Of the numerous scores for television that Delerue composed, AMOS stands out as the best one and it's one of my favorite Delerue scores; certainly in the top 10.
The films centers around the character of coach and retired baseball player Amos Lasher, played by Kirk Douglas, who is left completely alone after the unfortunate death of his wife. Having no one left to care for him, and with his only son having died in Vietnam, Amos is forced to live in a nursing home. In this nursing home, Amos discovers that the head nurse Daisy Daws, played by Elizabeth Montgomery, rules the place with an iron fist. Amos, being independent and outspoken by nature, immediately clashes with the evil Daisy Daws.
In the scoring the film, Delerue composed one of his most infectious and sublime themes, a poignant melody played on the flute that appears all throughout the film. It's such a beautiful and catchy theme, that I just can't get it out of my head. The score is also full of moments of orchestral wonder, a sensual lounge theme, and dizzying harpsichord motif played whenever something evil is occurring.
The score is just beautiful, which is typical of the great Georges Delerue, and unfortunately unreleased. Though there is a boot but whatever....
And please listen to ending, since one can hear the main theme played on the flute and then finally in full orchestra to cap the whole thing off. Sends chills down my spine every time.
Yeah right, I have heard the score before in baaaaaad quality but never heard it in context with the movie, so I'll definetely check your videos out Thanks!
These kind of dramas are very hard to do for a composer. There's always the trap of falling into schmaltz. Delerue seems to have pulled it off every time, finding the right balance and giving the movie a soul no matter how small the production was. Keep these videos coming because I keep discovering new gems.
I don't like to listen to the music AS music while seeing and hearing the film, but I played the first clip, where it was allowed to come through relatively alone, and of course it's typically beautiful.
I hope someday everything MR Delurue has done will be available to be heard on a minute notice, sublime is the word to describe his music, it is hard to say best when it comes to Georges, just about everything he ever done was great The word beauty could have been invented for his music. There isn't enough good things i can say about him. In the 90's i had a Georges Delurue fanzine out, i stated in the magazine, it seems that Georges when he is composing reaches to the heavens above to pick up notes to use. Well i hope he is in heaven now writing music for all the good people there, at least one person listed him on the best composer survey going on now.
Hearing the clips of his music from that movie, what can i say, Georges was really someting, his ability to come up beautiful arraign notes that touch the heart and mind, such deep emotion , really incredible, in his own way he was one of a kind, i really don't want to even say this because Georges WAS A GREAT COMPOSER, GREAT MUSICIAN AND I HEAR A HELL OF A NICE MAN, but if there was one thing i do wish if he had sometimes[being so prolicfic he do if you look at his whole output] used different instruments during his beautiful touching pieces, some people who didn't care for him, wouldn't used the words, it sounds the same, but i course we know the music really was not the same, the instruments and style he used for those very touching pieces were.