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Posted: |
Jan 25, 2018 - 5:40 PM
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By: |
bobbengan
(Member)
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I don't know why he allowed the JOS website to lapse into oblivion. He says he still intends to revitalize the label and release more scores personally - especially now that he finally has entered the 21st century and has wi-fi. A late bloomer at everything, in his own words!
I've completely negated to mention ROBIN HOOD but I do have that (albeit a live recording) and his score to JECKYL and HYDE, which is a studio recording with very fine LA union musicians - no idea why he hasn't released it.
Both are lengthy works, obviously, and I need a little more time to turn them over and re-visit. Robin Hood is very much written in the late 19th century Straussian style and the main theme, which is heard frequently throughout, reminds me very strongly of Laurence Rosenthal's CLASH OF THE TITANS theme.
JECKLY AND HYDE sounds, probably not surprisingly, most akin to his WITCHCRAFT score - Lots of "mischievous/devilish" horror writing that never takes itself too seriously.
He also has a "Ocean Sketches for 13 Musicians" piece that's like a mini-Cousteau score, full of those impressionistic flourishes we know him so well for. I'll post a movement from that later (also professionally recorded in LA, probably not cheaply, like his Double Trumpet Concerto for Harp and Strings - a neo-Baroque work full of personality, if pretty "light" dramatically).
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Posted: |
Jan 25, 2018 - 9:53 PM
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By: |
bobbengan
(Member)
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Yes, Divers is a fine piece albeit a short one, but my two favorites from the album are Dominion of the Blue Whale (one of Scott's greatest) and Whales. Take your breath away.
Funny enough, I too love that "Whales" piece. So subtle and evocative - If you listen with headphone all sorts of tiny, intricate details emerge from the orchestration of this cue, like the interplay in the bass woodwinds and harp harmonics (both so low as to be almost inaudible), and that that swirling RITE OF SPRING-esque melody played on horns is being "exchanged" between different members of the horn section - three carry the melody, three respond in kind, only obvious that exchange is occurring due to the stereo separation. Such a nice touch that most would probably never notice - I didn't until probably my tenth time listening to the piece.
Kari, you and I have discussed his Cousteau and related nature music at length, where do you fall on later stuff like 20,000 LEAGUES UNDE THE SEA, WALKING THUNDER, NORTH STAR, WICKER TREE, etc.?
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Posted: |
Jan 27, 2018 - 11:37 AM
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By: |
bobbengan
(Member)
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Kari, couldn't agree more with all your words here.
One of the other things I've noticed with Scott's music is that even score that initially don't really land with me - THE NEW SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON, WITCHCRAFT, TUBY, TIME OF THE WOLF - repeated, closer listens, in all cases, reveal that extraordinary music does indeed abound. Of all those, 'New Swiss Family...' especially is just loaded with themes and motifs, all of them memorable; insanely creative orchestrations, exhilarating action ("Hello Mr. Python"'s dynamic treatment of the main theme is a total showstopper!) and a lot of heart.
Even THE SECOND JUNGLE BOOK, a score I'd written off entirely after one listen a few years ago (too much mickey-mousing and source-like classical interpolations) revealed, upon revisit, that there's at least twenty minutes of top-drawer Scott material buried in there, which I extracted and designed a custom suite around - a much better listening experience than the album proper in my opinion.
Even at his "worst", Scott always has so much to offer - perhaps only INSEMINOID is beyond reproach!
I think the only score of his at this point that is commercially available, and yet I've never heard a single note of, is RED KNIGHT, WHITE KNIGHT hailing from his very fruitful period in the late 80's. Excited to track that one down.
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Even at his "worst", Scott always has so much to offer - perhaps only INSEMINOID is beyond reproach!
Are you sure? "Dog Tags".
It's not too late to retract that. ;-)
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Just finished skimming through "Billy Two Hats".
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2wnqjn
There's not much score, I'd say probably not even twenty minutes.
It's not as Goldsmith-ish as I had hoped, but it had it's moments, such as:
35:21 in: which also features some moments of exciting quick string work and hard-hitting percussion. There's a lull in the music before the chase begins.
55:25 in
1:07:36 in.
And 1:20:55 in, which leads off to the end credits.
I even have ideas for a suite arrangement, but alas, even if the score was released tomorrow, I don't have access to a computer where I can do suites anymore. Oh well.
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Hopefully those un-used twenty or so minutes of scoring has more of the action material in it.
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Posted: |
Jan 28, 2018 - 12:25 PM
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By: |
bobbengan
(Member)
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Yup, A&C is an indisputable masterpiece - not much can be added to hat statement. For me nothing beats that "Main Title" (utterly tremendous), the second half of the "Overture" with its luxurious and gradually-building exploration of the love theme, or the epic choral statement (of what I think is supposed to be Cleopatra's theme?) in "The Barge She Sat In". Those three pieces alone comprise some of the most decadent, sumptuous music ever written - for film or otherwise. It's just an astounding accomplishment. The melodies, the orchestration, the pageantry... It just moves the soul and excites the ear.
Justin, to answer your question about BILLT TWO HATS - It's a pretty subdued suspense score overall. There is one really fine action cut near the end that John's very fond of, that he called the first such piece where he felt, as a composer, he really nailed "action". I can't say whether it made it into the film or not.
I've shared this elsewhere, but all the same, here's a cue from his unreleased MADAGASCAR Cousteau score - It's a later effort amidst his Cousteau works, from 1995, and it's just so fresh and inspired-sounding. The main theme is often carried by a bass oboe, as heard in this cue, and it's just such a beautiful, evocative sound it conjures. Take a listen: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1T5oWzQtWLiXt4mRh8Z-Zltdbru6ULwvn
John was going to release this one as a two-fer with CUBA: WATERS OF FREEDOM, which I also have and find wonderful. I have no idea why he never moved ahead on this release when he'd already put out so many of his Cousteau scores.
He also gave me his CLIPPERTON: THE ISLAND THAT TIME FORGOT, a Cousteau effort I just love. The main theme from that one is so evocative and wistfully tragic. This is perhaps one of the most atmospheric of his Cousteau scores, with a very special and almost Herrmannesque atmosphere abiding over the episode (the history oft his tiny island by the way, Clipperton, is a fascinating and very violent one).
Oh, what the hell - Here's the finale and end title from that one, too. Enjoy: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1XzhDKcQsr2ge8fllNKgn0haDHBon3Zep
Happy Sunday, people!
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I think I shared it before elsewhere, but here's a short six-minute excerpt from his unreleased GUITAR CONCERTO, "CELTIC KINGDOMS", dating from either 2006 or 2008. This is from the second movement and might be one of the most romantic melodies of his entire career, it just takes my breath away. He would have been around 77 years old or so when he wrote it - Can you think of any other composers writing at this degree of inspiration at that age? He didn't release it because of major issues he takes with the guitar player, whom he feels froze up during the session. I'm sure there might be issues with the more difficult passages in the third movement but to my ears I cannot detect anything "wrong" and certainly not "bad". Regardless, the music itself is MARVELOUS:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ZYq4PmhB48axtdSWwAGOj0WxibEbBJtK
Enjoy - Download quickly while you can, I can't leave files on my G-Drive forever sadly.
I can easily imagine having heard this in a modern western film from the 2000's. I don't mean because of the style, but rather to a film.
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