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Posted: |
Nov 16, 2015 - 11:47 AM
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By: |
leslie
(Member)
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Admirers of Elmer Bernstein will know that the composer enjoyed a lengthy collaboration with the prodigiously talented husband and wife designer / film-making team of Charles and Ray Eames.
Not surprisingly, the current and highly acclaimed Eames retrospective exhibition at London's Barbican Art Gallery ( until February 2016 ) offers much of interest to Bernstein enthusiasts.
One highlight which is easily overlooked is an illuminating and historically significant handwritten letter to a friend from Charles Eames in which he mentions that Bernstein and his then wife, Pearl, had visited for dinner on the previous evening and had viewed for the first time the short film, " The House " which Bernstein was commissioned to score.
The letter goes on to confirm that a friend of the composer was about to initiate a label for the release of stereo tapes of chamber music and that Bernstein hoped to have the music for " The House" as the label's first release.
In the final paragraph, Eames indicates that Bernstein had now completed stage 1 of " the Ten Commandments ", that he would be starting on the next stage in December, that he was now 'legally' the official music director of the film and, finally, that he had just been signed by Preminger to score " The Man with the Golden Arm " ( How magical would it have it would have been to have been a fly on the wall at that meal!)
An arresting physical artefact in the exhibition is a tall, slender one and a half storey high (toy? )tower formed from dozens of tuned metal plates - dropping a metal ball down the core of the tower generates a charming theme composed by Bernstein!
The exhibition screens many of the short films scored by Bernstein eg the seminal "Powers of Ten" plus a mathematical short film featuring improvised percussion by Shelley Manne. Most of the short films that have been released on DVD or posted on YouTube feature either solo keyboard by Bernstein or a small chamber group of musicians but the joy of the exhibition is that of the films screened clearly had larger budgets allowing Bernstein to make a bolder musical statement with symphonic forces and featuring his customary and invigorating rhythmic impulses : the two films are the impressive multi screen Worlds Fair IBM presentation. " Think " and the ingenious multi slide projected "GEM" with, at one point, a beguilingly lyrical slow waltz.
If you are within reach of London and love rhe composer's music, a visit to the exhibition will not disappoint
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Thanks for posting this. I won't be there, so it's great to get a little taste of it virtually.
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Many thanks, Leslie! As magical as it might have been to have been a fly on the wall during that dinner, I would be very happy just to have been you at that exhibit.
How saddened I've been in the wake of Bernstein's passing that no effort is being pursued to continue with Volume Two (& etc.) of the Bernstein/Eames CD series.
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Posted: |
Nov 22, 2015 - 10:48 AM
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By: |
leslie
(Member)
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Many thanks for your welcome response, Preston.
I agree wholeheartedly that there is a place for further releases of Bernstein's ingenious work for Eames.
In recent years, thankfully, the bulk of Bernstein's motion picture work, particularly from his most creatively productive period, has found a release
What remain to be mined are the treasures from the documentary sphere and from the world of television eg the many, many fine original scores for Season 1 of Riverboat ( a template for " The Magnificent Seven ") and his glorious work for David Wolper, especially the superb " D Day " (even a DVD release would be welcome ) and his lovely, nostalgic scores for the Hollywood specials ( now available on DVD )'
Incidentally, and by a happy coincidence, having just moved house, I have been unpacking boxes of books and, just prior to reading your post, I came across your splendid book on " Night of the Hunter " and have spent a very pleasant afternoon totally immersed in it. Cheers!
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Thanks for posting this!
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The stereo Toccata is one of my favorite things from the FSM Bernstein box.
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