A Howl of Good Music

THIS WEEK'S RECOMMENDATIONS

Joe Hisaishi's sumptuous score for Hiyao Miyazaki latest anime treasure, HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE, has been released in Japan on the Takuma label (TKCA-72620). Like the acclaimed director's previous Oscar-winning film, SPIRITED AWAY, Hisaishi (who has scored virtually all of Miyazaki's magical animated fantasies) has composed a richly symphonic score.

The film is a light fantasy based on a book by British author Diana Wynne Jones, an intricate fairly tale of compelling depth. The film is slated to open in Japan this November; a US release date has not yet been established.

Hisaishi's earlier scores like NAUSICAA OF THE VALLEY OF THE WIND (recently released on DVD in Japan), ARION, and LAPUTA contained a mix of orchestral and pop influences, but in recent scores he's concentrated primarily on a purely symphonic and Western style. HOWL'S is very much in this vein. The Western European classical music sensibility is more than appropriate, since the book is partly set in Wales, although word has it now that much of the film's setting will be modelled on the French region of Alsace. The musical influence is thoroughly 19^th Century Western European, and Hisaishi has enveloped the music in a rich tapestry of classical rhythm and motion. There are a few recurring motifs (especially a bombastic, martial fanfare for horns) adrift in the midst of the score's swaying ocean of pageantry, but the predominant texture is one of classical elegance.

Musically, it's not a fantasy score in terms of fantastic elements present in the music. Hasaishi plays it very straight, composing for setting and character, leaving the film's magical elements to the film's visual attributes (at least as evidenced by what's represented on this "Image Symphonic Suite" CD). The recording contains ten tracks that average five minutes in length. The music ia warm and elegant, culminating in a powerfully textured, full orchestral finale. Recorded at London's Abbey Road Studios, the sound is resonant and large in scope.

Danielle Luppi is a young composer who began his career by composing for fims, TV shows, and commercials in Italy who's been resident in Hollywood since the mid '90s. He contributed a song to UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN, scored an episode of SEX IN THE CITY, and composed the [IMG4R]music to films like SHOWBOY and BIG APPLE. His latest project isn't a film or a TV show well, not directly anyway. It's a CD recording called An Italian Story (Rhino R2 73941) that's a personal hommage to the music Luppi grew up and loved soundtracks to Italiain films of the '60s and '70s. The music on An Italian Story, then, immediately conjures images of sexy, catsuited spies and beehive-hairdoed alien hypermodels. Space-age melodies, jazzy bossanovas, gliding melodies and inventive musical textures (twanging guitars, hammond organs, and the signature whistling of Alexxandro Alessandroni abound). Luppi sought out the original musicians who performed during the '60s and '70s and reunited them to play on this recording, which was made at a vintage 1970's recording studio Telecinesound using the same analog gear that was used to record the scores Luppi is paying homage to here.

In a modern KILL BILL era, which also paid respects to that music and more in its eclectic soundtrack, that's gained a new appreciation for the Eurolounge music that paid such a prominent place in Italian spy movies, science fiction extravaganzas, and zany sex comedies, Luppi's recording fits in perfectly. It's a loving tribute to Morricone, Piccioni, Nicolai, Trojajoli, and others whose music lent such a unique rhythm and sensuality to a unique era of cinematic nostalgia. For more information, see www.rhino.com.

As part of Turner Classic Movies' "31 Days of Oscar," February 22nd will be Best Original Score Day, and Jerry Goldsmith will be co-hosting showings of THE WIND AND THE LION, THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, and SUPERMAN (of the three, he only scored the former).

Lalo Schifrin,

TOM CLANCY'S SPLINTER CELL

© 2002 Ubi Soft

Several sources on the Internet, including 'Fanderson' (the Official Appreciation Society for the work of Gerry Anderson), have recently claimed that Jerry Goldsmith has been announced as the composer for Jonathan

Logo artwork for the live-action THUNDERBIRDS film.

© Working Title Films

FSM has announced this month's limited edition soundtrack CDs. The Silver Age Classics for February are two rare scores by English composer Frank Cordell: KHARTOUM and MOSQUITO SQUADRON.

KHARTOUM is a widescreen historical epic starring Charlton Heston as British General Charles "Chinese" Gordon, who in 1885 defended the city of Sudanese city of Khartoum against an uprising led by the Islamic militant, the "Mahdi" (Laurence Olivier). Cordell aided the film's romanticized approach with a distinctly British fanfare and melody for Gordon, and strokes of Egyptian exotica for the Mahdi.

MOSQUITO SQUADRON is a WWII adventure starring David McCallum as a fighter pilot whose leader is downed behind enemy lines. Cordell provides aggressive, rhythmic scoring for the film's combat, and evocative, romantic scoring for its love story. The CD is entirely in stereo. KHARTOUM features Cordell's re-recorded LP tracks (faithful to the film orchestrations) with a bonus track of exit music from the film itself. MOSQUITO SQUADRON is from an LP assembly that was prepared by United Artists Records but never before released.

Accompanying the Cordel release will be February's Golden Age Classics recording, THE PRISONER OF ZENDA, the 1952 remake of the famous 1937 David O. Selznick film, that was based on Anthony Hope's novel about a commoner called on to impersonate a king. Alfred Newman's 1937 score was adapted by Conrad Salinger and conducted by Johnny Green for the 1952 production. This CD features the complete recording for the 1952 version (master tapes do not survive for Newman's 1937 recording), in the best possible monaural sound.

Newman's score is a classic "swashbuckling" effort encompassing the classical dignity of European royalty and vintage Hollywood action strains, with memorable themes for the film's setting and characters. The adaptor, Salinger, was one of the great orchestrators behind M-G-M's most famous musicals. www.filmscoremothly.com.

La-La Land Records Presents the original [IMG5R]soundtrack to the all-new, Sci Fi Channel mini-series BATTLESTAR GALACTICA. Composer Richard Gibbs (BARBERSHOP 2, STEP INTO LIQUID, I SPY) provides an evocative score combines ethnic percussion, vocals, synth, and orchestra to capture all the humanity and pulse-pounding excitement of this critically-acclaimed relaunching of the legendary BATTLESTAR GALACTICA series! The CD booklet features exclusive liner notes from the composer and the director. For a limited time, online preorders can get the CD autographed by Composer Richard Gibbs at no extra charge.
http://www.lalalandrecords.com/BattlestarGalactica.html.

La-La Land has also announced The Best Of LONE WOLF AND CUB, a compilation of music from the legendary 70's Japanese Samauri saga.

Music from the Movies reports that The Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, one of the finest orchestras in northern Europe, will perform film music live in three concerts from 18th-20th March 2004. The highlight of the programme is the world premiere of Don Davis' 'The Matrix Suite', based on his original scores from the three films. The GSO will perform the first movement presenting music from the groundbreaking first score from 1999. The concerts, titled 'Classic Hits Goes to the Movies', has already attracted more than 2,000 ticket buyers and will present a broad spectrum of old and new film music. The concerts will be conducted by Norwegian conductor Ingmar Bergby and presented by film critic Nils-Petter Sundgren.

The BAFTA (British Oscars) have awarded the Anthony Asquith Award for Achievement in Film Music to composer Gabriel Yared and songwriter T-Bone Burnett for their COLD MOUNTAIN score.

The nominations for the Satellite Awards and the Saturn Awards have been revealed. The Satellite Awards will be handed out by the International Press Academy on the 21st of February 2004. The nominees in the 'Original Score' category are Gabriel Yared's COLD MOUNTAIN, Randy Newman's SEABISCUIT, Thomas Newman's FINDING NEMO, James Horner's THE MISSING, Howard Shore's THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING, Hans Zimmer's THE LAST SAMURAI and, unexpectedly, Stephen Trask's CAMP.

This year's Saturn Award nominees for best musical score are Klaus Badelt's PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN, Danny Elfman's THE HULK, Jerry Goldsmith's LOONEY TUNES: BACK IN ACTION, Thomas Newman's FINDING NEMO, John Ottman's X2 and Howard Shore's THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING. The organization behind the Saturn Awards is the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films, who will honour John Williams this year with a Lifetime Achievement Award. The 30th Annual Saturn Awards will be held 5th May 2004.

FILM MUSIC ON DVD

MGM Home Video has released Paul Verhoeven's most underrated film on DVD, the medieval adventure FLESH + BLOOD. Not only is this release the first time the film has been letterboxed on home video, but the disc features the unrated, longer "international" version of the film as well as a featurette on Basil Poledouris and his rich, powerful musical score.