Film Score Monthly
FSM HOME MESSAGE BOARD FSM CDs FSM ONLINE RESOURCES FUN STUFF ABOUT US  SEARCH FSM   
Search Terms: 
Search Within:   search tips 
You must log in or register to post.
  Go to page:    
 
 Posted:   Mar 3, 2007 - 8:31 PM   
 By:   rozsafan   (Member)

I have a copy of The Criterion "Spellbound"
and it has music written specifically for the
firtst run of the film - an overture and
exit music. Can someone tell me if these two
pieces were recorded by Intrada for their
impending release? Thanks!

 
 
 Posted:   Mar 3, 2007 - 8:33 PM   
 By:   Bond1965   (Member)

You might get a quicker response by posting at Intrada's forum:

http://www.intrada.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=4&sid=8df0b2ae5bd606a007a257ecd7b5bd7a

James

 
 Posted:   Mar 4, 2007 - 9:06 AM   
 By:   doug raynes   (Member)

I have a copy of The Criterion "Spellbound"
and it has music written specifically for the
firtst run of the film - an overture and
exit music. Can someone tell me if these two
pieces were recorded by Intrada for their
impending release? Thanks!


I don't know whether Intrada recorded these pieces but I don't think Rozsa wrote an "Overture" for Spellbound. The "Overture" on the Criterion DVD as well as later pressings of the Anchor Bay DVD is obviously a cut and paste job taken from the music track. The "Exit Music" is a three minute orchestral version of the "Spellbound Concerto". I'm not sure where this particular recording of the Concerto originated and I don't think it's available on disc. So perhaps this was indeed recorded by Rozsa as "Exit Music".

 
 
 Posted:   Mar 4, 2007 - 11:14 AM   
 By:   joec   (Member)



I don't know whether Intrada recorded these pieces but I don't think Rozsa wrote an "Overture" for Spellbound. The "Overture" on the Criterion DVD as well as later pressings of the Anchor Bay DVD is obviously a cut and paste job taken from the music track. The "Exit Music" is a three minute orchestral version of the "Spellbound Concerto". I'm not sure where this particular recording of the Concerto originated and I don't think it's available on disc. So perhaps this was indeed recorded by Rozsa as "Exit Music".


According to the notes contained within the Criterion SPELLBOUND DVD both Overture & exit music were specially created.

I quote:

" Selznick had entrance and exit music prepared for the premieres of many of his most famous films. While it is unlikely that such overtures and exit music would have been heard outside of the premiere at first run theaters in major cities, they do survive. Restorer Scott MacQueen has discovered and restored the extra music for a number of Selznick classics including SINCE YOU WENT AWAY, THE WILD HEART and DUEL IN THE SUN (with 2 overtures). According to MacQueen, the overture and exit music to SPELLBOUND appear to be original arrangements, unique cues, and not simply lifts from the underscore as the DUEL IN THE SUN and WILD HEART overtures are. Criterion is grateful to MR. MacQueen for finding and restoring this valuable material and we are proud to present it here for the first time in any home video format."

 
 Posted:   Mar 4, 2007 - 12:22 PM   
 By:   doug raynes   (Member)

I don't buy that. You've only got to listen to the "Overture" to hear cues from the film fade in and out. There's no way that Rozsa would compose such a piece.

 
 
 Posted:   Mar 4, 2007 - 1:54 PM   
 By:   joec   (Member)

I don't buy that. You've only got to listen to the "Overture" to hear cues from the film fade in and out. There's no way that Rozsa would compose such a piece.

Therefore Scott McQueen and Criterion are misleading owners of the DVD...??

 
 
 Posted:   Mar 4, 2007 - 2:22 PM   
 By:   Rozsaphile   (Member)

The overture, however it may have been constructed, certainly survives on some prints -- notably at the Museum of Modern Art, which is where I first learned of it.

As most people know, there's a new book by Jack Sullivan called Hitchcock's Music. The Spellbound chapter is based on original research in the Selznick archives. Since the book came out after the Bratislava recording was made, it will be interesting to see how Intrada's editing choices dovetail with Sullivan's account.

 
 Posted:   Mar 4, 2007 - 2:55 PM   
 By:   doug raynes   (Member)

Unfortunately Sullivan says nothing in his book about the Overture or Exit Music.

 
 
 Posted:   Mar 4, 2007 - 4:28 PM   
 By:   TomD   (Member)

I agree with Doug. They are audibly cut and paste jobs. Also, I cataloged the score for Spellbound at the University of Texas, and there are no written scores for an overture or exit music.

 
 
 Posted:   Mar 4, 2007 - 7:47 PM   
 By:   Rednose Rudy   (Member)

And neither was recorded at the sessions last November for that same reason.

 
 
 Posted:   Mar 4, 2007 - 8:04 PM   
 By:   manderley   (Member)

These are likely assembled by Selznick and his editor from alternate, originally recorded takes, probably long after Rozsa had left the project.

I don't have the original radio discs Selznick assembled from the score (not the ARA re-recording), could these pieces come from those masters?

 
 Posted:   Mar 4, 2007 - 9:10 PM   
 By:   doug raynes   (Member)


I don't have the original radio discs Selznick assembled from the score (not the ARA re-recording), could these pieces come from those masters?


The 13 minute transcription disc used for radio broadcasts is on the UK Flapper CD. I've just had a listen to it again. The Overture on the Criterion DVD, consists of the Scherzo, Love Theme and End Title but is not taken from the transcription disc. However the Concerto on the Exit Music DOES come from the transcription disc.

 
 
 Posted:   Mar 4, 2007 - 9:42 PM   
 By:   The_Mark_of_Score-O   (Member)

" Selznick had entrance and exit music prepared for the premieres of many of his most famous films. While it is unlikely that such overtures and exit music would have been heard outside of the premiere at first run theaters in major cities, they do survive. Restorer Scott McQueen has discovered and restored the extra music for a number of Selznick classics including SINCE YOU WENT AWAY, THE WILD HEART and DUEL IN THE SUN (with 2 overtures). According to McQueen, the overture and exit music to SPELLBOUND appear to be original arrangements, unique cues, and not simply lifts from the underscore as the DUEL IN THE SUN and WILD HEART overtures are. Criterion is grateful to MR. Mcqueen for finding and restoring this valuable material and we are proud to present it here for the first time in any home video format."

Well, if that's what Criterion's notes say, verbatim, the fact that they couldn't even spell Scott MacQueen's name right opens everything else asserted therein to scrutiny and skepticism.

 
 
 Posted:   Mar 4, 2007 - 11:02 PM   
 By:   joec   (Member)

[startquote

Well, if that's what Criterion's notes say, verbatim, the fact that they couldn't even spell Scott MacQueen's name right opens everything else asserted therein to scrutiny and skepticism.

Sorry my typing is not up to your standards, but Criterion has the correct spelling, MacQueen.

BTW, your sarcasm is unnecessary and does not add to the discussion at hand.


 
 
 Posted:   Mar 5, 2007 - 12:39 AM   
 By:   The_Mark_of_Score-O   (Member)

Do you mean that the above correctly quotes Criterion's text, or that Criterion's text spelling Scott's name "McQueen" is correct? Scott's surname is "MacQueen, not "McQueen." He is a friend of mine; I may not be privy to his innermost secrets, but I do know how he prefers to be addressed.

The chief point is, however, that inattention to detail, however peripheral, reflects on the quality of the entire body of a work, regardless of the product in question -- something that indifferent news organizations, and Detroit's automakers, have found out, to the regret of both.

 
 
 Posted:   Mar 8, 2007 - 12:25 AM   
 By:   dcfake   (Member)

I have a copy of The Criterion "Spellbound"
and it has music written specifically for the
firtst run of the film - an overture and
exit music. Can someone tell me if these two
pieces were recorded by Intrada for their
impending release? Thanks!


Our liner notes address this question. According to Rozsa's own scores (plus the Selznick archives paperwork) there was NEVER an Overture or Exit piece written for SPELLBOUND. After the scoring sessions, Rozsa did record a lengthy suite of his primary themes in a piece he called the "Spellbound Transcription". Intended for a variety of radio and promotional purposes, it was recorded in several segments. He also recorded an early orchestra-only version of his concerto, later re-working it as his more-famous "Spellbound Concerto" for piano and orchestra. Somehow, over the years, various edits and assemblies of these early pieces have become identified as the Overture and Exit sequences. If theatrical screenings in 1945 used these edits for that purpose, they were none-the-less assemblies made from the transcription and concerto recordings done right after the scoring sessions, and not actually composed and recorded by Rozsa for that purpose.
--Doug

 
 Posted:   Mar 8, 2007 - 8:56 PM   
 By:   Ron Pulliam   (Member)

Do you mean that the above correctly quotes Criterion's text, or that Criterion's text spelling Scott's name "McQueen" is correct? Scott's surname is "MacQueen, not "McQueen." He is a friend of mine; I may not be privy to his innermost secrets, but I do know how he prefers to be addressed.

The chief point is, however, that inattention to detail, however peripheral, reflects on the quality of the entire body of a work, regardless of the product in question -- something that indifferent news organizations, and Detroit's automakers, have found out, to the regret of both.



I think he clarified that the spelling in the Criterion text was the "correct spelling" (i.e., MacQueen) and that it was his typing that was at fault.

If I can comprehend that without effort, I'm certain that -- with effort -- you can.

 
 Posted:   Mar 8, 2007 - 9:02 PM   
 By:   Ron Pulliam   (Member)



Mark_of_Score-O: Well, if that's what Criterion's notes say, verbatim, the fact that they couldn't even spell Scott MacQueen's name right opens everything else asserted therein to scrutiny and skepticism

Joe C: Sorry my typing is not up to your standards, but Criterion has the correct spelling, MacQueen.

BTW, your sarcasm is unnecessary and does not add to the discussion at hand.


It's part of the Score_O experience.

 
 
 Posted:   Mar 8, 2007 - 9:56 PM   
 By:   Koji   (Member)

>>>>He is a friend of mine;

I would love to know what HIS take is on the above statement...

 
 Posted:   Mar 9, 2007 - 12:24 AM   
 By:   SheriffJoe   (Member)

Thanks Doug, for the clarification. I don't personally own much Rosza, but seeing as the composer whose music I love and admire most was...ummm....spellbound...by this Rosza score, I definitely intend to get it!!

Joe

 
You must log in or register to post.
  Go to page:    
© 2025 Film Score Monthly. All Rights Reserved.
Website maintained and powered by Veraprise and Matrimont.