INTRADA Announces:
THE NIGHTCOMERS
Composed and Conducted by JERRY FIELDING
INTRADA Special Collection Volume 63
The Nightcomers (1972) was constructed as a prequel of sorts to Henry James' The Turn of the Screw, detailing what happened to gardener Peter Quint (Marlon Brando) and the governess Margaret Jessel (Stephanie Beacham) prior to their untimely deaths. Or more to the point, it chronicles how they influenced two evil children, Flora and Miles, who in turn devised their murders. Directed by Michael Winner, and written by well-known London playright Michael Hastings, The Nightcomers was the second of five films Jerry Fielding scored for Michael Winner, for which he composed one of his most diverse and complex scores. Fielding appeared to be intrigued by the film's two major conflicts. The first conflict is primarily visual -- a dynamic contrast between frequent shots of the pastoral, regal English landscapes and the similarly frequent sequences of dark, sordid happenings occurring behind closed doors. The second conflict is more internally dramatic, a battle between the malicious Peter Quint and innocent Miss Jessel for the well-being of the children. With such intense material, Fielding avoided composing a solitary theme to unify the story, or even working with a theme and variations approach. Ever the intellectual composer, Fielding instead created his own world of contrasts to musically shape and dissect.
Highlights of the score include the "Main Title," opening with a bright major-key fanfare for brass to herald the locale and follows with a classically imbued line over rock-solid harmonies to underline youthful innocence; the warm pastoral mode of "The Flower Bath" (a rarity of style for Fielding), and a cold dark string motif that anchors the score, first heard in "Bedtime at Blythe House." Miss Jessel gets not one, but two dramatically contrasting musical ideas, one painted with warm glowing colors in strings, woodwinds, and French horns to reflect her outer beauty, the other a cold string theme with violent brass and percussion sections to underscore her submissive, sexual perverse nature. All just a few highlights from this Fielding gem.
The complete score in crisp stereo sound is presented mainly in chronological order from the recording engineered by Richard Lewzey at Cine Tele Sound in London, rescued by James Fitzpatrick from oblivion when the studio closed down.
This release is limited to 1500 units.
INTRADA Special Collection - Volume 63
Retail Price: $19.99
IN STOCK NOW
For track listing and sound samples, please visit
http://shopping.netsuite.com/s.nl/c.ACC ... id.5768/.f
Also released by Intrada in 2008:
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