Mysterious Island (1961)
© N/A

Related Links

0

Update on new Mysterious Island score CD

An interesting thread posted on the Film Score Monthly message board gives an interesting update – with equally interesting reader comments – on the planned re-recording of the complete (every second of the score presented for the first time in a vibrant new re-recording) score to Mysterious Island – one of Bernard Herrmann’s best scores for the Ray Harryhausen/Charles Schneer fantasy film series - for Tribute Film Classics, the new label created by noted archival reconstructionists John Morgan and William Stromberg.   

The thread came about in response to comments made about the original soundtrack CD issued in 1997 by England’s Cloud 9 Records, and the potential and expected differences between that original soundtrack and Tribute’s newly recorded adaptation.   

“Having read all the posts in the other thread about the reissue of the original tracks on the Cloud 9 label, I felt compelled to give an update on our new re-recording of the entire score on Tribute Film Classics,” wrote Stromberg. “While I would never part with the Cloud 9 release, I’ve always been disappointed that so many cues were lost and, or not included on that disc. Now, finally, we are looking forward to performing and presenting every cue that Herrmann wrote for my favorite Harryhausen film. Since Anna, John and I will be producing and funding this recording ourselves, we are offering the entire score, plus music never heard before’ for about 20 dollars. Our planned release date is for late summer, available through Screen Archives. 
 
All of the music has been copied and shipped, and we’re ready to record.” 

Stromberg includes a list of each of the film’s track titles and times, which gives an indication of what you can expect from the new recording of this classic composition. 

Meanwhile, Cloud 9’s release has been reissued from Silva Screen/BSX in a limited edition.  The posts on the Film Score Monthly site continue to debate the merits of the original recording versus the re-recording – some posters question the necessity of re-releasing that album so soon to the availability of Tribute’s brand new complete recording, but as producer BSX Ford Thaxton points out, the Cloud 9 reissue is the product of two years of negotiation which commenced shortly after the original release went out of print; the proximity of the two releases may be more coincidental than intentional.  And while Stromberg and Morgan are renowned for capturing the intricate nuances, faithful performances, and proper timings in their reconstructions of classic scores like this (their series of lavish re-recordings of King Kong, The Ghost of Frankenstein, and others for Marco Polo/Naxos records are legendary must-haves), the availability again of the original Herrmann recordings, albeit incomplete, remains a valuable contrast no less valuable and merit-worthy that comparing an original, vintage recording of a classical piece with a newly-recorded performance of same.