Several weeks ago we had a lot of exciting discussion about Alex North
in the wake of his Cleopatra masterpiece finally being released
on CD.
Here are two letters on the lengthy side which I didn't have space to
print at the time:
To all at FSM and anyone else who appreciates film music.
For some time I have been meaning to tell you of the roundabout way I came
to appreciate Alex North's film scores. The new double-CD of CLEOPATRA
has finally prodded me into action; and I think I've managed to point out
one or two things that people might not have considered before. I hope
I haven't missed the boat!
During the third week of October 1961 I was staying for a few days
with friends in London. It was a damp, overcast week. I did the usual things:
museums, galleries, the Tower, et cetera. One day I wandered into the huge
"His Master's Voice" shop (they hadn't pruned it to "HMV", then). I went
straight to the film music section and discovered almost immediately the
bright red gatefold sleeve of the SPARTACUS LP.
I'd heard of this picture. It was due for release in the UK around
Christmas time. I read the credits on the sleeve. Stanley Kubrick: the
young, up-and-coming director who had made PATHS OF GLORY, a picture I'd
enjoyed immensely. I was intrigued. Then, Alex North: the composer of the
unconventional score to A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, other angst-ridden contemporary
dramas, a western or two (I'd forgotten Lewis Milestone's LES MISERABLES).
I was startled. What was North doing writing the music for a historical
epic? What about my heroes, Rozsa, Herrmann, Newman, Bernstein, Tiomkin,
Waxman, Nascimbene?
(At this point STAR WARS fans of all ages are invited to imagine
their reactions upon learning that Howard Shore, for example, is being
given carte-blanche to do the music for the next episode.)
Anyway, I took the sleeve to the assistant, asked to hear some of
it, and was directed to a listening room. I came out after about two minutes
and went back to the assistant. Yes, I'd gone to the correct booth, and
yes, she'd put on the correct record. My first thought was, "What the hell
was that?" followed by, "Was that an orchestra?" I didn't buy the LP. Here
was a very important lesson, but I was unaware of it at the time.
A couple of months later I saw the film and all was light. The entire
picture-from Saul Bass' main titles to the souvenir brochure-was a sea-change
from the epics that had preceded it. North played his part: as he had done
for the kitchen-sink drama a decade before with STREETCAR, he took "epic"
film music by the throat and shook it like a rat (Ennio Morricone would
perform a similar service with his music for westerns a few years later).
I became aware of the very important lesson: do NOT listen to an Alex North
score before seeing the picture. My walking out of that booth halfway through
the main title was a wise move, albeit an unwitting one. I still believe
that if I had heard much more of that album it would have alienated me
to North's score, if not permanently, then certainly for a long time. Having
seen the film, I couldn't wait to hear the LP. I am not suggesting that
a soundtrack listener should have a photographic memory of the relevant
film (I've always detested those soundtrack reviews that end with, "...this
album makes a lovely souvenir of the film...), but that he or she should
be able to recall the gist and context of a particular scene when listening
to the music composed for it.
In case I'm in danger of provoking flak from the proponents of film
music as absolute music, let me say this: I agree that some scores can
be heard "blind", so to speak, and appreciated. Douglas Fake made a case
for this in a recent review of James Horner's score for ENEMY AT THE GATES.
Unfortunately, if we go too far down that road we end up with film scores
that work better as albums than they do as fully integrated components
of the pictures for which they were composed. When that happens I submit
that such a score is unfit for purpose-unless the reasons are due to the
Frankenstein school of music editing or poor sound design, which are not
faults of the composer.
Alex North's film scores in general, and his epic scores in particular,
do not fall into this category. Like all great film composers his first
duty was to the picture. His scores are not paint or wallpaper; they are
what Bernard Herrmann referred to as the mortar between the bricks. At
least one viewing of the film in question should precede listening to the
isolated North score. There are nuances in his music, even in extremely
short cues, which would go completely unnoticed by a listener who had never
seen the film. A good example is "Glabrus' March" from SPARTACUS. Heard
with little or no knowledge of the film (and I've tried this experiment
on people, describing the visuals objectively) it sounds like music for
a supremely confident army racing towards victory. Heard again after seeing
the film it strikes a completely different tone, full of irony. On the
screen, the soldiers of the Garrison of Rome (in terms of battle experience,
little more than an inner-city police force) march around a bend in the
road, outriders gallop past, while their officers laugh and drink in the
foreground. On the soundtrack, trumpets repeat a shrill, unsettling motif
heard previously during the slaughter of the Roman guards at the gladiator
revolt in Capua. Behind the trumpets, horns climb the scale ominously,
cranking up the tension. This is not impending victory music; it is impending
defeat music. North is not scoring the moment; he is inferring what is
yet to come by referring to what has gone before. "Glabrus' March" is twenty-two
seconds long. Sadly, neither it nor the astonishing three-minute gladiator
revolt cue are included in the legitimate soundtrack release.
(For anyone really interested in thematic unity in dramatic music,
I recommend the Decca 2-CD set, "An Introduction to DER RING DES NIBELUNGEN";
which is an explanation and analysis of Wagner's system of leitmotifs by
Deryck Cooke with almost 200 musical examples extracted from the famous
Vienna Philharmonic/Solti recordings, or specially recorded by the same
forces.)
Time and again, one notices this technique of North's to score ahead
of a scene. In SPARTACUS the prolonged fade-to-black scene changes (a Kubrick
trademark) are often scored with music for the upcoming scene. The same
is true of CLEOPATRA, where North usually scores the transforming-fresco
scene changes with music to fit the mood of what is to follow. In the same
film, near the beginning of "Sea Battle", North's percussive hits and rhythms
are well established long before we see the hortator hammering his woodblock
to synchronize the galley rowers. Here, North pulls off a trick unique
in film scoring: he makes it look as though the film is Mickey-Mousing
the music! I am sure he did the lion's share of the spotting on most, if
not all, of his assignments. The same technique is evident in film after
film where Alex North is the only common denominator. His dramatic sense
is spot-on (sorry!). The only other composers who are anywhere near him
in this regard are, I believe, Malcolm Arnold, Jerry Goldsmith, and Bernard
Herrmann-in their own individual ways, of course.
It has been said that North's music is deficient in emotion. It
probably is when compared to the shovel-fed, mawkish pap that passes for
some film music, past and present. How many named emotions are there? Not
many more than a handful. North can effortlessly manipulate them all, and
for me, he can evoke emotions I cannot put a name to. I'll try (and probably
fail) to describe one. Somehow he can imbue a negative and otherwise unremarkable
moment in a film with a downbeat species of spectacle. Brady's horse stumbles
in AWONDERFUL COUNTRY, Caesar has an epileptic fit in CLEOPATRA, the old
chief faints in CHEYENNE AUTUMN, and Michelangelo collapses from exhaustion
in THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY. These images are not extraordinary in themselves,
but with North's music they are riveting. The scoring is dissimilar, the
amplitude is dissimilar, but somehow the music makes my scalp tighten.
All very subjective, I know, and there are other feelings that North's
music subjects me to that are completely beyond my ability to describe.
Some other composers can do this on occasion, but Alex North can do it
at the drop of a hat.
Then there are those marvelous moments when his music is brought
centre-stage. The advance of Crassus' legions in SPARTACUS and Caesar's
assassination in CLEOPATRA are instances. The latter in particular is fascinating.
The film's opening scene, on the plain of Pharsalus in Greece, is spoken
in pseudo-archaic syntax. Julius Caesar surveys the pyre-dotted battlefield
and remarks, "The smoke of burning Roman dead is just as black, and the
stink no less-it was Pompey, not I, who wanted it so!" Then, learning that
his adversary has fled to North Africa: "In Egypt will Pompey face me at
last." Also, at the end of the film, Admiral Agrippa's short dialogue with
Cleopatra's dying handmaid reverts to this style. Between these bookends,
the body of the film's screenplay is delivered in a more modern idiom.
Joseph L. Mankiewicz must have realized the consequences of this design.
About halfway through the story its most important historical event occurs:
Caesar is assassinated.
Anyone with a glimmer of interest in drama knows that Shakespeare
virtually patented what was said just before and after that event, regardless
of whether or not he was historically accurate. Just before, Caesar is
encircled by his would-be killers and petitioned ostensibly for clemency
on behalf of some exiled colleague. Caesar rejects their pleas with his
well-known comparison of himself to the North Star; then, dying, he rebukes
Brutus. Just after the assassination, Mark Antony delivers his famous eulogy
on the senate steps. The problem for Mankiewicz was how to present these
two scenes in the modern idiom to which he was now committed. To quote
Shakespeare literally would have caused a clash of styles. To paraphrase
him in twentieth-century speech would have been laughable. To have Caesar
and Antony say something totally different, unthinkable.
Mankiewicz was no stranger to the Bard. His JULIUS CAESAR is regarded
by many-even at Stratford-as the greatest filmed Shakespeare. His solution
was both simple and elegant: we can see the characters are saying something,
but we cannot hear the words. In the latter scene Antony is in long-shot,
out of doors, his voice diminished by distance and obscured by the chanting
of the mob. The former scene is more problematic. Caesar's assassination
takes place inside an auditorium, a room designed for hearers. Yet this
time the voices are altogether inaudible, replaced totally by Alex North's
cue, which is arguably the most chilling exercise in orchestral crescendo
in music, whether for film or otherwise. What better compliment could a
director pay his composer than to entrust him with the film's most pivotal
scene?
Some have said that North's music is too esoteric to be really popular,
and is therefore neglected by record companies. Perhaps there is some truth
in that view, but I don't believe that people who profess to like his music
are poseurs. As someone else said, you either "get" it or you don't. There
are some (thankfully, very few) composers whose music I don't get. I regard
the cause of that as something lacking in me, not as the two-faced posturing
of their admirers. Neglect? Judged in terms of sales, Beethoven's SYMPHONY
No. 9 is neglected compared to Vivaldi's THE FOUR SEASONS. Ergo, one reason
could be that Alex North is not a car-stereo composer. You have to do a
little work when listening to his music. There are layers and subtexts,
references and inferences, polyrhythms and skewed harmonies, and melodies
that do not always go where you expect. Heard on a superficial level it
can sound a bit detached. I am not being an apologist, here; the best in
literature and all art shares similar traits. Depth requires study-study
yields rewards. Another reason, I believe, is that North's large-scale
scores are more difficult than most to re-record with fidelity. Jerry Goldsmith
and Varese Sarabande can do it on past evidence, but who else? Quite frankly,
the non-Goldsmith re-recordings of North's more complex film music are
usually abysmal. The platitudes about "...new interpretation..." and so
on, I read as double-talk for "Sorry, but we couldn't do it properly."
The once-projected National Philharmonic/Charles Gerhardt album of Alex
North film music never materialized, and, sadly now for obvious reasons,
never will. So perhaps we have to wait for Goldsmith's next release and
the occasional restoration.
Returning to CLEOPATRA: someone bemoaned the fact that there are
parts of the score missing from the restoration. It is true, but no important
cues. I detect the odd missing stem, but nothing major. Some cues are slightly
different from the film versions-"Hail Antony", for example-but for the
most part there is more music rather than less. Caesar's entry into Rome,
by the way, is exactly where it should be at the end of track nineteen,
disc one. This track consists of three parts: Caesar departs from Egypt,
the third fresco scene change, and Caesar enters Rome. I believe the latter
was originally composed as an alternate cue to close Act One of SPARTACUS,
but was not used in that film. As we know, Alex North, like other composers,
was not above recycling material. SHOES OF THE FISHERMAN and DRAGONSLAYER
both benefited from the rejected score for 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY. The Spartacus/Draba
fight music and the Spartacus/Crassus suspense music were both heard previously
in slightly different forms in THE MAN WITH A GUN (aka THE TROUBLE SHOOTER),
starring Robert Mitchum.
In his excellent review of the CLEOPATRA double-CD, Douglas Fake
ended by saying that his favourite cue is "Hail Antony", and asked (probably
rhetorically) what everyone else's was. There are many cues that share
second billing in my list of preferences. One, though, related thematically
to "Hail Antony", is just ahead of them. It is "Requiem". After nearly
four decades I still marvel at a Roman military band playing dolentissimo.
To be able to hear this short piece at last without the clutter of voices
and sound effects is a joy indeed.
Finally, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to all who
have worked to produce this wonderful restoration of my favourite film
score-not forgetting for a moment the innovative techniques developed at
FSM for their treasured releases. It may be that some of those people are
less than captivated by Alex North's music. If that is so, then the result
is a tribute to their dedication. I was beginning to think it would never
happen in my lifetime, at least in this quality. I cannot convey my gratitude
better than to say that I am an extremely happy man.
Finally, having said all of this, shall I now sneak furtively to
the stereo system with BEN-HUR? Well, I must confess that I shall...as
well as CLEOPATRA, SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, MASSACRE IN ROME, HOW GREEN WAS
MY VALLEY, THE TERMINATOR, THE HAIRDRESSER'S HUSBAND, FANTASTIC VOYAGE,
BURNT BY THE SUN, THE CELL, and several hundred others. In no particular
order, thank you very much.
Well, maybe the topic has burned itself out, but I have
just a few words to say on the subject of Alex North's music.
I've been collecting for twenty years, beginning in Nova Scotia
where a lot of music was hard to find. Since moving to Toronto ten years
ago, my collection has truly blossomed, increasing in breadth and depth,
composers new and (of greater excitement to me) old. Newman, Korngold,
Steiner, Friedhofer (wow), Waxman (yay!) - I love them! More recently I
have joyfully embraced Herrman's work (yes, it's taken a long time, but
nothing can turn me back now), and this brings me to Alex North.
As little as a year ago I purchased a copy of Spartacus from the
bargain shelf (the sword and sandal juices were flowing - I wanted more).
Admittedly, I had never seen Spartacus (though truly I am a film fan and
HAVE seen a great deal) but thought the music would surely be a rousing
listen. I can only suppose that I was either in the wrong mood or, sadly
(and you should never do this at home), had a preconceived idea of music
by a composer I'd never truly listened to before. I turned it off. I...sold
it. No Alex North for me.
Varese Sarabande was releasing Cleopatra in a beautifully restored
format, a must for collectors!! Not for me. A lot of talk ensues, much
debate about the man and his music. Is it cold or is warm? Or even steamy
and hot? Robert Townson, who I don't know but have respected his label
for years, writes a passionate rebuttal against a perceived misrepresentation
of North's music. More letters.
Fine. I was going to settle this for myself. Two weeks ago I stopped
in at Sam the Record Man. "No, we're sold out!" "How many copies did you
get?" "Three or four." Fine. Determined to get on with my investigation,
I found a copy of The Sound and the Fury and bought that. From there to
HMV I strode, and found Cleopatra, and bought that. With no time to waste
I popped S&F into my portable player.
Cold? By the time I was home I was nearly an emotional puddle on
the floor of the streetcar. This music, in all truth, was some of the most
heartbreakingly beautiful I'd ever heard (I've played it nearly every day
since) - my first TRUE Alex North experience. Once home, Cleopatra was
on the stereo. Moody, quiet, exquisite. I sat in the living room and let
all the colours wash over and through me. Low-key it might be but not distant
- this is very engaging music with much to listen to and love. When you
play this score do nothing else, it demands your attention, it deserves
your attention, and the rewards will be great.
Since Monday, I've purchased 2001, The Misfits, and A Streetcar
named Desire (Goldsmith recording), and I'm telling everyone who thinks
this music cold, cool, luke warm, distant, unengaging, indifferent, or
too intellectual (it can be intellectual, but by NO MEANS at the expense
of emotion), that you simply must try it again! It is SO worth it!! From
the sultry strains of Streetcar to the gorgeous, celestial colours of 2001,
Alex North's music is completely original and it is with sheer joy that
I have now found it!
Now, if there are skeptics out there saying to themselves," Oh yeah,
just another sheep who thinks he SHOULD like North's music, following the
herd," let me say this. NONE of my friends, relatives, aquaintances or
pets have the slightest wish to share this interest of mine, AND who in
their right mind would buy five scores in two weeks by a composer he doesn't
even care about while he's been on strike for four weeks with no money
coming in?
Not me. But I would buy music by a composer I suddenly felt a flood
of passion for, though funds I have little, AND write letter - no, a plea
- to others to try this music again. It is truly sublime.
I think I'll pick up a copy of Spartacus next week.
Thank-you, Alex
Your new admirer,
Chris
