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Posted: |
Dec 21, 2016 - 8:31 AM
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By: |
Grecchus
(Member)
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Hi there, Regie.
Interesting choice. This is, of course, not from the actual film soundtrack. I'm familiar with it in the sense this was from the double LP album, the only source available to me for years before the advent of the CD. It's a perfect example of post film composer blues, where they get to orchestrate what they felt was lacking in style from the time pressed and 'content agreed' scoring sessions, but with the throttle full on THIS time round.
What makes this particular example of note is the power exerted by the mixed choir. It raises the hair on one's head. My favorite aspect is from 2:12, during the climactic blast from both the choir and orchestra, particularly at 2:40 onwards. The actual equivalent scoring from the film is much more 'contained,' and without the inherent exuberance of your example. The film version is, therefore, of a more sobering nature, whereas the album has greater intensity at plateau. We can argue why the film version didn't let rip in the same way for pages and pages. 
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I saw BEN HUR in its premier roadshow presentation, at the Warner Theater in Pittsburgh. I must have been 10 or 11. Incredible experience. Looking back, the element of it that captured me was the re-creation of the Roman world. I just loved that. And the music, where Rozsa created all those fanfares and marches. (I hadn't seen QUO VADIS, and wouldn't, for at least another 5 years. You had to wait for reissues in those days.)
I still love the ending, when Heston says, "And I felt his words take the sword out of my hand." The last words spoken in the film, actually. Then he climbs the stairs to his final redemption, to meet his mother and sister, and the film ends, triumphantly, with the shepherd leading his flock, in front of the, presumably, rising sun of the Dawn of Christianity.
I've never been much of a Christian, actually. But I loved all those religious spectacles back in the 50's and 60's. No one makes anything like them today. Audiences would be unlikely to accept them the way they did then.
Ah well.
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Posted: |
Dec 21, 2016 - 9:42 AM
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By: |
Regie
(Member)
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Hi there, Regie.
Interesting choice. This is, of course, not from the actual film soundtrack. I'm familiar with it in the sense this was from the double LP album, the only source available to me for years before the advent of the CD. It's a perfect example of post film composer blues, where they get to orchestrate what they felt was lacking in style from the time pressed and 'content agreed' scoring sessions, but with the throttle full on THIS time round.
What makes this particular example of note is the power exerted by the mixed choir. It raises the hair on one's head. My favorite aspect is from 2:12, during the climactic blast from both the choir and orchestra, particularly at 2:40 onwards. The actual equivalent scoring from the film is much more 'contained,' and without the inherent exuberance of your example. The film version is, therefore, of a more sobering nature, whereas the album has greater intensity at plateau. We can argue why the film version didn't let rip in the same way for pages and pages.
Yes, it's funny you should say that because the whole thing did seem 'fuller' than what was put in the film. Longer too. But the whole melody - and the use of modality - is very stirring to me and I have the image of that shepherd walking across the shot right at the end. I love it. Of course, as somebody has suggested, the film is heavy going for repeated viewings - but I love the scene "where the beams cross" and the extraordinary, nuanced performance of Boyd. It's the 'chariot race' and the music which bring me back to the film, again and again.
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Posted: |
Dec 21, 2016 - 1:04 PM
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By: |
Howard L
(Member)
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I've been listening repeatedly to this splendid close of the score of this monumental film. It is so terribly evocative, for me, of the experience of seeing it in the cinema when I was only about 10 and the effect of it was overwhelming for me...It was the beginning of a beautiful love affair with cinema.
***
I first saw Ben-Hur when I was ten, in a 1969 theatrical reissue, but I rarely make it to the end these days.
***
A Sunday "Matinee"--With BEN-HUR!
Posted by Howard L on June 23, 1998 at 08:03:06
If you've ever seen Matinee you may recall the scene of Lawrence Woolsey (John Goodman) explaining to teenager Gene (Simon Fenton) all about the magic of movies and making movies. They have just exited a hardware store and begin schmoozing along the downtown streets. Underneath is one of my favorite all-time Goldsmith cues ("Halfway Home" on the audiocassette) which lends the scene a sense of wonder with a touch of melancholy. Finally, the camera becomes a 'character' in tandem with Woolsey's voiceover as they enter the palace, the temple...the theatre.
Sunday afternoon I went to Tampa Theatre. This cinema palace, built in 1926, "during its early days presented extravagant vaudeville shows, concerts by the Theatre Orchestra, and silent films. With the advent of sound pictures in 1929, Tampa Theatre presented all the latest Hollywood 'talkies'." There is an old fashioned balcony in addition to a classic oversized theatre organ. And when the lights go down and the picture comes up, the ceiling is transformed into a starry night with gentle wisps of cloud.
The picture this day was Ben-Hur. After so many years and countless TV viewings, to see it on the big screen at last in all its restored glory...the Ben-Hur theme following the Christ theme in "The Burning Desert," "Friendship," the "Love Theme," and of course the finale--oh that finale--never sounded nor looked this glorious. There emerged a new appreciation and respect for the artistry in the combined elements of film, sound, music, and editing in the "Rowing of the Galley Slaves" scene. The understated performance of the great Sam Jaffe as faithful steward Simonides in the reunion scene with Judah was a revelation. And how the audience cheered after Judah flipped end-over-end and yet miraculously steadied himself while driving the chariot, and how the cheers exploded when Messala finally got his!
Rozsa. Ben-Hur. Helluva day.
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Anyone familiar with Rozsa's FSM output in particular will spot one interesting trend.
Whereas he had masterful confidence in his titles and overtures, Rozsa seems to have often needed multiple attacks at the end sequences. Look how many 'alternative' Finales there are to so many films. Why? Different cuts for undecided directors? Certainly he had more angst over his endings than his entries, see 'Moonfleet'.
Ben-Hur is such. The original Miracle exists now only on the Kunzel Telarc and Decca NPO recordings. We also have alternate cut versions on FSM bonus material, and the album versions.
But NO TWO commercial recordings of this piece are identical. The OST, the Savina, the Kloss Lion, the Hamburg, the NPO London Decca, the Telarc, and the rejected OST sessions of course .... every one unique. Rozsa just couldn't put his palette away on this one, so there is no 'definitive' version.
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Posted: |
Dec 21, 2016 - 8:46 PM
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By: |
Regie
(Member)
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I've been listening repeatedly to this splendid close of the score of this monumental film. It is so terribly evocative, for me, of the experience of seeing it in the cinema when I was only about 10 and the effect of it was overwhelming for me...It was the beginning of a beautiful love affair with cinema.
***
I first saw Ben-Hur when I was ten, in a 1969 theatrical reissue, but I rarely make it to the end these days.
***
A Sunday "Matinee"--With BEN-HUR!
Posted by Howard L on June 23, 1998 at 08:03:06
If you've ever seen Matinee you may recall the scene of Lawrence Woolsey (John Goodman) explaining to teenager Gene (Simon Fenton) all about the magic of movies and making movies. They have just exited a hardware store and begin schmoozing along the downtown streets. Underneath is one of my favorite all-time Goldsmith cues ("Halfway Home" on the audiocassette) which lends the scene a sense of wonder with a touch of melancholy. Finally, the camera becomes a 'character' in tandem with Woolsey's voiceover as they enter the palace, the temple...the theatre.
Sunday afternoon I went to Tampa Theatre. This cinema palace, built in 1926, "during its early days presented extravagant vaudeville shows, concerts by the Theatre Orchestra, and silent films. With the advent of sound pictures in 1929, Tampa Theatre presented all the latest Hollywood 'talkies'." There is an old fashioned balcony in addition to a classic oversized theatre organ. And when the lights go down and the picture comes up, the ceiling is transformed into a starry night with gentle wisps of cloud.
The picture this day was Ben-Hur. After so many years and countless TV viewings, to see it on the big screen at last in all its restored glory...the Ben-Hur theme following the Christ theme in "The Burning Desert," "Friendship," the "Love Theme," and of course the finale--oh that finale--never sounded nor looked this glorious. There emerged a new appreciation and respect for the artistry in the combined elements of film, sound, music, and editing in the "Rowing of the Galley Slaves" scene. The understated performance of the great Sam Jaffe as faithful steward Simonides in the reunion scene with Judah was a revelation. And how the audience cheered after Judah flipped end-over-end and yet miraculously steadied himself while driving the chariot, and how the cheers exploded when Messala finally got his!
Rozsa. Ben-Hur. Helluva day.
Joy!! Thank you very much for sharing again. That Chariot Race continues to stagger me; amazing editing and fabulous cinematography. And the use of sound as a powerful adjunct. It actually quite closely resembles Fred Niblo's (silent) treatment from, I think, 1924 - when several horses were killed. That's really a very good film!!
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