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(1989)

Looking at Roland Joffé’s career during recent years would have a hard time convincing you that the same man was behind the 1984 masterpiece The Killing Fields.  That film was followed by The Mission, a film that could have been a masterpiece had it been better written and cast.  What it did, however, include was one of the finest scores in the history of cinema by legendary composer Ennio Morricone, whose failure to win an Academy Award for his efforts is widely considered one of the biggest musical injustices in the history of those awards.  It was pretty much inevitable that the director and composer would together again, and they did so on Joffé’s next two projects, this film and 1992’s City of Joy, and later on 2000’s Vatel.

Morricone’s score for this film has not been released before, so this 2011 limited edition from La La Land Records is the first ever album presentation of the score.  The first disc contains Morricone’s score, whilst the second contains the source cues and alternates.

Whilst the music is unquestionably effective in the film, it’s not a particularly rewarding listen away from it.  The military-themed piece that is first introduced in the Main Titles is what dominates the score, to perhaps too high a degree.  There are also elements of desperation in the score, particularly in cues like “Hiroshima and Nagasaki”.  The highlight for the majority of listeners will be the love theme, which is first introduced in “Above the Clouds”, and later receives a lovely fully fledged treatment in “One Thousand Times Love / Love is Ended”, making beautiful use of woodwinds and reflecting a sense of yearning.

There’s certainly some fine material here, but it does get a little repetitive over the hour long first disc and the alternates on the second.  The action music, whilst undeniably impressive, is a pretty unpleasant listening experience, and ultimately there’s only about 30 minutes of music on this album I’d want to listen to again.  Still, this album is certainly recommended for Morricone collectors, and despite its downsides, it is definitely nice to finally have an album release of this score.

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Track Listing

DISC 1

1. Above the Clouds (Theme from Fat Man and Little Boy) (5:58)

2. Fat Man Logo* / Main Titles / Mysterious Meeting / A Faustian Bargain* / Arrival at Camp (6:47)

3. Fat Man and Little Boy / We Are People, Not Numbers** (2:41)

4. 2 A.M. News / Groves’ Advantage / First Accident (2:22)

5. No Options / Madness and Suspicion / Oppie’s Reflections (3:13)

6. One Thousand Times Love / Love is Ended (4:31)

7. Icy Fusion Fizzles* (1:02)

8. Groves’ Madness (1:49)

9. Implosion Test / Bad News / In the Tank (1:46)

10. Human Indecision (3:15)

11. Give ‘Em Dignity / Secret File* / Guillotine (2:10)

12. Second Explosion / Pressure Oppie / Oppie’s Indecision / Against the Test (3:44)

13. In the Train* (2:21)

14. Critical Mass / Innocent Love* (2:16)

15. Merriman’s Accident (2:38)

16. Will to Survive (2:21)

17. Why Me? (2:23)

18. Do It! / It’s A Go! / Kathleen’s Goodbye (2:51)

19. Hiroshima and Nagasaki** (3:02)

20. Finale / End Title (film version) (5:43)

Disc 1 Time: 63:40

DISC 2

1. First Expectation (1:25)

2. Piano Source (0:42)

3. Celebration (1:01)

4. Fireworks (1:46)

5. Slow Dancing (0:38)

6. Go Dancing (1:26)

7. Radiation Blues* (1:37)

8. Sonata #17 in D Minor (Opus 31, No. 2 “Tempest”) (L. Beethoven) (1:03)

9. Danse Villageoise from “Dix Pieces Pittoresques” (E. Chabrier) (1:13)

Alternates

10. We Must Not Forget (6:10)

11. Mysterious Meeting (alternate) (0:54)

12. A Faustian Bargain (alternate) (1:41)

13. Icy Fusion Fizzles (alternate) (1:01)

14. Final Celebration (unused finale) (1:40)

15. Higher and Higher (5:51)

16. Innocent Love (two alternates) (1:33)

17. Why Me? (alternate) (2:24)

18. Final Celebration (alternate) (1:41)

19. One Hope (6:01)

Disc 2 Time: 40:29

* not in film

** contains music not in film

Total Album Time: 104:09

Credits

Music Composed, Orchestrated and Conducted by Ennio Morricone

Awards

None.

Insert Notes

The album’s liner notes contain extensive information about the score by film music writer Daniel Schweiger.

All images and artwork are Copyright © La La Land Records.

(2001)

Undeniably, Alfred Newman is one of the most important figures in film music history, generally considered, along with Max Steiner and Erich Wolfgang Korngold, one of the fathers of the genre.  Aside from being one of the most prolific composers ever to work in film, he is regarded to this day as the greatest conductor Hollywood has ever known, and in his tenure as head of music at Twentieth Century Fox, he was responsible for conducting numerous scores by other composers, and was also responsible for furthering the careers of such people as Bernard Herrmann, Jerry Goldsmith, and John Williams.  He was the recipient of nine Academy Awards, a record for a musician that remains unmatched.

If you’ve read this website for any decent length of time, you’ll know how much I love Newman’s film scores.  His score for How the West Was Won was the one that got me hooked on film music in the first place, and remains to this day my all-time favourite.  Many of the greatest scores from Hollywood’s Golden Age are Newman’s, and many of them are included on this compilation, one of many made by Silva Screen Records with The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.

The album begins, inevitably, with Newman’s most famous composition – the fanfare for Twentieth Century Fox Studios, which he composed in 1933 (though not for Fox, but for Goldwyn, who rejected it) and later wrote what is known as the “Cinemascope Extension” for it in 1953.  This then leads into another of his earlier, and finest, compositions, the Gershwin-inspired theme for the 1931 film Street Scene (a piece that he reused many times in his later scores).  Sadly, in this case it is given an incredibly rushed, and quite simply awful, rendition, which, fortunately, is the album’s only misfire.

Next is a suite of themes from what was, but one, Newman’s final score for Fox, The Diary of Anne Frank, a score that, given the subject of the film, is a very serious one, but it was Newman’s way of scoring the film based on the emotions of the characters, rather than the events on which the film is based, that makes it such a masterpiece.  Whilst the Overture and Finale are very intensive, emotional pieces, the rest of the score is more subtle, containing some of Newman’s finest compositions for strings (which is saying something, because he could get more out of that section of the orchestra than any other film composer).

Erich Wolfgang Korngold is remembered as the master of swashbucklers, and with good reason; his scores for such films as The Adventures of Robin Hood and The Sea Hawk are amongst the very finest that film music has to offer.  But whilst he carried out those duties at Warner Bros., Newman did the same at Fox, with such masterpieces as Prince of Foxes, The Mark of Zorro and Captain from Castile, the latter two of which are given splendid renditions on this album.

Following a rousing performance of Newman’s main theme to the 1956 film Anastasia comes an excerpt from what is considered by many to be the finest score Newman ever wrote; The Song of Bernadette, a stunning religious masterpiece that at the time was the biggest musical project ever undertaken at Fox, and only the second film score to ever receive a commercial release.  Newman is probably the only conductor in Hollywood history who had his own unique sound, which was known as the “Newman strings”, and this is the score that probably shows them at their best.

Closing out Disc 1 is a suite of themes from my all-time favourite score, the aforementioned How the West Was Won.  Newman is not associated with the Western genre as Elmer Bernstein or Dimitri Tiomkin are, but his work here is inarguably one of the finest scores the genre has to offer.   Unlike the original soundtrack album of the score, this compilation also includes a choral rendition of the main theme.

The second disc opens with a superb rendition of the theme from Newman’s finest swashbuckler score, Captain from Castile.  Probably one of the best marches ever written, and one of the finest pieces in film music history; a joyous, cheer inducing piece that nobody in their right mind could dislike.  Following performances of The Keys of the Kingdom’s Overture and Nevada Smith’s Main Title is a suite of several themes from The Razor’s Edge, all of which are great.  Next is a lovely performance of Newman’s main theme from William Wyler’s 1939 adaptation of Wuthering Heights.  It’s undoubtedly one of his most sublime themes, though some people are put off the score as a whole due to the domination that this one theme has on it.  Regardless, there’s only one performance of it here, so it’s easily enjoyed.

Despite being, by all accounts, not a particularly religious man, Newman clearly had an affinity for scoring films in the religious genre, with such scores as The Song of Bernadette (for which he won his first Oscar for an original composition), The Robe and The Greatest Story Ever Told being amongst the very finest scores the genre has to offer.  The latter two scores make up the piece which closes the album; the symphonic cantata Man of Galilee, adapted by Newman’s friend and colleague Ken Darby.  It’s a stunningly beautiful piece, with the lush orchestral playing joined by the Crouch End Festival Chorus as well as Alto Nuala Willis and Baritone Roberto Salvatore.

Ultimately, if you’re seeking an introduction to the music of Alfred Newman, I can’t recommend this album more highly, bearing in mind of course that it is just a tiny compilation of the vast number of scores by the composer who in my opinion is the greatest ever composer of film music.  With the exception of the disappointing rendition of Street Scene left aside, all the other re-recordings on this album are incredibly faithful to the originals, but with much improved sound quality, which is always something to be thankful for.  Buy with confidence.

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Track Listing

Disc 1

1. 20th Century Fox Fanfare (0:21)

2. How To Marry a Millionaire - Street Scene (5:10)

3. The Diary of Anne Frank - Overture (3:27)

4. The Diary of Anne Frank - Live in Hope (1:41)

5. The Diary of Anne Frank - The First Kiss (3:44)

6. The Diary of Anne Frank - Persecution / Finale (4:16)

7. The Mark of Zorro - Overture (4:41)

8. Anastasia - Main Theme (2:21)

9. The Song of Bernadette - Overture (5:28)

10. How The West Was Won - Prelude / The Land (7:10)

11. How The West Was Won - Cleve and His Mule (2:06)

12. How The West Was Won - Intermezzo (5:18)

13. How The West Was Won - Cheyenne Attack and Aftermath / Finale (8:07)

14. How The West Was Won - How The West Was Won (3:19)

Disc 2

1. Captain from Castile - Conquest (3:24)

2. The Keys of the Kingdom - Overture (6:45)

3. Nevada Smith - Main Title (2:24)

4. The Razor’s Edge - Main Title (1:44)

5. The Razor’s Edge - Seduction (3:17)

6. The Razor’s Edge - India (5:31)

7. Wuthering Heights - Cathy’s Theme (2:55)

8. Man of Galilee - Prologue (1:24)

9. Man of Galilee - The Promise of the Holy Spirit (6:45)

10. Man of Galilee - Rejoice (3:59)

11. Man of Galilee - The Great Journey (8:35)

12. Man of Galilee - Miriam’s Song (3:17)

13. Man of Galilee - Sunrise of the Third Day (6:50)

Credits

Music Composed by Alfred Newman

Orchestrations by Edward Powell & Ken Darby

Conducted by Nic Raine, Paul Bateman, and Kenneth Alwyn

Performed by The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra & Crouch End Festival Chorus

Album Produced by James Fitzpatrick

Awards

The scores for The Diary of Anne Frank, The Mark of Zorro, The Song of Bernadette, How The West Was Won, Captain from Castile, The Keys of the Kingdom, Wuthering Heights, and The Greatest Story Ever Told were nominated for Academy Awards.  The Song of Bernadette won the award.

Insert Notes

The liner notes contain information about Newman and the scores featured on the album.

All images and artwork are Copyright © 2001 Silva Screen Records