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 Posted:   Jan 27, 2025 - 5:12 PM   
 By:   edwzoomom   (Member)

Today I decided to pick a few random scores to listen to and it really opened my eyes to some lovely releases that have been off my radar for too long. First I chose Firelight by Christopher Gunning. This is a gorgeous score by a kind man who responded to an email I sent him back in 2013. I was longing to see if there would ever be a full release of his score to the 1997 miniseries Rebecca. I found his email address on his website and wrote him on a whim. I received the following lovely response:

Dear Eileen



I'm sorry to say the only commercial release of my music from "Rebecca" is the

piece included in the Chandos CD you already have. It is expensive to release

CDs - the musicians have to be paid special fees, and then there are the

manufacturing and design costs, so in practice releases only happen if there is

a more or less guaranteed return. If it were a cinema film, a release would be

easier, but Rebecca was made for TV, and showings are not frequent.



It's possible something might happen in the future but I'm afraid for now you'll

have to make do with Chandos.



Thanks so much for your enquiry. It's lovely to know my music is appreciated.

With best wishes,



Christopher

I've copied it exactly as he typed it. I was so touched that he would respond so quickly and so kindly. Of course, I wrote back to him and thanked him profusely. How thrilled I was when the full score to Rebecca was released in 2015 by Caldera. I was very saddened by his death in 2023.

 
 
 Posted:   Jan 27, 2025 - 11:48 PM   
 By:   Thor   (Member)

Wish I had the time to do those "random score" things; I used to do them a lot back in the day. There was a period I loved to click "random track" in my iTunes as well. Was usually fun for the first few tracks, then it became annoying.

But yes, Gunning was a gem, both as a person and as a composer. FIRELIGHT was one of the earliest of his I ever got (annoyingly traded off, it seems, per the other thread....because it's fantastically lovely). REBECCA was a nice surprise from Caldera too. But my favourite remains the KARAOKE/COLD LAZARUS disc - that was THE first Gunning I ever got, and thankfully still in my collection. POIROT, POLLYANNA (also on Caldera), WHEN THE WHALES CAME and WILD AFRICA are other favs by him.

 
 
 Posted:   Jan 28, 2025 - 12:38 AM   
 By:   Dorian   (Member)

I love Christopher Gunning's music and it's great to read such a warm and nice message from the composer too.

I think my all-time favorite Gunning score is THE BIG BATTALIONS but I agree that FIRELIGHT is also wonderful. I will check out REBECCA which I have not heard yet.

 
 
 Posted:   Jan 28, 2025 - 4:51 AM   
 By:   BasilDowl   (Member)

Big fan of Wild Africa, it's a gorgeous thing.

 
 Posted:   Jan 28, 2025 - 5:16 AM   
 By:   Nicolai P. Zwar   (Member)

I have in my car a USB stick with around 300+ albums; some of these albums I haven't yet heard. When I drive, sometimes I have the music set to shuffle all tracks, and then I just try to guess what the music is that's playing. Obviously, that's easy when I know the music well, but it's trickier when it's something I don't yet know. Sometimes, it's also a short cue and I think "dang, I KNOW what this is... but can't think of it right away"... then I have to guess it before the cue is over, or I lose. Just a game I play with myself sometimes when driving.

And sometimes I come across a cue and think, hey, that's just the right music for now... and then I play the entire album.

Interestingly enough, I do have the Chandos Christopher Gunning album... but have not yet listened to it

 
 
 Posted:   Jan 28, 2025 - 5:47 AM   
 By:   Hurdy Gurdy   (Member)

Cool story, edw.
It reminds me of the two times I wrote to film composers way back when.
Cliff Eidelman, telling him how much I loved his music in LEAP OF FAITH (and otherwise/in general) and bemoaning the lack of score release of it in any format.
And David Newman, likewise gushing over his music in MIGHTY DUCKS (and other stuff) and also bemoaning a lack of score release.
On both occasions, they wrote back with a nice letter of thanks AND!!!
Cliff included a tape with the letter containing the 15-20 minutes of music from LEAP OF FAITH and David sent me a bloody big box full of tapes containing many of his unreleased scores (still unreleased to this day), including MIGHTY DUCKS.
And another box full of scores not long after I had mailed a Xmas card to him wishing him all the best.
I love their music anyway, but acts like that just elevates things so much on a personal level.

And cos I'm old school, I'm digging out and replaying random scores all the time (and usually talking to myself about it on here).

 
 
 Posted:   Jan 28, 2025 - 6:57 AM   
 By:   Prince Damian   (Member)

I listen , kev. I just don't tell you I am.
And I keep getting tempted to buy some of Gunning's symphonies etc. I await a decent price ( drop) for them, though.

 
 
 Posted:   Jan 28, 2025 - 7:47 AM   
 By:   joan hue   (Member)

Wow Edw, thanks for sharing his e mail. So glad he responded. I have only e mailed one composer who is Peter Bernstein. I thanked him for his father's biography. I also asked if his father's rejected score A River Runs Through It could ever be released.


Sadly, I never received a response.

 
 Posted:   Jan 28, 2025 - 8:49 AM   
 By:   Nicolai P. Zwar   (Member)

Well, I just listened to Christopher Gunning's suite from Rebecca, it's really beautiful. Now I'll make that Chandos album tonight's listening. :-)

 
 
 Posted:   Jan 28, 2025 - 11:18 AM   
 By:   edwzoomom   (Member)

Wow, lots of love for Christopher Gunning and random scores. I have a fellow FSM member to thank for introducing me to Wild Africa. Years ago, I believe it was in a discussion of When the Whales Came, Wild Africa was referenced. I am probably wrong about the exact situation but I was contacted by a fellow member who offered me a copy of the legitimate 2001 BBC release of Wild Africa that he owned. I was thrilled and it arrived some time later. I still cherish it to this day. That kind person was Paul Ettinger and if you're reading this Paul, thank you again. I don't see Paul posting lately and would love to se him comment here.

I'm going to continue this thread - today's random score was One Night With the King by J.A.C Redford. This is another lovely score that I came upon through discussion here. I have had two lucky listening days.

 
 
 Posted:   Jan 28, 2025 - 5:08 PM   
 By:   TerraEpon   (Member)

Pretty much all of my listening of stuff I buy after the first three listens is random. Both album-wise and individual 'good' track-wise.
I would never be able to decide what to listen to otherwise and would for sure favor a small selection of stuff and never go back to anything else.
Dunno how anyone else does it, really.

 
 
 Posted:   Jan 28, 2025 - 5:10 PM   
 By:   TerraEpon   (Member)

I have in my car a USB stick with around 300+ albums; some of these albums I haven't yet heard. When I drive, sometimes I have the music set to shuffle all tracks, and then I just try to guess what the music is that's playing. Obviously, that's easy when I know the music well, but it's trickier when it's something I don't yet know. Sometimes, it's also a short cue and I think "dang, I KNOW what this is... but can't think of it right away"... then I have to guess it before the cue is over, or I lose. Just a game I play with myself sometimes when driving.


Heh, I play this game too. Sometimes I know exactly what it is, other times I try and guess the composer based on type of music/style/whathaveyou and it's quite often I would look at the result and realize I'd never be able to figure it out....
It's a fun game.

 
 
 Posted:   Jan 29, 2025 - 1:09 AM   
 By:   Thor   (Member)

I'm going to continue this thread - today's random score was One Night With the King by J.A.C Redford. This is another lovely score that I came upon through discussion here. I have had two lucky listening days.

Also a fine score by the underrated Redford.

Incidentially, I think our Australian member Rick15 has a thread much like this, where he - with irregular intervals - bumps the thread with a new score from his collection, chosen by a random generator. I forget its link, maybe he can help.

 
 Posted:   Jan 30, 2025 - 1:17 PM   
 By:   Paul Ettinger   (Member)

Hello Eileen,

Thank you for the kind words. I do remember you and think of you often.
Rumors of my demise are exaggerated but not GREATLY exaggerated. I did have a heart attack last year but unlike CONAN, that which did not kill did not make me stronger. A little bit weaker truth be told but its early days and I expect to fully rebound.
I still post here infrequently but we must have missed the common threads that caught our mutual interests.
I'll see if your old email address is still active.

Paul

 
 
 Posted:   Jan 30, 2025 - 5:05 PM   
 By:   edwzoomom   (Member)

Hello Eileen,

Thank you for the kind words. I do remember you and think of you often.
Rumors of my demise are exaggerated but not GREATLY exaggerated. I did have a heart attack last year but unlike CONAN, that which did not kill did not make me stronger. A little bit weaker truth be told but its early days and I expect to fully rebound.
I still post here infrequently but we must have missed the common threads that caught our mutual interests.
I'll see if your old email address is still active.

Paul


Hello Paul, I'm sorry to hear about your health problems but am very happy to hear from you. I'm sure that we're all happy to hear that you're on the mend and getting stronger. I still can't thank you enough for the copy of Wild Africa and for introducing me to Jonathan Elias. The Prayer Cycle and American River are two of my favorites to listen to. Please take care and hope to see you here more often.

 
 
 Posted:   Feb 4, 2025 - 3:22 PM   
 By:   edwzoomom   (Member)

Today's random score was Bruce Broughton's Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed this score. I had plenty of time to do some listening today so I followed-up with Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco which was equally pleasing. It's probably been 5 years since I've played these.

 
 
 Posted:   Feb 7, 2025 - 10:23 AM   
 By:   edwzoomom   (Member)

Today's random score is Goldsmith's Night Crossing. What a beautiful score. I am finding my self hovering around the G's in my cd storage case.

 
 
 Posted:   Feb 7, 2025 - 12:26 PM   
 By:   joan hue   (Member)

Love Night Crossing, especially the cue called First Flight!

 
 Posted:   Feb 7, 2025 - 1:07 PM   
 By:   Sean Nethery   (Member)

Who is this Eileen people are going on about? This is clearly Edwina's thread! wink

Boy, I haven't listened to those last three scores in a looonngg time - gotta rectify that!

 
 
 Posted:   Feb 7, 2025 - 7:07 PM   
 By:   edwzoomom   (Member)

Who is this Eileen people are going on about? This is clearly Edwina's thread! wink

Boy, I haven't listened to those last three scores in a looonngg time - gotta rectify that!


Yes, you do need to rectify that. Btw, I doubt ANYONE is going on about someone with that pseudonym. The name’s Edwina officially. smile

 
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