Film Score Friday 11/16/01

Here's a status report on our new CDs:

We are still waiting to receive The World of Henry Orient from the pressing plant. So if you ordered it, and did not get it yet, that's why. We expect to have it today or Monday and will ship RIGHT AWAY...we're up to our neck in mailing gear, baby! The View from Pompey's Head/Blue Denim is already in stock and we've sent it out to those insane collectors who somehow did not also buy Henry Orient.

****Low Quantity Alert!****

We are down to -- no kidding -- 60 copies of The Towering Inferno in stock. This is a limited edition of 3,000 copies and they have almost all sold in less than a year. Amazing!

We are taking the following action on Inferno. We are contractually prohibited from jacking up the price -- not that we'd try to gouge, anyway -- but we are cutting off bulk sales to the various retailers that buy copies and then mark them up from $19.95 to $24.95 (usually). Also, we are limiting individual sales to two to a customer. We do not want to see collectors hawk this on ebay because if someone spends $100 for it on ebay, that's five CDs of other great composers' work that they could have bought from us. Then again, that's the market, so we'll have to live with it.

Anyway -- 60 copies left. Going fast. You are warned.

As for other titles, The Omega Man is down to 145 copies. Poseidon Adventure less than 250, I think. All others are OK for the holiday season at least, although Patton and Fantastic Voyage and the Apes titles (Beneath and Conquest/Battle) are over two-thirds gone.

For book collectors, we have ONE copy remaining of the MusicHound Soundtracks book, like an encyclopedia of soundtrack reviews. It is out of print and we cannot order more. Going once, going twice....

Finally, for the holiday season we are doing something we have NEVER done before, and I didn't think we would ever do it: we are DISCOUNTING a title. And so far, one title only, a cinema classic: All About Eve/Leave Her to Heaven (Alfred Newman). We're slashing the price of this limited edition from its normal $19.95 to $14.95, for the holidays only. It makes a great gift for the cinephile in your family, too. The reduced price is automatically calculated by our website.

Another reminder: we have a promotion on our website where you can select a free gift for buying over $50 in merchandise (subscriptions excluded). The website mechanism will automatically prompt you to select your free gift if applicable. So buy two of our CDs at regular price, add All About Eve, and then a free CD (or Price Guide), and it's four CDs for the price of two and three quarters -- or something.

We're open for business and we want to sell you classic film music that's ONLY available through FSM!

Quick links: CD overview page: https://secure.filmscoremonthly.com/store/cds.asp

Comprehensive order form: https://secure.filmscoremonthly.com/store/order.asp

From: "Richard May" <richard@flocs.com>

Thought you might like to know the following:

John Williams was interviewed on Classic FM (UK) last weekend for an hour (interspersed with a lot of his music). Several interesting anecdotes, one being that Itzhak Perlman was very reluctant to play on Schindler's List. Williams agreed to run through the theme with him on piano and Perlman playing his part with the film projected behind them. The film started up on the "shower scene". Perlman saw it and didn't need to play the music. He said "I'll play whatever ever you've written".

But as for Harry Potter: Williams says he's written 7 themes for the film and he's turned these into a 7 movement concert piece which was been recorded. Each movement highlights a section of the orchestra, so the recording will be done a little like "Peter and the Wolf" with a short and humorous naration before each section. He said that it wasn't intended to "cash in" on the Harry Potter phenomenon, but as a serious attempt to introduce children to the orchestra. I assume from this that there will be commercial recording of this.

I hope so -- it's like Peter and the Wolf by J.W.!

In other Harry Potter news, sheet music for the score (nine theme adaptations, not the film orchestrations) will be offered by Musicnotes.com.

Toho in Japan has released a 6CD box set of music by Fumio Hayasaka and Masaru Satoh, Film Music Of Akira Kurosawa: The Complete Edition Vol 1. Holy cow, it's got the complete Seven Samurai score on it! Amongst many other things...Intrada has copies in stock in the U.S. for $159.99.

Information on a U.K. event coming up:

Soundtracking / Sheffield / UK / The Showroom Cinema / 23rd & 24th November

Soundtracking, a celebration of connections between popular music, continues for its third year two days of new films, digital pop promos, gems from the archive, and music and film meltdowns in the bar. We are also very pleased to present discussions with two highly contrasting composer/musicians whose work on mainstream, independent films and other projects has genuinely stretched and redefined the art of the cinema soundtrack

7.00pm 23rd
MICHAEL KAMEN
Hugely prolific, multiple award-winning soundtrack composer whose vast body of work has moved effortlessly between high octane Hollywood (Die Hards and Lethal Weapons) and the independent visions of Terry Gilliam, David Cronenberg, Neil Jordan, Alan Clarke and others. Michael Kamen will discuss his career in conversation. He will then be introducing one of his best loved works à Terry Gilliam's 1985 masterpiece BRAZIL.

6.30 24th
BARRY ADAMSON
Originally bass player for Magazine and The Bad Seeds, before he pursued a solo career of soundtracks for imaginary films. Fusing a love of John Barry and film noir with the furthest reachest of pop's avant-garde, Adamson has written and performed music for Alison Anders' Gas Food Lodging, and David Lynch on Lost Highway. Adamson will discuss his love of film music in both areas of his musical career and explore how a film music fan became a film composer.

This event is an ideal opportunity to hear two very experienced musicians discuss their work in film, television and beyond.

To book tickets call: 0114 275 7727. For more information about any of these events or to be sent a full programme of Soundtracking 2001 email ben@showroom.org.uk or call 0114 276 3534.

From: Les Jepson <LJepson@GDEngineering.co.uk>

Please forgive me if this subject has already been thoroughly aired - I don't catch all the debates - but what is happening to the scores for war films?

Recently, I was listening to Hugo Friedhofer's score for BETWEEN HEAVEN AND HELL (thank you, FSM and Fox); and then coincidentally caught HELL IS FOR HEROES, scored by Leonard Rosenman, on TV. Those two dynamic scores highlighted the difference between then and now. It occurred to me that we seem to be sliding into a rut where films portraying Man's ultimate expression of inhumanity have to be scored with pastoral symphonies. When did this start? Was it PLATOON? Was it SCHINDLER'S LIST? Ennio Morricone scored the Civil War section of THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY with quite gentle music. It worked because it was such a contrast to the rest of the score. By the time we get to CASUALTIES OF WAR, though, the whole film becomes wrapped in sweeping lyricism. Nowadays, it seems politically incorrect to allow one atonal note to creep into a war film score. Even Hans Zimmer has his computers firmly in adagio mode for THE THIN RED LINE and for the bits I've heard of PEARL HARBOUR (why not for GLADIATOR? Were ancient wars nastier than modern ones are?).

I'm not suggesting unrelenting bombast - we get enough of that with action film scores - but we don't need unrelenting dirges, either. I quite understand the approach of letting violence show through the imagery, and reserving the music for the reflective moments; but surely war engenders more feelings than grief and depression. The current vogue seems to suggest that war is really rather sad. My perception has always been that it is bloody horrific. Whatever has been said about James Horner's ENEMY AT THE GATES score (and I've said my share - I admit it), he at least addressed the downright repellence of war. Of course, the war film scores of Jerry Goldsmith and Malcolm Arnold, for examples, are real lessons in how to do it. In Kubrick's PATHS OF GLORY, Gerald Fried's succinct but brutal percussive score finally gives way to highly emotive source music, used sparingly for maximum impact. This particular technique has been used remarkably at least once since then.

There is a Russian film from the mid-eighties called COME AND SEE (sometimes translated as GO AND SEE). It is about the Nazi invasion of Belarus in World War II from the perspective of an adolescent boy. The combination of acting, images, and astonishing sound design in this picture make it matchless in the war film genre. Right at the end, when you are welded to your seat (to put it politely) by the emotional enormity of what you've seen and heard, an extract from Mozart's Requiem comes through. The effect is unforgettable. If the likes of SAVING PRIVATE RYAN and BAND OF BROTHERS represent the high peaks of films about war, then COME AND SEE is in Earth orbit.

I've never heard of Come and See. I liked Michael Kamen's scoring for Band of Brothers. I don't think modern war films are scored like Hell Is for Heroes because the world has changed, and people's perceptions have changed, and a different type of sensitivity is now appropriate for showing war on film. I mean, Rambo had great music, but it's a different type of genre.

See the recent article on the World Soundtrack Awards handed out at a Belgian festival recently:

From: "Thomas, Jeffrey" <Jeffrey_Thomas@troweprice.com>

What period of time do the awards cover? AI won, but the year isn't over. So, whats the beginning and cutoff point for the "annual" awards? Why is it not the calendar year?

The period of time is probably due to the scheduling of the awards, or it has to do with when the films are internationally distributed, I guess.

Regarding some recent letters we've printed:

From: Randy Derchan <rderchan@captioneering.com>

Re: I would LOVE if it Barry did the next Bond film -- my point was only that the Bond films have degenerated into such noisy, idiotic commercials, I don't see how his classy, thoughtful style would work with them anymore.

I don't know how you could say that about the current Bond films. I am outraged, but I'll live. I would love to see Barry do a Bond film -- and that's final! I don't want to catch any anti-James Bond stuff on this web site or I won't return to it. That will last a whole day of course, but for the record, I liked the Bronsnan flicks, especially Goldeneye, which really needed Barry more than ever. I still feel that Bond films are the only action flicks that are any good anymore. Action movies, in general, stink today. As long as Bond doesn't jump in the air and freeze frame Matrix style, he'll always be the one. Barry could do it. I'm positive.

He'll "un-bombasticsize" the films.
 

Regarding the issue of Barry returning to Bond, I too would LOVE to see that happen, but I also understand your point concerning the difference of style between the new films and Barry's classic scores. The latest Bond films have been moving into that Jerry Bruckheimer/Michael Bay rapid-cut and explosive mayhem style (especially Tomorrow Never Dies), though The World is Not Enough was a little calmer. A Barry score MIGHT have actually worked for it.

On a completely random note, I recently watched the Sean Connery Thunderball remake, Never Say Never Again. I had been wanting to see Connery's return to Bond, but upon viewing the movie, I grew so bored I lost interest. I even found Michel Legrand's score to be rather dull and uninteresting. Is it just me, or was that just a bad movie? :-)

Never Say Never Again is good because it has Connery, but it does suffer in the pace department.

Here's another find from our favorite newspaper archivist, G.D. Hamann. Writes Gary, "Harry Mines, editor of the Daily News during most of Bruno David Ussher's years there as film music critic, wrote the following piece while the newspaper was still under its original name of Illustrated Daily News."

10/17/1936 IDN FILM COMPOSER

By Harry Mines

Excitement reigned in George Antheil's office at Paramount studio. The dynamic little composer had just received word that the Metropolitan Grand Opera company had purchased his new work, "John Brown's Body," for production during the 1937-38 season.

Antheil, here to write an original music score for Cecil DeMille's The Plainsman, decided to take time out for lunch and a celebration. Although used to success by now, Antheil's spirits, nevertheless, were high because of his newly acquired good fortune. So conversation was gay over the festive noon-day board.

Because he firmly belives the future of music lies in motion pictures, Antheil has become part of them. It was he who conceived that superb and haunting score for Noel Coward's The Scoundrel. Up until his Paramount chore on The Plainsman, Antheil had been working with his close friends, Charlie MacArthur and Ben Hecht on their productions.

EXPLANATION

The score on The Scoundrel Antheil went on to relate was not original. It was taken from a Rachmaninoff piano concerto which Antheil felt ideally suited the mood and atmosphere of the Coward drama. In turn the Rachmaninoff work was broken up and the parts used were re-adapted by Antheil and arranged for the orchestra.

There was quite a lot of conjecturing on how Rachmaninoff would feel about the handling of his music on the picture, but Antheill said he understood the pianist-composer was pleased, so pleased, in fact, that he is now determined to join forces with films and write scores.

The music on The Plainsman is Antheil's own. He made a 9000 mile automobile trip visiting and living with Indians and cowboys and becoming thoroughly acquainted with the wide open spaces before tackling the job.

VIVID

It's fun talking to Antheil. A vivid conversationalist, he has met practically every celebrity in the musical, theatrical and literary world. And then, too, Antheil has made a name for himself outside of music although the latter is his great love.

Antheil has created numerous ballets, the latest being for the American Ballet Troupe. He is also a prolific writer and is represented by articles almost every month in national magazines.

At the moment he is completing a novel, "Music In America," and at the same time creating a new musical composition.

He says opera can never be translated to the cinema successfully. Antheil, a firm believer at first that this could be done, spent two years trying to make an adaptation of "Faust" which would keep in the incidental music as well as the principal arias. But the script got out of hand and by the time he had written what he considered a correct screen version of "Faust" retaining its full music values, it would have taken several days for an audience to sit through.

Antheil believes, however, that original opera written especially for films would be highly successful. He says that Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck cartoons are extraordinary examples of real opera on the screen.

From: Andrew Shaneyfelt, Apshaneyfelt@aol.com

I wanted to say that your new release of BLUE DENIM is superb. This is one of those "squint or you'll miss it" Bernard Herrmann scores and I for one am very excited to now own the score pressed in your typically first-rate style. I very much enjoyed the liner notes and specifically the sound quality of the music on this release. The score essentially completes the string of films Herrmann scored for 1959 which have made it to CD and rests nicely between NORTH BY NORTHWEST and JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH.

Personally I found the cues "The Playroom" and "Farewell" to be especially enjoyable and am glad to hear several cues that didn't end up in the film. Oddly, despite the score running in at 30:55 in length, it seemed to me to flow in such a way that sounds more like a 45 minute score. Who knows...maybe it's just Herrmann's style. To me, the cue "The Bank" is similar somewhat to the lightheartedness found in his music for the child in his score for Francois Truffaut's THE BRIDE WORE BLACK written a decade later.

At any rate, many thanks for this release and bravo on another job well done!

From: "Scott Skelton" <serlingng@earthlink.net>

Just wanted to say THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for releasing "Henry Orient." I've been waiting for a release of that music for almost 30 years now. I have tried for that long to get that main title tune out of my head. I'm happy to say I've never been successful. I rank it among Bernstein's best works, and I'm grateful that finally someone had the savvy to bring it out of undeserved oblivion. Great work, as always.

From: Dennis Cannon, DPCJ44@aol.com

I received today THE VIEW FROM POMPEYS HEAD, and after waiting since 1955 for an original soundtrack of this score it is finally here and its wonderful. Thank you again for doing it and I hope to hear many more wonderful scores from film score monthly. They say once you get what you want you don't want it anymore -- not true. Here I will enjoy this score for the rest of my life.

What a nice letter! We're happy to make Dennis' day. By the way, if you've ever SEEN Pompey's Head -- not easy considering its lack of availability on video -- look for a young DeForest Kelley as the hotel clerk.

See these links for new John Williams articles in the mainstream press:

On Harry Potter: http://www.usatoday.com/life/enter/movies/2001-11-13-john-williams.htm

On Star Wars: Episode II: http://www.usatoday.com/life/enter/movies/2001-11-13-john-williams-star-wars.htm

I don't know of a web link for this, but in L.A., the local circular L.A. Weekly has an Elmer Bernstein feature this week, an interview by Alan Rich. It's the "Girls Gone Wild" issue...

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