(1984)

It may not be as good as the first film, but Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom doesn’t deserve some of the criticism it has picked up over the years.  It’s still an immensely enjoyable adventure, regardless of its negative aspects. The film saw the return of most of the crew from Raiders of the Lost Ark, which included composer John Williams, ready to build upon his already classic score for that earlier film.

The score starts out in a somewhat unusual, but very enjoyable fashion with Capshaw’s Chinese performance of Cole Porter’s ‘Anything Goes’. After that, Williams gets to work presenting his themes, of which there are plenty. Perhaps the best of them is “Short Round’s Theme”, a fantastic fully orchestral march which makes many appearances throughout the film, always to great effect. The other is the new love theme for Indy and Willie Scott, which is first introduced properly in “Nocturnal Activities”.  As you’d expect for an Indiana Jones score, much of the music is action-oriented, and Williams skillfully flits between the comedic and more serious elements throughout the score.  What sets the score for this film apart from the others is the fact that its themes aren’t carried over in the scores for the two subsequent films, and it also remains the only Indy score not to feature the theme for the Ark of the Covenant.

The first two orchestral tracks are rather dark and serious.  The first comedic element to the score comes in “Fast Streets of Shanghai”, where the character of Short Round first appears and is introduced with the first appearance of his theme at 0:20, though its only brief.  This track also features the first appearance of the Raiders march we know and love, which is played as Indy escapes on a plane, unaware that the plane is owned by the villain he’s just escaped from.  The next track “Map/Out of Fuel” starts with the Raiders march once again, and then gives us the first introduction to the love theme.  This is brief; the music then changes to a villainous tone as the two pilots dump the fuel and escape using parachutes.  The rest of the track has a sense of desperation as the characters try to find a way to escape before the aircraft crashes.  The next track “Slalom on Mt.Humol” accompanies the scene where they jump out of the plane on an inflatable rubber boat, then go flying of a cliff before finally settling in a river in India.

The theme for the character of Short Round is certainly one of the most enjoyable of any of the Indy themes, and is heard at its best in the end credits suite.  It’s a wonderful piece full of life and heroism, certainly one of Williams’ finest compositions.  ”Nocturnal Activities” is another classic piece, giving a proper introduction to the score’s love theme, heard throughout much of this particular track in a comedic fashion, though it gets a little more serious as an assassin appears and attempts to kill the title character, though the comedic elements remain as Willie screams at Indy through a closed door for not coming to her, unaware that someone attempting to strangle him was the cause.  Perhaps the two best tracks are “Slave Children’s Crusade” and “Short Round Helps”.  The first one is dominated by Short Round’s theme, the second by Indy’s, as the two characters help each other to overcome the evil forces.  The final two action tracks are “The Mine Car Chase” and “The Broken Bridge”, both of which are an immensely enjoyable listening experience.

As with most of Williams’ scores, the album concludes with a suite of the main themes presented in concert fashion; a most satisfying end to a marvelous score. All four of Williams’ Indiana Jones scores are superb, but for me, this is the best of them all, a score full of the reasons that have kept the composer at the top of his profession for nearly half a century. Seek on the 2008 Concord album without hesitation.

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Track Listing

1. Anything Goes – performed by Kate Capshaw (2:51)
2. Indy Negotiates (3:59)
3. The Nightclub Brawl (2:32)
4. Fast Streets of Shanghai (3:39)
5. Map/Out of Fuel (3:22)
6. Slalom on Mt. Humol (2:24)
7. Short Round’s Theme (2:29)
8. The Scroll/To Pankot Palace (4:26)
9. Nocturnal Activities (5:54)
10. Bug Tunnel/Death Trap (3:31)
11. Approaching the Stones (2:39)
12. Children in Chains (2:42)
13. The Temple of Doom (2:58)
14. Short Round Escapes (2:22)
15. Saving Willie (3:35)
16. Slave Children’s Crusade (3:23)
17. Short Round Helps (4:49)
18. The Mine Car Chase (3:41)
19. Water! (1:55)
20. The Sword Trick (1:05)
21. The Broken Bridge/British Relief (4:47)
22. End Credits (6:19)

Total Time: 75 minutes

Credits

Music Composed, Conducted & Produced by John Williams

Orchestrations by Herbert Spencer & Alexander Courage

Awards

The score was nominated for an Academy Award

Insert Notes

The album’s liner notes contain brief notes from the composer and director and extensive photography.

All images and artwork are Copyright © Concord Records

(1970)

Of the numerous adaptations there have been over the years of Charlotte Brontë’s famous novel, this 1970 TV film features Susannah York in the title role and George C. Scott as Edward Rochester, and was directed by Delbert Mann, who began his directorial career in live television.  The score was composed by John Williams, who was relatively unknown at the time but is now perhaps the best known composer in cinema history.  Jane Eyre was amongst the earliest of his scores to enjoy success away from the film it was written for, winning him an Emmy Award (his second) for Outstanding Composition.  The complete score is unfortunately long lost, but the remastered release from La La Land and Capitol presents over half an hour of what many consider to be amongst Williams’ finest compositions (though a few tracks didn’t actually appear in the film).

The album opens with “Love Theme from Jane Eyre”, beginning with a short orchestral introduction, the theme is then introduced by solo piano with a harpsichord accompaniment.  Woodwinds introduce a second theme with the piano now being the accompanying instrument.  This pattern is then repeated with a fully orchestral rendition, and the track concludes with a piano cadenza.  This particular arrangement is not the one that appeared in the film, but it’s no doubt a stunning piece of music.  Next is the Main Title, which opens with Williams’ theme for Rochester played on harpsichord.  After a few statements of the eerie motif for Thornfield, the main theme again appears at 1:27, while the Thornfield motif returns at the end to close out the track.

Of the rest of the music, “To Thornfield” is a delightful piece, though it is another that didn’t appear in the film.  A string led scherzo piece, it is introduced at the beginning by flutes and complimented throughout by other orchestral elements.   No less delightful is the next track titled “Festivity at Thornfield”, a Bach-styled string quartet presented in a cheerful waltz form.  ”Grace Poole and Masons Arrival” features the Thornfield motif accompanied by eerie orchestral performance which will remind many of the opening music from Raiders of the Lost Ark.  In “Meeting” we hear the Jane Eyre theme performed beautifully by a recorder with a guitar and viola accompaniment.

“Thwarted Wedding” is a wonderfully mysterious and then disturbing piece, accompanying the scenes where Rochester reveals his mad wife to Jane.  Next, “Across the Moors”, a string led piece featuring the score’s main theme is played as Jane escapes from Thornfield.  The track “Restoration” was created by Williams specifically for the soundtrack album in order to give the music associated with St.John a fully fledged performance, as in the film it is not heard fully.   It opens with solo oboe and bassoon over pizzicato strings, and then the strings carry us to the end of the track.  Finally, “Reunion”, closes out the album wonderfully with a sweeping performance of the love theme.

In conclusion, this is undoubtedly one of Williams’ finest scores from earlier in his career, and given what was left to restore from, La La Land and Capitol have certainly done a great job with this album, and any Williams enthusiast should seek it without hesitation.

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Track Listing

1. Love Theme from Jane Eyre 3:15
2. Overture (Main Title) 3:55
3. Lowood 2:25
4. To Thornfield 1:51
5. Festivity at Thornfield 2:08
6. Grace Poole and Masons Arrival 3:00
7. Meeting 3:07
8. Thwarted Wedding 2:37
9. Across the Moors 2:37
10. Restoration 3:56
11. Reunion (End Title) 4:22

Total Time: 33:42

Credits

Music Composed, Arranged and Conducted by John Williams

Album Produced by Lukas Kendall

Awards

The score won an Emmy award.

Insert Notes

The liner notes contain extensive information about the score and film, including a track by track analysis.  The liner notes from the original release are also included.

All images and artwork are Copyright © La La Land Records

(1978)

Having scored Richard Donner’s previous film The Omen with great success, winning his only Academy Award for his effort, composer Jerry Goldsmith was the first engaged to write the score for Superman.   A scheduling conflict, however, left him unable to do so and John Williams, who two years previously had been credited with reviving the sound of the “Golden Age” film music, was brought in instead.  Williams’ phenomenal work on Superman proved beyond any doubt that Star Wars and Close Encounters the previous year was no one-trick pony, and over the next few years with such works as his Star Wars sequel scores and E.T., he would deliver some of the greatest and most memorable film music ever written.

There’s not much point in trying to describe this score in any great detail.  If I say that it easily lives up to every expectation you’d have of a Williams score for this sort of film, and a great deal more, you can probably understand why.  The score’s “Main Title” is easily amongst the finest pieces of music ever to open a film, but like several other scores by Williams that have such great and prominent main themes, it’s sometimes easy to overlook the less obvious and often equally as good incidental music, of which there’s plenty in the score for Superman.

“The Planet Krypton” is a wonderfully mysterious piece, opening with eerie electronics and brass fanfares in a fashion that will remind many of Richard Strauss’ “Sunrise” from Also sprach Zarathustra.  The “Love Theme from Superman” is among the finest of its type ever written by Williams, a delightful piece, first played as a woodwind solo with light percussion, it is then given a glorious fully orchestral rendition. The theme also receives a fantastic rendition in “The Flying Sequence”, not least because of the wonderful sequence it accompanies onscreen.

Beyond that, other particular highlights include “The Fortress of Solitude” with its skillfully dark writing for chorus, and “March of the Villains”, the menacing yet comedic march for Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) and his sidekicks.  There’s quite a few places in the score where the music is reminiscent of themes from Star Wars, with examples including the thematic material in “The Trip To Earth” strongly resembling “Han Solo and the Princess” and “Destruction of Krypton” containing reminders of the Death Star motif.  Such similarities are easily overlooked though; it doesn’t make the music any less impressive or enjoyable for me.

There are several album releases of the score for Superman, of which the expanded and remastered Rhino release is probably the one to go for, though for a more modern sound and more manageable length, the Varese re-recording conducted by John Debney is also well worth getting hold of.  Either way, you’re hearing Williams at his very best, and in the words of Christopher Reeve “His soundtrack for the film is perfect and will always remain a classic.”

Rhino Release

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Varese Re-Recording

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Track Listing

Disc 1: (75:18)

1. Prelude and Main Title March (5:29)
2. The Planet Krypton (6:39)
3. Destruction of Krypton (7:52)
4. Star Ship Escapes† (2:21)
5. The Trip to Earth (2:28)
6. Growing Up (2:34)
7. Death of Jonathan Kent (3:27)
8. Leaving Home (4:49)
9. The Fortress of Solitude (9:17)
10. Welcome to Metropolis (2:11)
11. Lex Luthor’s Lair (4:48)
12. The Big Rescue† (5:55)
13. Super Crime Fighter (3:20)
14. Super Rescues (2:14)
15. Luthor’s Luau (Source) (2:48)
16. The Planet Krypton (Alternate) (4:24)
17. Main Title March (Alternate) (4:38)

Disc 2: (73:38)

1. Superman March (Alternate) (3:48)
2. The March of the Villains (3:36)
3. The Terrace (1:36)
4. The Flying Sequence (8:12)
5. Lois and Clark (0:50)
6. Crime of the Century (3:24)
7. Sonic Greeting (2:21)
8. Misguided Missiles and Kryptonite (3:26)
9. Chasing Rockets (4:56)
10. Super Feats (4:53)
11. Super Dam and Finding Lois (5:11)
12. Turning Back the World (2:06)
13. Finale and End Title March (5:42)
14. Love Theme from Superman (5:06)
15. Can You Read My Mind (Alternate) (2:56)
16. The Flying Sequence/Can You read My Mind (8:12)
17. Can You Read My Mind (Alternate: Instrumental) (2:56)
18. Theme from Superman (Concert Version) (4:24)

Total Time: 148:56

Credits

Music Composed and Conducted by John Williams

Orchestrations by Herbert Spencer & Arthur Morton

Performed by The London Symphony Orchestra

Album Produced by Nick Redman & Michael Matessino

Awards

The score won a Grammy Award and was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe.

Insert Notes

Includes credits and a note from Christopher Reeve.

All images and artwork are Copyright © Rhino