Golly, I know, bagby. There's that one, the one he did on atonality in British horror film scores, one on Hammer's psychological thriller films (not just their scores)... and that's just going on my (bad) memory. I really should get these, but every time I hover over an online store I end up getting a stack of CDs instead.
I'm not too keen on these crash bang horror scores but I'll buy it just for Rhapsody For Lucy which sounds just gorgeous.
Yeah, I'll be honest and say that's kinda where I'm at after listening to the sound samples. I like Leigh Phillips composing something original based on James Bernard's theme(s?) better than I like James Bernard's own music, if the samples are representative. For me to get into a horror score in terms of enjoyment, there needs to either be some rhythmic action or (more commonly) some true beauty, like this:
It sounds like Rhapsody for Lucy might just provide that and push me over the edge into a purchase.
Tadlow finally releasing new Dracula recording,25th of October,great news there.Now we are waiting for King of Kings.not far short of a year now and yes,James has had to put his health first,but it will be very welcome to have these at last.
Sorry cock-up on Tadlow web page .... all 3 FRANKENSTEIN samples are the same cue...trying to get corrected for later today ...
They are working properly now. Kudos to James, Leigh, Nic and the orchestra as well as the inestimable David Huckvale for their sterling work on this fang-tastic release. I hope everyone enjoys this CD.
And thanks to you, Mark, for your part in this. Is this your first Associate Producer credit?
Tadlow finally releasing new Dracula recording,25th of October,great news there.Now we are waiting for King of Kings.not far short of a year now and yes,James has had to put his health first,but it will be very welcome to have these at last.
Sorry cock-up on Tadlow web page .... all 3 FRANKENSTEIN samples are the same cue...trying to get corrected for later today ...
They are working properly now. Kudos to James, Leigh, Nic and the orchestra as well as the inestimable David Huckvale for their sterling work on this fang-tastic release. I hope everyone enjoys this CD.
And thanks to you, Mark, for your part in this. Is this your first Associate Producer credit?
Yes.
It's a bit overstated--I provided funding. James graciously included me in on several editorial decisions but really, Nic, James, Leigh, the orchestra, Hammer, Marcus Hearn, David Huckvale did the actual, you know, work.
Check out the exquisite love theme (which richly deserves a better love story!), one of which Bernard was justly proud (and he treats us to many lovely variants of the theme in the course of the score), and which IMHO is one of the most beautiful ever written for the silver screen.
His love theme for SCARS OF DRACULA is also gorgeous. On a related note, you should check out his 'Tooth Concerto' from KISS OF THE VAMPIRE ...
Yes, very pleased with releases needed premiers of how little there was..
Said bfore that Bernard is simple but very effective at work & his dissonance for Hammer films were greats - I get his feel in some films that had like a gothic-resemble that he owned & undeniably his menace for Drac or love of the female was outstanding.
Bernard's engraving was magnificent for Drac 58 it leaves that memorable pinch over further Drac's. The main title is so powerful so clean for build-up yet with a refining energy till its ending.. the end credit was even deeper vision its sweeping its thunderous its full of melodic juices. Lucy's Seduction & Rhapsody are throbbing pieces Bernard's illustration is very simple that echoes or sings romantic orchestration its so easy too listen too, thanks very-much Tadlow & Lee Philips, I bought 2 copies.
Does anyone know if this will be available on Spotify?
I several of Nic Raine's COP recordings are on there already.
Released on Silva or Tadlow?
This one is a Tadlow album - their CDs do end up on Spotify; usually, about 12 months after the physical media has been released. Sometimes, it can take a bit longer as streaming isn’t really a focal point (in which case the albums kind of appear when they appear )
It's here! Popped through the letterbox whilst I was typing posts on the 'other side'. Excellent work. Congratulations to all involved with this great recording. If ever I was glad of a weekday day off!
I'd like to add that I've now listened to this recording three times since I got it, and each time I've topped and tailed the session with Rhapsody for Lucy (Lucie), almost in a Main Title/End Title kind of way. Gorgeous.
I think that this should be the "official music comments" thread for this release rather than the other one of the same name. My copy has just arrived at the window. I won't have time to listen to it until the weekend, but I intend to post my ongoing rabbits right here.
Again, as with Gerald Fried's BIRDS DO IT, BEES DO IT, this is a "first impressions" post. The CD just arrived the other day and I've only had time to sit down and listen to it properly now. I shall add more comments later, much to your mounting nausea.
First impressions - It's very good indeed, very very good.
At the moment I'm giving it a mental 9 outta 10. How mental is that? Why not a 10? Well, it might get there, I don't know yet. It didn't "totally" capture the essence of the films for me, but that's one of the "curses" (ha ha) of having seen each one a hundred times and having the music etched into the brain, or what's left of it.
I'll leave a lot of germinating thoughts for later, after I've heard it again, but first a few questions -
I notice that by combining tracks into longer pieces. almost suites, the Tads have taken an artistic decision. I think it works fine. It helps the flow of the music, but it played havoc with what I thought was my (failing) memory of how the cues appeared in the film. Perhaps it would be better not to have seen the films at all, or at least not to be so familiar with them, because the combining of cues had me thinking, "Oh, so this is after the ten minutes of non-scored dialogue", and it had me perplexed no end. But I'll get used to that.
I said at the beginning that the Tads must have taken the artistic decison to combine tracks for a better listening experience. Was there also a conscious decision taken to "alter" the scores in any way, giving more freedom to Nic Raine to elicit his particular vision of the written scores "as heard" (and sometimes not even that, in the case of the originally deleted cues)? This may seem sort of "So what?" to most, but on first listen I detected some moments which did sound as if they'd been minimally doctored for some reason. In THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN "Justine's Fate" and later part of Track 9 (a combined one - perhaps the sequence is "Final Confrontation"), the music is a standout in the film - there's a recurring moment when the climbing strings and woodwind decoration do a really high flurry which seems more "contained" in the new interpretation. Not sure yet, but it didn't do what I expected it to do.
In DRACULA for instance, apart from the combining of tracks which threw me off but which are fine in order to make a smooth listen, I noticed that, for example, in the Main Title itself, there's a kind of semi-muted introduction to each statement of the "DRA-cu-la" theme, on the first note. In the original recording it's relentless throughout, whereas in this one it's sort of 1% on the border of tentative. It's still great, but it's not as heard in the film. Artistic license? Other moments sound a little off (I mean "different") too, such as after the staking of Lucy. Maybe it's just a case of miking and mixing here.
Anyway, that turned into a rabbit. More will follow. Looking forward to hearing your views.
I listened to CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN all the way through and thought it was magnificent - in fact, the score came across much more powerfully for me on record than it ever has on film. Nothing jumped out as being very different from Bernard's original; and the flowing together of cues gave it more momentum as a musical work.
I've only listened to part of DRACULA (traveling right now, so my time is not all my own), and it seems less faithful to Bernard's original. This is not necessarily a criticism. There are always going to be differences between recordings of orchestral music and part of the joy of being a listener is discovering new takes on the familiar.
Bernard's engraving was magnificent for Drac 58 it leaves that memorable pinch over further Drac's. The main title is so powerful so clean for build-up yet with a refining energy till its ending.. the end credit was even deeper vision its sweeping its thunderous its full of melodic juices. Lucy's Seduction & Rhapsody are throbbing pieces Bernard's illustration is very simple that echoes or sings romantic orchestration its so easy too listen too, thanks very-much Tadlow & Lee Philips, I bought 2 copies. 
