Watch the Skies! And the Seas!

By: Randall Larson
Date: Thursday, March 17, 2005

THIS WEEK'S RECOMMENDATIONS

One of the best science fiction scores of the 1950s comes to CD for believe it or not the very first time with FSM's premiere release of the full Dimitri Tiomkin score for 1951's THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD (Vol 8. No 1). Previously available only as a single track on "Classic Film Scores" sampler from RCA and Silva Screen's recent Tiomkin collection both rerecordings, FSM has procured the original archival recordings and provided the entire score on disc for the first time. The music is a strange departure from the melodist Tiomkin, who's career as defined by such tuneful or mainstream dramatic scores as HIGH NOON, DIAL M FOR MURDER, GUNFIGHT AT O.K. CORRAL, THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY, RIO BRAVO and others), this was the composer's only real science fiction/horror score. He proved more than capable to the task. The score opens with a terrifically aggressive, relentless cadence for strings and brass, embellished by the weird sonority of the theremin, much like Bernard Herrmann did the same year with THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (which was released five months after THING's April 6th premiere). In fact, in some ways, the scores are quite similar in their chordal progression, muscular ferocity, and shared orchestration of heavy brass intonation supported by percussion and theremin. The differences are properly noted in the CD's booklet notes, by Jeff Bond and Lukas Kendall: "While Herrmann's minimalist score surged forward with crushing, extended chords, Tiomkin's music exhibited the angular, note-heavy symphonic complexity that characterized most of his work." Aside from THING's dominating horror ostinato, there are a variety of suspense motifs (notably the eerie "The Hand," with its tremolo of winds and brass over a consistent underlying tonality), erupting with the spectacular shrieking, howling dissonance of fluttering trumpets and oscillating theremin for "Fire Sequence." The longer "Electrocution Sequence" features some amazing interplay between brass and harp and theremin during its furtive progression, finally opening into the climactic scene, where the tentative, uneven gait of the Thing is hit by each stabbing stroke of brass and percussion, until a spherical descent of strings and brass and theremin slowly revolve into dissolution as the alien itself finally disintegrates into nothingness. Because the spare score only lasts 26:50 minutes, the balance of the CD is comprised of Tiomkin's 51:47 minute militaristic war film score, TAKE THE HIGH GROUND! While it's entirely different in tone and texture from THE THING, it too has never previously been released; it's a grand, militaristic score, and a very worthwhile addition Tiomkin's latter-day discography.

Also issued by FSM this week is the premiere release of Russell Garcia's complete swashbuckling adventure score for George Pal's ATLANTIS: THE LOST CONTINENT (Vol 8 No 2). Previously available as a 6:59 re-recorded suite on GNP Crescendo's premiere release of Garcia's experimental score for Pal's THE TIME MACHINE and

with 14:32 worth of excerpts on last year's The Fantasy Film Music of George Pal from La-La Land, FSM provides the complete 46 minutes of what is arguably a better and more accessible score than his previous effort for Pal. At the producer's insistence, Garcia treated ATLANTIS like an epic adventure film ripe with full-blooded melodies, intimate orchestral soliloquies ("Antilia/Market Place"), compelling nautical travel motifs ("Stolen Boat," "Lost/Hallucinations"), and a recurring action motif ("Submarine Scene," "Fight with Giant"). Garcia's main theme is a grand and majestic, sweepingly romantic adventure melody, beautifully conveyed through full orchestra. Like Paul's Smith's theme from Disney's rather similarly mounted epic, 20,000 LEAGUES BENEATH THE SEA, Garcia's ATLANTIS theme is one of the best adventure themes of the period (mid/late '50s/early '60s) and has waited much to long to be so well preserved.

Coupled with Garcia's 46:19 ATLANTIS is the Miklos Rozsa score for Pal's 1968 THE POWER. The score was available previously on CD in a recording from Belgium's Prometheus, which included ten tracks on Miklos Rozsa Film Music Vol #1 that made rather ill fitting company to "12 Choruses from BEN-HUR and KING OF KINGS" (the POWER cues were reissued tracks from a 1978 private label Citadel LP), and with five tracks on the La-La Land George Pal music collection. FSM provides the same ten tracks but slightly renames some of them to better correspond to the component sequences in which they were used. The music is a darkly provocative and creates a superb texture through the prominent use of the cimbalom. It's a frantic and compelling score that creates an unusual tone poem for megalomania. The score's latin-flavored Love Theme for acoustic guitar is one of Rozsa's most sublime compositions. Detailed notes including track-by-track commentary is included for both films and scores. www.filmscoremonthly.com

FILM MUSIC NEWS

On Tuesday, May 3, 2005, Sony Classical will release the original motion picture soundtrack of the last episode of the Star Wars saga, STAR WARS: EPISODE III REVENGE OF THE SITH. It features a new score by five-time Oscar winner John Williams, who is also the composer and conductor of the score for each film in the six-chapter Star Wars saga, and an exclusive collector's DVD -- Star Wars: A Musical Journey -- a bonus at no additional cost. Created especially to accompany the CD

release, the thrilling 70-minute DVD features 16 brand-new music videos set to selections from all six of John Williams' unforgettable STAR WARS film scores and has been designed around a timeline that will take the viewer chronologically through the entire saga. Each movement is introduced by actor Ian McDiarmid (who plays Senator Palpatine in the films) and features a montage of images, complete with excerpts of the original dialogue and sound effects, set to Williams' legendary music which has been newly remixed and remastered in 5.1 surround sound. Williams' principal theme from the new score, entitled "Battle of the Heroes," will be featured in a music video created by Lucasfilm. The soundtrack packaging will also include liner notes from George Lucas plus an exclusive foldout poster featuring a montage of images from the film. For more information, see: http://starwars.sonyclassical.com/

The American Society of Composers and Publishers will present its prestigious Golden Note award to Mark Snow, one of the most prolific contemporary composers working today, at the 20th Annual ASCAP Film and Television Awards gala on April 27th at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. The Golden Note award is presented to songwriters and composers who have achieved extraordinary milestones in their careers. Previous recipients of the Golden Note Award include Stevie Wonder, Garth Brooks, Elton John, Tom Petty, Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, Jay-Z, Jose Feliciano, Alan Jackson and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Snow's music is a television mainstay that includes themes and underscore for classics such as STARSKY AND HUTCH and HART TO HART to the more contemporary THE X-FILES, MILLENIUM, and SMALLVILLE. Snow's status as one of today's most innovative and successful film and television composers is only the latest element of a far-reaching and eclectic career in music. "Mark Snow's career spans decades and his work is more vital today than ever," says ASCAP President and Chairman Marilyn Bergman. "It is extraordinary that he will have won consecutive awards in several categories for all of the past 20 years at these ceremonies."

While Snow is perhaps best known for his theme and scores for The X-Files and Millennium, the Juilliard-trained musician's career has encompassed lush orchestral scoring, album production, classical performance, and five years as a co-founder of the legendary New York Rock N' Roll Ensemble (a band he formed with Juilliard roommate Michael Kamen). Currently, Snow composes for the WB's ONE TREE HILL, SMALLVILLE and a revival of KOJAK starring Ving Rhames, premiering this month on USA Network.

Music from the Movies reports that composer James Newton Howard, who is currently working on the score for BATMAN BEGINS together with Hans Zimmer, has two new scoring assignments in the pipeline. He has been hired to compose the original music for FREEDOMLAND, the Joe Roth-directed film version of Richard Price's book. Samuel L. Jackson, Julianne Moore and Ron Eldard star in this tight kidnapping drama that is set to be released on 16 January 2006. According to the Gorfaine-Schwartz Agency, Howard will also compose the music for MEN IN BLACK director Barry Sonnenfeld's next project, R.V., an adventure comedy scripted by Lowell Ganz who recently worked on the screenplay for ROBOTS. Howard recently also wrote the music for Sydney Pollack's THE INTERPRETER, which opens on April 22nd. www.musicfromthemovies.com  

SoundtrackNet reports that the music for the season premiere of Fox's revived animated television show THE FAMILY GUY (created by Seth McFarlane) is now being recorded. Composers Walter Murphy and Ron Jones return. In the premiere, entitled "North by North Quahog", Murphy gets a great opportunity to channel some Bernard Herrmann, NORTH BY NORTHWEST style. Composer Ron Jones piggybacked the scoring session to record music for an upcoming theatrical trailer for AMERICAN DAD, McFarlane's other animated show. Look for the trailer to air attached to a Fox movie later this spring. SoundtrackNet's Dan Goldwasser reported that the amount of players in the orchestra has been beefed up from previous seasons; "this time they have about 40-45 players depending on the episode - even though McFarlane indicates that their budget is smaller!" FAMILY GUY and AMERICAN DAD both premiere on May 1, on Fox. Look for special coverage before then at SoundtrackNet (www.soundtrack.net)

The Los Angeles Masters Chorale announced the upcoming 2005-2006 season, conducted by Music Director Grant Gershon. The 42nd Season will include the world premiere of a suite of music from MATRIX composer Don Davis's opera, Río de Sangre. Davis's opera is set in the aftermath of a political coup d'etát in a nondescript Latin American nation. During the Chorale's press release (quoted on Davis's web site at www.dondavis.net), Davis had a chance to address the press: "The richness of the Latin American heritage, coupled with the triumphs and tragedies that have befallen the Latin American people reveals a remarkable palette from which an intense and relevant drama can be summoned." The suite will be performed at the Walt Disney Concert Hall on November 6, 2005 at 7pm. As Gershon pointed out, since "nearly everyone dies" in Don's opera, the suite will be followed - fittingly -with Gabriel Fauré's Requiem. For more information on the opera, be sure to check out www.riodesangre.com

Varese Sarabande Records will release James Newton Howard's score for THE INTERPRETER on April 19th. The movie, directed by Sydney Pollack, stars Academy Award winners Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn in a suspenseful thriller of international intrigue set inside the political corridors of the United Nations and on the streets of New York. www.varesesarabande.com

FILM MUSIC ON DVD

20th Century Fox released three of its film noir thrillers from the 1940s on DVD for the first time this week. Elia Kazan's [IMG5R] PANIC IN THE STREETS, Henry Hathaway's CALL NORTHSIDE 777, and Otto Preminger's LAURA are all available singly or, at stores like Costco, in an inexpensive box entitled "Fox Film Noir." The LAURA disc is especially notable for including commentary from composer David Raksin, who died last year. His theme for LAURA is one of the classic Hollywood movies themes or all time, and his soft-spoken remembrances of scoring this picture, despite the distance of time and memory, are quite charming. Paramount's 2-disc Special Edition DVD re-release of STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT includes a special tribute to Jerry Goldsmith on disc #2.

Recommended Soundtrack sources:
www.buysoundtrax.com  
www.intrada.com  
www.screenarchives.com  
www.footlight.com  
www.arksquare.com/index_main.html  (Japan
www.intermezzomedia.com  (Italy)

For questions or comments, contact the author at Soundtrax@cinescape.com