A few weeks ago I saw the 1984 Bo Derek film BOLERO. Little need be said about the film, which by turns is silly, boring, visually lush, and only mildly erotic. Peter Bernstein’s score is one of the film’s few good points, with touches of his father's style felt mostly in some Spanish guitar work. Bernstein père augmented his son’s score with an “exstasy” (sic) theme that is used for the most intense lovemaking scenes. That theme incorporates the ondes Martenot as played by Cynthia Millar. Christopher Palmer orchestrated Peter’s score, and Elmer conducted the Rome Studio Symphony Orchestra. Varese Sarabande issued the original soundtrack LP, but Prometheus later issued a CD that added 23 minutes of additional music.
Here is Peter’s main title theme, entitled “Bullero”:
I have the old LP on Varese, but never upgraded to the expanded CD. I remember liking the music okay, but haven't played it for years. I never saw the film, but enjoyed looking at the pictures from it
