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You can get a copy of the cd via www.amazon.co.uk. It was released by Sony Classical in 2000. Although I do not have the soundtrack, I do have the 2-tape video in VHS format.
Some of the cues are reminiscent of BILLION DOLLAR BRAIN and NICHOLAS AND ALEXANDRA. Bennett was also influenced by Arvo Part and Gorecki in others.
The track listings I got off of the Amazon site.
Track Listings
1. Song of titus
2. Celebration
3. Cat room
4. Burning the library
5. The christening
6. Fuchsia & Steerpike
7. The sisters
8. Fuchsia & lord groan
9. The madness of lord groan
10. The death of swelter
11. The earling
12. Keda
13. The sisters in prison
14. Freedom
15. In the forest
16. Irma's romance
17. The carver's ceremony
18. The death of barquentine
19. The red room
20. Sarabande for the sisters
21. Ceremony in the rain
22. The death of steerpike
23. Fuschia's funeral
24. Farewell to Gormenghast
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As a huge (and I mean huge) fan of adventure and fantasy scores I recently stumbled upon the BBC movie of Gormenghast, with the music of Richard Rodney Bennett. While the movie never was shown here in germany, I love the book by Mervyn Peake.
Naturally, I'm wondering about the music. Could anyone describe it somehow? What style is it? Is it comparable to other Bennetts (e.g. Far from the Madding Crowd)? Is it worth looking for?.
I have it. Its a nice, full, traditional orchestral score. Not unlike Far From The Madding Crowd but less "folky", and with a more epic sound.
I do think the album drags a bit in places but there is some wonderful music on it.
The main title in particular is terrific, featuring a boy soprano with lyrics by Mervyn Peake.
There's also a few tracks of choral music by John Tavener (not written for the production) which are also nice.
In short, I highly reccomend it.
How I wish Bennett would score a Harry Potter film!
Paul
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The opening choral cue, "Song of Titus," is unspeakably gorgeous. The rest of the album is nice too.
And on a related note, is there any piece of music more heartbreaking than Alfred Newman's Diary of Anne Frank theme? Just curious.
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"my heart owes a debt to superglue."
Heath, maybe sniffing too much, eh?
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It's listed but unfortunately discontinued. You all made me very curious. I'll check the BBC homepage if they got further information. It seems rather fasr OOP, being released in 2000.... Sony Classical is not a very small label either.
If you read a little further down, used copies can be obtained of this title from Amazon's dealers. If you want it new, the best bet is to buy it directly from Sony via their website, or go to a retailer and see if they can order it for you.
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I'm a Bennett fan and tried to get this CD but always found the price too high. A couple of years ago I found one reasonably priced on Amazon UK. I just checked, and they still have copies at a good price.
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Man, do I wish there was more RR Bennett music available. I'm thinking of writing a series of columns on my favorite composers, and he makes the list mostly due to Orient Express, Far from the Madding Crowd (one of the half dozen most gorgeous movie themes ever) and Billion Dollar Brain.
I was going to post about how beautiful "Song of Titus" is but I see that I did that years ago.
Never seen the actual TV movie/miniseries, though.
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