A New Take on GALACTICA

THIS WEEK'S RECOMMENDATIONS

Stu Phillips' bombastic, rousing music to Glen A. Larson's (no relation) original 1978 TV series BATTLESTAR GALACTICA was one of the best things about that derivative space opera, a fully realized, authoritative, and wonderfully broad orchestral built around a dynamic and powerful main theme (and nicely preserved on a promotional four-CD original soundtrack issued a couple of years ago).

Michael Rymer's 2003 USA-TV mini-series version of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA is more than a remake of the earlier series but is a reimagining of its concept, filmed in a quasi-documentary style, and in many ways so far reimagined that any semblance to the original show beyond its title is barely discernable (which can be good or bad, depending on your opinion of the original). The essential plot elements (a rag-tag band of survivors seeks a new works in an old starship called the Galactica after evil cyborgs called Cylons have banished mankind from their homeworlds) are maintained, but Rymer's attention is more on the character interaction and creating a human fantasy than

The point I'm making, though, is that the new film is a wholly different affair from the original endeavor, and as a result its music takes a completely different approach. Instead of the soaring, effervescent STAR WARS-styled bravado of Stu Phillips, composer Richard Gibbs (who is an admirer of Phillips score, but felt that approach would be overwhelming on this particular production) ground his new miniseries score in a very earthy, ethnic, and humanistic core, which is very much to this score's benefit.

As Gibbs described in his introductory notes on the La-La-Land soundtrack CD (LLLCD 1015), his first challenge in writing the new GALACTICA score was in serving "the emotional needs of the story while avoiding, as much as possible, the tried and true ways of scoring a space opera... the concept of the show from the beginning long before my involvement was so shoot it in 'doco' style... music was meant to be felt, more than heard." This minimalist approach actually works to both the show's and the score's benefit, the result being not so much a composition derivative of the "tried and true" but a uniquely introspective and thickly orchestrated mix of electronic and acoustics that creates a unique internal symbiosis of landscape and texturally interesting score. Rather than pompous, sweeping music, as much as Gibbs would have enjoyed writing something as pretentiously exciting as that, the score works more subliminally, underlining the show's subtle emotional ambiguities and creating an earthy texture that creates an internal substrata that lends more weight to the drama and the characters within it. The resulting soundtrack music is far less what you might expect of a science fiction story with the epic sweep of GALACTICA's story, but is completely appropriate and effective in accompanying Rymer's visualization of it earthy, ground in realism of the characters who are experiencing the events. This is music of human sweat and blood, not music for dynamic outer space battles and cyborg armies. Rymer's show is clearly character-driven, and as a result so is Gibb's score. The science fiction elements are supported through musical textures rather than huge musical statements, which would have been overwhelming in this presentation anyway. Gibbs approach also lends the show an articulate musical sensuality that is quite effective.

Gibbs, who had scored QUEEN OF THE DAMNED for Rymer, came up with hours of music in very little time. He brought in his assistant Bear McCreary, who helped flesh out his material into the longer evocations and recapitulations needed for the four-hour miniseries, which was broadcast in the US beginning on December 8, 2003. His instrumental elements congeal very well and the musical interpretation is rich in intriguing sound patterns taiko drums and ethnic percussion, Middle eastern vocal intonations, chanting, tamboura and a variety of woodwinds, merging world music with the orchestral timbres and emotive flavoring of Western music ("The Lottery Ticket" is an especially eloquent cue in this regard). Gibbs notes accurately that "I obscured the musical sources as much as possible by blending a mixture of ethnic instruments from around the globe with a western orchestra [and] with a smattering of synth."

The CD consists of 26 tracks averaging two-and-a-half minutes in length. There is no real "Battlestar Galactica Theme" to hang your helmet on, but rather a consistent tonal ambience that shifts and stirs, that opens its eyes and shakes its head. "Inbound" is a good example of one of the score's action cues, driven by synth percussion, repeated electronic chords lay down an increasing rhythmic pattern over which higher synth notes scramble and swirl and echo, creating a tense and claustrophobic portent of danger; the approach is revitalized in the CD's closing track, "By Your Command." In "Apollo is Gone/Starbuck Returns," the cue that immediately follows, the score's recurring tonal ambience creates an underlying melancholy atmosphere of mixed emotions. The emotive vocalization in "The Storm and the Dead" intones the show's main motif in a wonderfully rich and haunting manner.

The CD's longest track, "Battle," at 7:40 mins, is primarily a rapid-drum movement for the taiko drums, developing and sustaining a percussively driven rhythm layered on top of which are a shifting variety of orchestral and synth patterns, each bringing with it a somewhat different mood or tonal sensation, all of which maintains a slightly variable and ultimately increasing forward movement throughout the cue's length.

The package is nicely put together, with excellent design and art direction by Mark Banning, notes from both Gibbs and Rhymer, and a very nicely sequenced presentation of the music.

www.lalalandrecords.com

If you missed out on the chance to purchase one of the limited edition six-CD sets of Jerry Goldsmith at 20th Century Fox from Varese Sarabande (which sold out in the USA, ships to purchasers this week; see my Feb. 12^th column for content details), you may have a slight reprieve if you hurry and don't mind spending extra for an overseas copy. Colosseum, Varese's European distributor, still has a few copies left, according to their web site today. With the Euro price, it would cost close to $200.00 USD, including the shipping (not including customs or duties). Surf over to www.colosseum.de/vscdclub.htm.

The street date for the MONSTER CD/DVD double disc set (DTS 6 92860) containing BT's music and tons of extras has been postponed until June in order to parallel an aggressive marketing roll-out of the studio's DVD-Video of the critically-acclaimed motion picture. Blending Americana-inspired melodic sensibilities and non-traditional instrumentation, BT conceived and recorded the entire original score for MONSTER in 5.1 surround sound. The double disc package offers both a stereo CD of original music evolved from BT's score, as well as a "bonus" DVD with over two hours of original BT compositions presented in DTS 5.1 surround sound, plus numerous exclusive audio/video extras. See my Feb 26^th column for a detailed advance review of this package.

La-La-Land Records has released their George Pal film music compilation this week, featuring many tracks never before recorded from the acclaimed producer's final seven films. I had the opportunity to write the notes for this release and, in so doing, preview the music in its entirety and I can truly say the music is wonderful, varying from wonderfully evocative Americana of Leigh Harline's 7 FACES OF DR. LAO and his classically eloquent WONDERFUL WORLD OF THE BROS. GRIMM, to the tuneful mischief of Ken Jones' tom thumb, and the vibrant adventurism of Russell Garcia's TIME MACHINE and ATLANTIS THE LOST CONTINENT, and the surprisingly effective marches of John Philip Souza from DOC SAVAGE, as well as Miklos Rozsa's powerful and dramatically dark score for THE POWER. Sound bytes may be previewed at: www.lalalandrecords.com/GeorgePal.html.

Film Score Monthly's new limited edition Silver Age Classic soundtrack CD for this month serves up the hitherto unreleased musical score for the 1977 television incarnation of LOGAN'S RUN (FSM Vol 7 No 4). This sci-fi TV series premiered on CBS in September 1977, based on the further exploits of runners fleeing ritualistic death that were introduced in the original film (based on the William Nolan/George Clayton Johnson novel). The series lasted only 14 episodes, but is fondly remembered for its attractive characters and 1970s sci-fi charm -- including the main title theme (with its distinctive synthesizer siren) by Laurence Rosenthal (CLASH OF THE TITANS). Nine of the show's episodes received original scores, and all are presented on this premiere CD: four by Rosenthal (including the 90-minute pilot), two by Jerrold Immel (DALLAS), one by Jeff Alexander (WILD WILD WEST REVISITED), and two by a young Bruce Broughton (SILVERADO, YOUNG SHERLOCK HOLMES, LOST IN SPACE). The CD is entirely in stereo, remixed from the original 1/2" three-track session masters.

Accompanying this release is the label's Golden Age Classic, a two-CD recording of Miklos Rozsa's 1956 historical drama, DIANE, one of the composer's most melodious historical scores. While appearing on numerous compilations, the full DIANE score has not been legitimately available on CD before now. Although not a long score per se, Rozsa recorded so many alternate versions for Diane that it is being released as a 2CD set. Disc one features the score proper, while disc two features alternate cues as well as source music and skeletal "pre-records." Filling out disc two are additional and alternate cues from two other Rozsa works recently issued by FSM: MOONFLEET and Plymouth Adventure.

www.filmscoremonthly.com

At the time of Michael Kamen's tragic death on 18th November last year, the composer was working on his score for the animated adventure BACK TO GAYA, produced by the German company Ambient Entertainment. Next weekend, the film premieres in Germany Kamen's score completed by his orchestration team. "BACK TO GAYA was put together from his sketches that he left, and was orchestrated by me and a bunch of other people," Kamen's orchestrator Robert Elhai told Music from the Movies. The original score was finally recorded with Michael Kamen's favorite ensemble, The London Metropolitan Orchestra conducted by Andy Brown at the Abbey Road Studios in London. Paying homage to Michael Kamen, the score will also be performed live by the Staatsorchester Hannover at the world premiere on Thursday, 18th March, at the Opera House in Hannover (www.staatstheater-hannover.de/). BACK TO GAYA is directed by Lenard Krawinkel and is the first fully digitized German film. It tells the story of two digital characters who are forced to leave their virtual lives in a television series and enter the real world.

-musicfromthemovies.com

Mario Beltrami's score for HELLBOY will be release by Varese Sarabande on April 6^th. Beltrami's score was performed by a large orchestra and choir. The film, which is third score Beltrami has composed for director Guillermo Del Toro, following MIMIC and BLADE II, opens on April 2^nd

Brian Tyler's score for the Lions Gate film GODSEND will come out on from Varese on April 27^th. Tyler score is described as deeply textured, rhythmic and mysteriously beautiful, surging forward with equal measure of drive and trepidation. The film stars Greg Kinnear and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos as a couple mourning the lost of their young son, with Robert DeNiro as the doctor who approaches them with the incredible offer to clone and bring back their boy.

Also on April 27^th, in honor of what would have been Henry Mancini's 80th birthday (April 16, 2004), and to coincide with the US Postal Service's issue of a Henry Mancini stamp, Varese Sarabande will release the world premiere soundtrack to THE THORN BIRDS as a deluxe 2 CD set. Featuring the enormously famous themes from the 10-hour 1983 miniseries (recently released on DVD), Mancini's score is considered by many to be every bit as beautiful, romantic and famous as SOMEWHERE IN TIME, OUT OF AFRICA or DOCTOR ZHIVAGO.

www.varesesarabande.com

Decca will release Alan Silvestri's eagerly awaited score to VAN HELSING on May 4th. The film is a revisionist look at Bram Stoker's hero, with Hugh Jackman in the role as the vampire hunter battling not only Dracula but the Frankenstein monster and a werewolf as well. Silvestri and VAN HELSING director Stephen Sommers previously teamed on THE MUMMY RETURNS. www.filmscoremonthly.com

THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST continues its momentum both as a film as well as the score. The original soundtrack recording of John Debney's music on Sony Music/Integrity is the number one selling soundtrack for the third week in a row, according to Billboard charts. The film continues its reign at the box office with ticket sales over 250 million dollars. Tonight (3/18), ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT will profile Debney and discuss his work on the PASSION as well as his upcoming score for THE WHOLE TEN YARDS. THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST CD is number 23 on Billboard's Top 200 albums chart. Reminiscent of his touching performance with co-lyricist/soloist Lisbeth Scott and the Biola University chorale on TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO last week, Debney will be heading to New York for a performance on THE TODAY SHOW, April 9th.

Ennio Morricone fans may either be delighted or frustrated by the release of two European format DVDs featuring his work. The first, available from Ark Square in Japan (www.arksquare.com/), is a video Documentary of Ennio Morricone, a Japanese release of an Italian documentary released a few years ago. It's a Region 2 NTSC DVD, which means it won't play on US DVD players unless you have a Region free or a Region-2 equipped DVD player (you can get one quite reasonably at www.jlist.com, among other places). The film includes numerous interviews and clips from notable musical moments in Morricone-scored films. Unfortunately, except for the astute comments of England's Christopher Frayling, the interviews are in Italian, and subtitled in Japanese, so unless you're fluent in one of the other, much of the audible material on the DVD will be lost on you.

The other, and far more compelling, release, is Ennio Morricone: Arena Concert, available from www.screenarchives.com. This is a Region Free Italian DVD release, however it is in Europe's PAL format, which means, while it will play on any DVD player, it won't play on North American NTSC televisions, unless you have either a region-free DVD player that will convert PAL to NTSC or a free standing converter that will do the same thing. With one of those, this DVD, which is mixed in stunning DTS and Dolby 5.1 sound, is a must-have for any Morricone fan. Taped from a 2002 concert in a huge outdoor arena in Verona, Morricone conducts the Roma Sinfonietta and large choir through an assortment of his most famous film music, including long concert arrangements from ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA, CINEMA PARADISO, and THE LEGEND OF 1900, plus shorter cues from THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY (the arrangement, eschewing the twangy sound effects that became one with the music in the original recording, Morricone's concert arrangement for orchestra and choir is absolutely remarkable, retaining the original's basic arrangement but reassigning some of the effects to orchestral instruments) and ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST. The concert is 146 minutes in length; in addition is a long interview with Morricone (subtitled in English!), and a lengthy grouping of themes privately recorded with a small chamber ensemble. If you have or can get the right playback equipment, this DVD is well worth its acquisition. These are the sounds that first got me into film music back in the early 1970s, and to hear them resonate so well in this concert setting has really been profound.