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| CD Reviews: The Agony and the Ecstasy and The Adventures of Mark Twain |
| Posted By: Andrew Granade, Darren MacDonald on May 10, 2005 - 10:00 PM |
CD Reviews: The Agony and the Ecstasy and The Adventures of Mark
Twain
The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965) *****
ALEX NORTH
Varèse Sarabande VCL 1104 1032
21 tracks - 62:18
If you were to ask people with some knowledge of film music to name one
score composed by Alex North, the near-universal response would be his
rejected score to 2001. Even
with last year's furor over Gabriel Yared's rejected score for Troy, North's original music for
Kubrick's space odyssey remains the best known and most celebrated (in
the most ironic sense of that word possible) rejected score of all
time. It is a shame that North's name, and consequently his music, are
saddled with that stigma. He was a pioneering composer, knowledgeable
and able to work in a wide range of musical styles, from modernist
atonality to Renaissance dances. Heck, the guy even wrote "Unchained
Melody."
Hopefully Varèse's limited deluxe edition of North's score for The Agony and the Ecstasy will
erase the 2001 stigma from
some people's minds. North wrote some of his most beautiful and direct
music for the acclaimed film detailing Michelangelo's struggle to paint
the Sistine Chapel. He cleverly took his cue from the film's themes of
art versus religion and the nature of inspiration. The score's first
cue, "Prelude -- The Mountains of Carrara," opens with a progression of
modal chords on organ. It's a bold move, especially considering that
the result sounds like early German Protestant music written for a film
set in Catholic Italy. However, by the score's end, with
"Michelangelo's Magnificent Achievement," North has moved firmly into
Catholic musical territory with a contrapuntal, unaccompanied choir. By
framing the score with this musical device, North creates a decisive
musical-historical commentary. He links Pope Julius II's ideas on art
and religion with the heresy that was the Protestant church at the
time, and Michelangelo's work with the glory of God as revealed in true
Catholic music. It is a telling statement.
Further showing his range, North scattered vernacular pieces from the
Renaissance throughout the largely symphonic score. In "The Medici," he
places a lively dance melody on recorder over a consort of viols that
conjure the grandeur of Florence of the time, and in "The Contessina,"
he lays out a delightful lute solo. These little touches, planted
amongst the vast spaciousness of his orchestration, are the icing on
the cake of this fine score.
Even with these riches, Varèse was not content to simply provide
the original score for your enjoyment. A few years ago, Jerry Goldsmith
recorded The Agony and the Ecstasy
with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. It is interesting to
compare that recording with North's original and notice how subtle
changes like variations in tempi can give new, or at least different
life to a score. But one of the reasons Goldsmith recorded the score
was that he wrote the music for the film's prologue, a 12-minute piece
that commented and built on North's work. That cue is also included on
this recording, (as well as on the recent Jerry Goldsmith at 20th
Century Fox box set). This album shows two masters working together
across time, on one great score. Do yourself a favor and get a hold of
this recording before it's gone forever. --
Andrew Granade
The Adventures of Mark Twain (1944)
****
MAX STEINER
Naxos 8.557470
29 tracks - 70:49
John Morgan and William Stromberg are two of the great champions of
film music, and perhaps the greatest interpreters of classic scores.
Their latest, and possibly last, restoration is among their very best.
Steiner's The Adventures of Mark Twain
is in the tradition of the many americana film scores that he wrote
during the period, such as Gone With
The Wind, They Died With
Their Boots On and Virginia
City. And it certainly ranks up there with the best of them, a
hidden gem from an all but forgotten film.
The score is largely based on one main theme, for Mark Twain himself,
introduced in the "Main Titles." Despite the long running time of the
album, this theme never gets tiresome, while showing up in virtually
every cue. This is largely due to Steiner's skill as a composer. The
theme is presented in a different guise nearly every time, passed from
one section of the orchestra to another, from a plaintive violin solo
to a resonating tuba as effortlessly as Twain seemingly wrote his own
great works. Some of the better variations are found in "Toy Shop,"
with a music box style rendition of the theme, and "Public Shame,"
which opens with a threatening and nearly unrecognizable take on the
theme. The main theme is brimming with joy and exuberance, and if one
is to believe the film and the score, Twain's life was always happy and
carefree, with nary a dark chord to be found.
There is a lot of other great material here as well, with Steiner
characteristically quoting period songs such as "Oh Susanna," "The
Battle Hymn of the Republic," "Dixie" and "My Darling Clementine" --
the latter being either a clever take on Twain's real name, or just
appropriate use of music to evoke time and place. You decide! Steiner
also provides Twain's wife and sweetheart Livy with a fine theme of her
own, but it's used sparingly.
The sound quality ranks amongst the finest digital re-recordings of
golden age film scores available, with every shimmering texture from
the Moscow Symphony clearly audible, and William Stromberg getting fine
performances from his soloists, down to the solo guitar, banjo and
occasional whistler. This is such an entertaining album that it makes
me sad that Naxos has ended this series of classic film score
restorations. Indeed this album, despite being a first pressing and not
a re-issue, was not released on the usual Marco Polo label, but instead
on the discount Naxos label, and as such only costs about $5. Hopefully
Robert Townson or someone else will be able to offer a home to Morgan
and Stromberg, so their fine work can continue.
-- Darren MacDonald
MailBag@filmscoremonthly.com
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Today in Film Score History:
April 25 |
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| Alec Puro born (1975) |
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| Brian May died (1997) |
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| David A. Hughes born (1960) |
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| Franz Waxman records his score for Stalag 17 (1952) |
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| Gary Hughes died (1978) |
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| Georges Delerue records his score for L’Homme Qui Revient De Loin (1972) |
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| Heinz Roemheld's score for Union Station is recorded (1950) |
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| John Williams begins recording his score for How to Steal a Million (1966) |
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