sound like a stupid question, but I couldn't help but notice
that nearly 40% of voters on the South Park / Tarzan debate voted YES,
they should be disqualified. I am curious to hear thoughts from one of
these 'cinephiles'... who are you and what is your rationale? This is something
I feel is a ludicrous travesty and can't for the life of me see how people
who call themselves film score FANS could fall on the side of the dumb-ass
Academy.
The issue it simple... if the Academy insists on having one category
for best original music, EVERYONE who wrote original music should be eligible.
Done. Nobody says DeNiro has an unfair advantage because he gets better
roles, even when he does. Jesus...
Thanks for the letter -- this argument is sure to heat up as we get
closer to the February nominations and then the March awards.
Have a good weekend!
MailBag@filmscoremonthly.com
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