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Posted: |
Jul 23, 2006 - 9:39 PM
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By: |
MusicUnite
(Member)
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Ah yes. Good ole Lis. One of my favorites (I've posted about her before on FSM).
As Rozsaphile mentioned there are two very fine books on Lutyens. Both are required
reading.
Her music is serial and she made no apologies for it (nor should she have to). Its not
everyone's cup of tea, but I do enjoy most of what I've heard.
Currently, there is only one CD that contains Lutyens' works (on the NMC label I believe).
There were a number of classical LPs on Decca from the 60s-70's that often had at
least one composition by Lis. Alas, none of these have ever made it CD.
Most of her output was for small orchestral ensembles, chamber or solo works.
As for her film music, she usually had larger orchestral forces available to her than in
her classical pieces. She was typecast as a horror film composer, but truly with her
stringent sound world, she was best suited for that genre.
Among her finest efforts; Dr. Terror's House of Horrors, The Skull, Theatre of Death
and The Earth Dies Screaming.
Jay
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Oh, Elisabeth. For a moment I thought you were referring to the German Admiral who was on the Bismarck.
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Richard Rodney Bennett is very indebted to Ms. Luytens and has acknowledged her influence on his work.
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Was she a descendant of the famous architect?
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It has been 12 years since this thread was opened and sadly there are still no classical or film music recordings of Lutyens work (other than what existed prior to 2006). It really is a shame.
Jay
I agree, Jay, ... there should be more albums produced featuring the music of Lutyens.
While I haven't located any discs since 2006 with an all-Lutyens program, there have been (since 2006) compilation albums which include a work by Elisabeth L., such as this Chandos CD (which I have not yet heard):
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David Huckvale is no doubt referring to the instrument being used as part of the dramatic score rather than source music. He also refers to the it being used in "The Ipcress File" and also "King Rat" but says they were released after "The Skull" although he's probably referring to the UK release dates.
According to the IMDB. the UK release of THE IPCRESS FILE (18 March 1965) was 18 months before that of THE SKULL (4 NOVEMBER 1966). It seems odd to me that THE SKULL, being a British production, would be released in the UK later than in the U.S. (25 August 1965), but even if you assume that THE SKULL was released in the UK in August 1965 (as Wikipedia seems to), THE IPCRESS FILE was still released 5 months earlier.
This may seem picky, but if Huckvale is claiming a "first" for something, I think you have to be picky about it.
Bear in mind, also, that a film's release date is no indication of the dates on which its scoring sessions transpired.
It is a possibility that the studio recordings for The Skull took place before those on The Ipcress File, even though The Ipcress File may have been shown prior the The Skull's premiere screening.
As for being picky ... is not the cimbalom heard within Humphrey Searle's The Haunting (1963) and/or Henry Mancini's Experiment in Terror (1962)?
Both of these occurred prior to 1965 - making this mini-debate on 1965 Lutyens vs. 1965 Barry seem neither were the 'first'.
I also think one should consider vintage Hungarian-language cinema, as well, before making claim that the cimbalom wasn't in film music until '65. 
[regarding just only one Hungarian film director - Károly Makk - there's enough films by him from the 1950s and early 1960s to have been scored by at least 4 composers: Ferenc Szabó (1902–1969), Ottó Vincze (1906–1984), Szabolcs Fényes (1912–1986), & István Sárközy (1920–2002).
Not having access to any these early Makk films or their music, who can verify that none of these 4 composers utilized the cimbalom in their scores?]
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Posted: |
Feb 26, 2018 - 9:34 AM
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By: |
Graham Watt
(Member)
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Powerhouse Films in the UK have just released an impressive Blu-ray box set of Hammer films (Hammer Volume Two; Criminal Intent). I've never thought much of Hammer's horror films but I've always enjoyed their 50s/60s thrillers and psychological dramas.
The box set includes the rarely seen film "Never Take Sweets From a Stranger" scored by Elisabeth Lutyens and amongst the extras is a 43-minute appreciation of Lutyens by writer and musicologist David Huckvale. It's one of the best documentaries about a composer working in film which I've seen. Sitting at the piano and providing numerous musical examples, Huckvale offers a scholarly examination of Lutyens music and how it works within, not only "Never take Sweets...", but from various other films she composed for Hammer.
I adore Elisabeth Lutyens' music! NEVER TAKE SWEETS FROM STRANGERS is an absolutely superb film which has lost none of its power today. It's quite uncomfortable viewing, actually. It might even be more uncomfortable to watch today than it was back then, due to our awareness of how real the events are/ were. The Lutyens score is excellent of course.
Having said that, I think her most effective work is for the aforementioned (Amicus) film THE SKULL. The second half of the film has virtually no dialogue, and is carried almost in its entirety by the imaginative visuals, Peter Cushing's wonderful performance, and Lutyens' chilly and highly imaginative scoring. It's a pity that the 20-min re-recording sounds so distant.
Such a fan of THE SKULL am I that I visited Lindisfarne Castle last year just to see how Lizzie Lutyens' dad had redesigned it in the early 20th Century. Oh, and because CUL-DE-SAC was filmed there, which is one of my favourite films of all time.
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