I've already stated my enthusiasm and hopes for this release on the other bumped threads, so I'll just comment on what paul alluded to earlier -
Yes, James Bernard said a few times that he often got a "handle" on the theme just by using the syllables in the title. "DRA-cu-la" is the obvious and most famous example (he seems to have even - inadvertantly? - continued the theme by incorporating the US title - "DRA-cu-la... HOR-ROR of DRA-cu-la".
I hear it in the grim, foreboding Main Titles of "The Curse Of Frank-en-stein" too. Might be a fluke.
Then I wondered what his inspiration for SHE was, if he was basing it on the title alone. A one-note theme? A single chord? Then I thought about the "Processional" music, which is based around the 6-note horn fanfare...
SHE Who Must Be Ob-EYED Must Be Ob-EYED She Must Be Ob-EYED
That's in an ascending scale. It's repeated "syllable by syllable" in the second part, but clambering downwards. Works for me anyway.
No chorus - just string orch, cimbalom, and Lucie :-)
Wait -- there's CIMBALOM in this score? Oh, man...I already try to buy all Tadlow releases but now I guess I've really gotta prioritize this, since the cimbalom in film scores is a musical fetish of mine.
Yavar
C'mon, Yavar, two classic James Bernard scores in an excellent new recording? You should prioritize this release anyway, cimbalom fetish regardless!...
Ohhhh...so it's *you* who also has a cimbalom fetish, then!
Still, I'm dying to hear this piece now.
Yavar
Not guilty!! James gave me the line up via email - he asked if I could prep a solo based on the Dracula theme.....I thought it was a great idea, but then remembered that the theme was, essentially, 3 notes. I think I did ok, under the circumstances x-p
C'mon, Yavar, two classic James Bernard scores in an excellent new recording? You should prioritize this release anyway, cimbalom fetish regardless!...
I must confess to being generally unfamiliar with Bernard's work, because of my general lack of familiarity with the horror genre. I've seen the classic Universals, and remember The Wolfman in particular. But my father who instilled a love of the Golden Age with all his VHS recordings off TCM and AMC and the Disney Channel and such... he was much more into swashbucklers and westerns, with the occasional epic and other film thrown in. So I don't have a nostalgic love of Golden Age horror scores like many here possess.
Curse of Frankenstein also sounds great, especially the English string writing that calls to mind Vaughan Williams or Warlock and the like. I'm really excited for everyone to finally get a chance to hear these terrific scores. I hope you'll decide they were worth the wait and support them to boost the chances of additional recordings.
Curse of Frankenstein also sounds great, especially the English string writing that calls to mind Vaughan Williams or Warlock and the like. I'm really excited for everyone to finally get a chance to hear these terrific scores. I hope you'll decide they were worth the wait and support them to boost the chances of additional recordings.[/
Sounds good ! Your last sentence also gives me hope that the Tadlow name will continue to produce new recordings of old scores into 2020.
It may seem trivial, but I'm glad that Tadlow seems to be using the original artwork from the films themselves for this release. I think it looks a lot classier than the mock-ups created for some of their previous releases (probably done due to image rights or something? I'm no expert on anything).
I've always been a great admirer of artwork, especially when it jumped out at you BIG on LPs. But on CDs it also makes a difference. Looking forward very much indeed to this. I'm fairly sure it'll sound great, but looking great is an added bonus.
It may seem trivial, but I'm glad that Tadlow seems to be using the original artwork from the films themselves for this release. I think it looks a lot classier than the mock-ups created for some of their previous releases (probably done due to image rights or something? I'm no expert on anything).
I've always been a great admirer of artwork, especially when it jumped out at you BIG on LPs. But on CDs it also makes a difference. Looking forward very much indeed to this. I'm fairly sure it'll sound great, but looking great is an added bonus.
Like the logo for Dracula, but prefer the Cushing pic, one of my favourites of him in character.
C'mon, Yavar, two classic James Bernard scores in an excellent new recording? You should prioritize this release anyway, cimbalom fetish regardless!...
I must confess to being generally unfamiliar with Bernard's work, because of my general lack of familiarity with the horror genre. I've seen the classic Universals, and remember The Wolfman in particular. But my father who instilled a love of the Golden Age with all his VHS recordings off TCM and AMC and the Disney Channel and such... he was much more into swashbucklers and westerns, with the occasional epic and other film thrown in. So I don't have a nostalgic love of Golden Age horror scores like many here possess.
Yavar
As a pre-teen I was allowed to stay up late on Fridays to see the Universals on tv, in my parents knowledge that while spooky still, they were tame in the scare stakes by the late sixties/early seventies. But without realising along came a Hammer - in this case Brides of Dracula - without any break in between that and the previous week's Universal film. Talk about shock! I wasn't scared while watching the movie, more absorbed. But straight after I wouldn't go upstairs on my own!
When I became fully aware of the Hammers after that I did actually feel they had less class than the Universals, except for the casting of Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. Cushing's exceptionally benign presence as hero was especially impressive due in part to his dedicated performances. They fairly quickly got me into the Hammer films and have loved 'em ever since. One thing both the Universal and Hammer Frankenstein and Dracula series share, is that annoying lack of continuity throughout the series!
I've already stated my enthusiasm and hopes for this release on the other bumped threads, so I'll just comment on what paul alluded to earlier -
Yes, James Bernard said a few times that he often got a "handle" on the theme just by using the syllables in the title. "DRA-cu-la" is the obvious and most famous example (he seems to have even - inadvertantly? - continued the theme by incorporating the US title - "DRA-cu-la... HOR-ROR of DRA-cu-la".
I hear it in the grim, foreboding Main Titles of "The Curse Of Frank-en-stein" too. Might be a fluke.
Then I wondered what his inspiration for SHE was, if he was basing it on the title alone. A one-note theme? A single chord? Then I thought about the "Processional" music, which is based around the 6-note horn fanfare...
SHE Who Must Be Ob-EYED Must Be Ob-EYED She Must Be Ob-EYED
That's in an ascending scale. It's repeated "syllable by syllable" in the second part, but clambering downwards. Works for me anyway.
He did it again with his score for the silent version of NOSFERATU (NOS-fer-aaaaaaa-tu...). Hey if John Williams could do it for SUPERMAN why not?
Going further off topic, reminds me of Richard Rodney Bennett coming up with his Murder on the Orient Express theme by singing the title - of course, he was a singer and songwriter too, so that's a bit different. But there's no vocal version of this one, as far as I know.
I see that David Huckvale has contributed to the booklet. I'm ashamed to admit that I have none of his published works. And I call myself a Hammer Horror fan.
But, if I can redeem myself just a little bit, I HAVE seen some of his contributions about music in Hammer films on YouTube (yeah)! Did they originally appear as extras on the BluRays? I haven't got any BluRays (hangs head in shame again).
The imdb lists the following, among many other Hammers - I'll mention the ones I've seen (or "seem to recall" seeing) -
"The Making of The Devil Rides Out", "The Making of The Mummy's Shroud" (although I was sure I'd also seen one on the original The Mummy), and - of most interest to us awaiting the Tadlow - "Frankenstein Reborn - The Making of a Hammer Classic". I do remember seeing that one. Directed by Marcus Hearn with contributions from authorities such as Jonathan Rigby. I remember Melvyn Hayes appearing too as an interviewee. And David Huckvale's contributions to all were marvellous.
So, were these originally done for the BluRays? Are they floating around somewhere on the net where we can watch them again? And was there one for Dracula? That's missing from the imdb list.
I see that David Huckvale has contributed to the booklet. I'm ashamed to admit that I have none of his published works. And I call myself a Hammer Horror fan.
But, if I can redeem myself just a little bit, I HAVE seen some of his contributions about music in Hammer films on YouTube (yeah)! Did they originally appear as extras on the BluRays? I haven't got any BluRays (hangs head in shame again).
The imdb lists the following, among many other Hammers - I'll mention the ones I've seen (or "seem to recall" seeing) -
"The Making of The Devil Rides Out", "The Making of The Mummy's Shroud" (although I was sure I'd also seen one on the original The Mummy), and - of most interest to us awaiting the Tadlow - "Frankenstein Reborn - The Making of a Hammer Classic". I do remember seeing that one. Directed by Marcus Hearn with contributions from authorities such as Jonathan Rigby. I remember Melvyn Hayes appearing too as an interviewee. And David Huckvale's contributions to all were marvellous.
So, were these originally done for the BluRays? Are they floating around somewhere on the net where we can watch them again? And was there one for Dracula? That's missing from the imdb list.
David Huckvale wrote the liner notes with his usual aplomb.
It's my understanding the featurettes were indeed done for the expanded Blu-Rays. They were up on Youtube but a copyright claim got them yanked. There were several on the 3-disc Region 2 set of Dracula, currently only £10 online. Click the 'Back' link for a scan of the contents on the disc.
This is a good set if you have a region free player or live in Europe. There were (justifiable) criticisms of the color balance on the restored expanded version, which incorporates a few shots from a damaged (later restored) Japanese print. There's also another expanded Blu Ray from Germany that has a few more frames from the British restoration but alas the color is still an issue. The Warners Blu Ray uses the British restoration with a slight tweak to the color (better) at the expense of higher contrast and darker shadows (unfortunate). Important: the Warners Blu Ray is bare bones with NO extra features to speak of.
Thanks bagby. I had a look at the back cover and although they mention two different "audio" commentaries feauturing Marcus Hearn and Jonathan Rigby, there's no mention of an extra filmed featurette with David Huckvale. And yet, now I think about it, I wonder if I actually did see that on YT before it was pulled.
I recall Mr Huckvale talking about the tritone, the "Devil's music" in the score... or am I thinking of the one he did for THE DEVIL RIDES OUT...? Whatever, he was immaculately dressed.
As a side note, I have here a publication which I got way back in about 1996. It's an 87-page study published in "Staccato", which is/was the name of a Spanish-based film music society's journal. "Drácula: Un Mito en el Cine - Música para un Vampiro - Triángulo analítico formado por la música de James Bernard, John Williams y Wojciech Kilar". James Bernard's score for DRACULA takes up about a third of the pages, and it's all quite brainy stuff, with proper musical analysis and stuff. Lots of examples of music notation too, and musical terminology. I learned a lot about minor harmonic scales, and even the Magyar scale - which is apparently attributed to Hungarian gypsies. I felt quite brainy m'self after reading all that, and it wisnae even in ma ain language, mon!
But I'm sure Mr Huckvale is just as brainy as the blokes wot wrote that journal, and very probably better dressed too.
Thanks bagby. I had a look at the back cover and although they mention two different "audio" commentaries feauturing Marcus Hearn and Jonathan Rigby, there's no mention of an extra filmed featurette with David Huckvale. And yet, now I think about it, I wonder if I actually did see that on YT before it was pulled.
I recall Mr Huckvale talking about the tritone, the "Devil's music" in the score... or am I thinking of the one he did for THE DEVIL RIDES OUT...? Whatever, he was immaculately dressed.
As a side note, I have here a publication which I got way back in about 1996. It's an 87-page study published in "Staccato", which is/was the name of a Spanish-based film music society's journal. "Drácula: Un Mito en el Cine - Música para un Vampiro - Triángulo analítico formado por la música de James Bernard, John Williams y Wojciech Kilar". James Bernard's score for DRACULA takes up about a third of the pages, and it's all quite brainy stuff, with proper musical analysis and stuff. Lots of examples of music notation too, and musical terminology. I learned a lot about minor harmonic scales, and even the Magyar scale - which is apparently attributed to Hungarian gypsies. I felt quite brainy m'self after reading all that, and it wisnae even in ma ain language, mon!
But I'm sure Mr Huckvale is just as brainy as the blokes that wrote that journal, and very probably better dressed too.
David wrote an entire book biography/analysis of James Bernard and there's quite a lot on his Dracula scores, as the title indicates.
