I hope they stick to scores that are considered lost or that currently sound horrible, otherwise I'd be hard pressed to buy a Goldsmith rerecordings; you can't beat the originals.
That's pretty much how I feel; I don't see much point to re-recording things for which tapes survive.
For the record, my 'that's a great idea' was when Basil's post suggested Supergirl. Now that he edited it to suggest Legend, I'm not in as strong agreement. The garish synths in Legend work (just) whereas in Supergirl you just want them to go away.
Sorry I confused things! Yes, I originally thought Supergirl, but then I thought Legend could possibly be his finest score if not for the synth warblings, so deserving the first shot at an all-orchestral treatment. I'd also like to hear Under Fire presented that way (which someone else suggested above), and Lionheart.
I would think a prime candidate would be THE SATAN BUG. The sound effects version is the only thing out there (and thank Crom that it is), but a complete rerecording would be a dream come true.
I hope they stick to scores that are considered lost or that currently sound horrible, otherwise I'd be hard pressed to buy a Goldsmith rerecordings; you can't beat the originals.
Agreed. We already have great ost versions of PLANET OF THE APES, THE FINAL CONFLICT, CAPRICORN ONE (and the re-recording), etc. that others here have listed, and it would be nice to go after other stuff.
A couple of posts have mentioned UNDER FIRE and LEGEND and I totally agree! I'd very much like to have two of Jerry's masterpieces in completely orchestral versions - they would really soar!
The only reason I nominated Planet of the Apes is because I think its wild melange of timbres would be really interesting to hear in a super hi fi setting. It's certainly not red-hot priority for me.
I love that they're doing this series. The only problem is that some of the scores I'd love the most for them to do, like DAMNATION ALLEY and PETER PROUD, have such a strong '70s synth element that it would be hard to truly do justice to them.
Don't really see a need for Legend (outside of the fact I wish scores were recorded frequently as classical compositions are, but since they aren't....). I know the 'synth farts' are kinda wierd but the score has perfectly fine sound and is mostly complete already. I'd still buy a rerecording as it IS one of my absolute favorite Goldsmith scores...
I forgot to add in my wish-list a re-recording of THE FINAL CONFLICT and SECRET OF NIMH. These I'd buy at light-speed. (give me different chorus performances!)
No offense, but are you daft? The choral work in those scores (esp. NIMH) is second to none.
If the tapes are lost for ADRIAN MESSENGER, then I fully support a new recording, esp. in time for the film's 50th anniversary.
A couple of posts have mentioned UNDER FIRE and LEGEND and I totally agree! I'd very much like to have two of Jerry's masterpieces in completely orchestral versions - they would really soar!
But the synths were part of Goldmsith's conceptions of those scores; do you get rid of them just because you don't like them, or they sound dated? What if someone decided they didn't like the pan pipes in UNDER FIRE because it made them think of late-night TV ads for Zamfir? Would you be o.k. with that being changed? I don't think we should be arbitrarily changing scores just to meet our 2012 tastes.
Paul and MGH (Mike)--I would LOVE to see well recorded new versions of IN HARM'S WAY and THE SATAN BUG, but I despair that the electronic elements of both could be properly replicated today.
We would probably have better results with THE LIST OF ADRIAN MESSENGER and SECONDS. The two video clips of HOUR OF THE GUN sound terrific, by the way.
The interesting thing about The Satan Bug is the cues that feature the hard-to-reproduce electronics are already quite well-represented on the FSM album, and in great sound. The big orchestral showpieces in the score don't really feature electronics at the forefront and I'd love to see someone take a crack at rerecording them--along with The Chairman (which certainly sounds like James has on his list) and some of the others listed here.
I also agree it's VERY difficult to reproduce the original performances, something even Goldsmith was hard pressed to do. You have to expect that there's some room for interpretation here, and it's possible to be surprised--the recent rerecordings of Lawrence of Arabia, Private Life of Sherlock Holmes and Conan the Barbarian have been superb IMO so it's always possible to hit it out of the park. But in general, the original film recordings are great because they HAD to be great--they had to function within the film exactly, and the studio would pay for just as many takes as needed to get that performance, whereas on a rerecording project, at some point you're going to run out of time and/or money. I'm very excited about the Goldsmith project though--long overdue!
I've been suggesting this for a while on and off but here foes: One of the bet rerecording albums Goldsmith ever did is Frontiers. I think a best of compilation album of Goldsmith's Western Frontiers would be a smashing follow up. His western scores are quite varied, but seem to be somewhat overlooked by casual Goldsmith fans and a concert program might make a smashing listen.
As much as I would love to see a rerecording of PETER PROUD I think it would be a monumental task to recapture the essence of that score, what with the electronics, reverb effects and unorthodox ensembles. I really hope the original tapes are discovered one day as that would truly be the only way to do that score justice.
A Goldsmith score that I would love to hear rerecorded would be THE OTHER. Some great music is left off the truncated Varese release, and I think performance wise this one would be do-able.
But the synths were part of Goldmsith's conceptions of those scores; do you get rid of them just because you don't like them, or they sound dated? What if someone decided they didn't like the pan pipes in UNDER FIRE because it made them think of late-night TV ads for Zamfir? Would you be o.k. with that being changed? I don't think we should be arbitrarily changing scores just to meet our 2012 tastes.
I think it's reasonable to have a "performing edition", for orchestra only. Classical music has many of examples of music originally composed for harpsichord transcribed for piano, or lute transcribed for guitar, without compromising the integrity of the music.
I think it's reasonable to have a "performing edition", for orchestra only. Classical music has many of examples of music originally composed for harpsichord transcribed for piano, or lute transcribed for guitar, without compromising the integrity of the music.
That's true, and it can sound very good if done right. It's really dumb when the synth is just taken out, like the "orchestral suite" on Not Without My Daughter.
