Intrada Soundtrack Forum

January 12, 1999

With this initial glimpse into some great album favorites I'm randomly turning the spotlight on something that's conveniently both old and new at the same time: THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE by Dimitri Tiomkin (PEG Recordings 029). First presented in 1964 as an LP on the Columbia label, later as a short-lived CD from Varese Sarabande, THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE is now available in a splendid new reissue on CD from PEG Recordings.

The film created a pretty dazzling picture of some of the events that helped bring down the famed empire. In widescreen splendor viewers watched chariot races, gladiator fights, large-scale battle sequences - and a radiant Sophia Loren.

For the picture Dimitri Tiomkin recorded two hours of music in London with over 100 musicians. For the album he prepared 40 minutes of the highlights. The album was a terrific representation of the score and yielded moments of spectacle as well as more intimate music.

The main theme of the film, underlining the love story, comes to the fore in the Overture, heard right from the start on organ followed by strings and later the full orchestra. It is a rich and sweeping melody in a minor key that opens into major, sings broadly and returns to its origin. Battle music for both the barbarians and the Persians is included, the former full of rugged rhythmic ideas with extremely busy writing and the latter colored with Oriental percussion.

A highlight of the album always was and continues to be the massive ceremonial music heard for the "Pax Romana" and "Roman Forum" sequences. Tiomkin provided the visual spectacle with appropriate flourishes of brass, infusing it with his customary busy writing, creating fantastic virtuoso portraits for orchestra. Amidst these highlights are the sounds of the brass using a "flutter-tongue" technique, an agressive buzzing sound from the instruments during the fanfares that still provides chills.

Amongst all of the above my own personal favorite track remains, ironically, a quiet one. "Resurrection" was scored for a climactic scene when Livius (Stephen Boyd) comes upon the slain body of his friend Timonides (James Mason) and a massacred population of gentle new citizens of Rome. The music is quiet, lonely, reflective. The melody used during this sequence was haunting and expressive, something of a hymn. For a score replete with huge passages and sweeping gestures this cue stood out as a moving reminder of the quality of musicianship and composition involved here.

The score wraps up in a resounding fashion with a grand version of the main theme in brass, the score broadly coming to a close in fortissimo in the major.

Tiomkin's high profile and highly honored career was nearing a close with this score. It was also a highpoint in his cycle of films for producer Samuel Bronston, the others being CIRCUS WORLD and 55 DAYS AT PEKING.
While not entirely neglected in the recorded area of film music Tiomkin has received less attention in the years of late than others from his peer group of the time, notably Herrmann, Rozsa and Korngold. Until the many other treasures Tiomkin created can be newly discovered and heard, albums like this new reissue of the classic FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE will be welcome indeed.

January 19, 1999

Saving Private Ryan When it comes to playing my favorite John Williams I'm in the minority I think. I'm in pretty good touch with a lot of the listeners out there; some of them in the film music trade itself, others just great fans. And I'm convinced I'm just in the minority.

And in what way?

Ask his peers and fans alike and you hear about those classic strains from THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, STAR WARS, SUPERMAN and RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. And of course, E.T. and JURASSIC PARK. Dig a little deeper and you'll get great feedback on the merits of CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND, maybe even JAWS.

And yes, I listen to and love them up, down and sideways. But maybe just not as much as everyone else.

And why?

Because I am too busy playing my OWN favorite John Williams music, which just doesn't seem to be anyone else's favorites. Top of the list: EMPIRE OF THE SUN. Every magnificent note of it. Hot on those heels is JFK. I might list the Prologue as my favorite single track of his. Then I seem to favor in no particular order: NIXON, ROSEWOOD, SCHINDLER'S LIST, FAR AND AWAY and SEVEN YEARS IN TIBET. And currently high on my playlist: SAVING PRIVATE RYAN.

My real favorites of his are the darker scores, the introverted or thought-provoking ones.

And about those more famous flashy "big" scores: I knew I was going to be in the minority with his much-argued THE LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK score. Most of the things I heard from people centered around disappointment. But not me, of course. I seem to choose this score often when desiring to hear the "big" Williams sound. The new theme (that first track titled "The Lost World") remains one of my personal favorite tracks of his as well. I would choose it over any track in the first film. I'd be alone I'm quite certain.

So I'm pretty hopeful that SAVING PRIVATE RYAN will surpass the criticism I've read and heard about and become a worthy Academy Award nominee for this year. It is probably my favorite score of the year. (Though I'm also incredibly fond of Horner's magnificent DEEP IMPACT and MASK OF ZORRO scores for this year, but something about those at another time.)

SAVING PRIVATE RYAN uses brass in a way that I have not heard in any other film score before. Not just in some heraldic fashion, or even in any "call to arms" military summons as might be expected. But in a most deep, dark and sonorous manner. Both trumpet and French horn are given numerous solos, but for me the richest material is in the use of the full brass choir, particularly in the harmonic language written. The lines are slow, solemn and broadly drawn. The harmony is often thick, dense, full of low thirds (that tend to give a muddier sound to a chord). And throughout the chord structure are just slightly unconventional harmonies, brief dissonances, various moving notes, all adding weight and depth to what become very original chordal patterns. These then resolve with rich and harmonious cadences.

The tracks are frequently very long, very well-composed pieces that offer ample opportunity to savor the harmonic flavor, and reflect on the solemnity and seriousness of the proceedings for which the music draws inspiration.

The "Hymn For The Fallen" includes amongst the orchestral color a chorus, and the climactic blending of the brass with the chorus is quite rich indeed. Other than during "Defense Preparations" (with some brief rhythmic buildup) the score remains in a dense, moving, somber and reflective style.

My kind of Williams.

January 26, 1999

1998

Ten Best Time. Ten favorite movie scores. Maybe not what the Oscar nominations will nod but my favorite choices anyway.
I'll disqualify LOST IN SPACE by Bruce Broughton. Listing this might hinder credibility due to our own CD release of the score.

In random order:

SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (John Williams)
DEEP IMPACT (James Horner)
THE MASK OF ZORRO (James Horner)
THE HORSE WHISPERER (Thomas Newman)
A BUG'S LIFE (Randy Newman)
GODS AND MONSTERS (Carter Burwell)
DARK CITY (Trevor Jones)
MIGHTY JOE YOUNG (James Horner)
AMERICAN HISTORY X (Anne Dudley)
THE THIN RED LINE (Hans Zimmer/John Powell)
MULAN (Jerry Goldsmith)

And ten worthy "honorable mentions", also in no particular order:

WILD THINGS (George S. Clinton)
GODZILLA (David Arnold)
QUEST FOR CAMELOT (Patrick Doyle)
THE AVENGERS (Joel McNeely)
PLEASANTVILLE (Randy Newman)
LES MISERABLES (Basil Poledouris)
THE SPANISH PRISONER (Carter Burwell) -No Album Available-
ONE TRUE THING (Cliff Eidelman)
MEET JOE BLACK (Thomas Newman)
HALLOWEEN H2O (John Ottman/Marco Beltrami)

My biggest "guilty pleasure" score of 1998: DEEP RISING (Jerry Goldsmith). For a movie this derivative of better films the score shouldn't be so much fun. It covers no new ground for Goldsmith, nor does it feature his ferocious action style of the seventies and eighties, but the CD has a strong opening track and it all just seems to work.

If asked I'd probably say SAVING PRIVATE RYAN is my favorite score of 1998 though I'll admit it perhaps didn't strike me as the best use of music in a film. I seem to recall the war and intense scenes were largely unscored and the dialog scenes scored and I was wishing it had been the other way around or something like that.

I was big on Horner last year and he dominates my list of favorites. I've been a loyal listener ever since he did LEGENDS OF THE FALL. While many wish he would we do more of the KRULL, STAR TREK II and WILLOW stuff I go in the other direction. I favor his more recent efforts and listen constantly to APOLLO 13, BRAVEHEART, TITANIC, COURAGE UNDER FIRE and his three from last year - especially DEEP IMPACT.

I think Thomas and Randy Newman both had a great year. I love THE HORSE WHISPERER (one theme in it reminds me of the late great Alfred). I liked MEET JOE BLACK but found the album frustrating to go through so I don't play it a lot. And Randy did a neat job with BUG'S LIFE, especially in the action music. Coupled with PLEASANTVILLE he had a high profile in '98.

Carter Burwell keeps writing neat scores too. I really (really) wish we had an album available on SPANISH PRISONER. (And FEAR while we're at it.) But GODS AND MONSTERS will do for now. DARK CITY was a neat movie and Jones gave it a lot of music. Atmospheric, richly dark, and mostly very exciting. His part of the album is just fabulous.

Anne Dudley went sideways last year and did a powerhouse score for a very serious picture. Anyone that locks her into comedy scores is really wrong. This one has drama and intensity to burn.

And then there is Jerry. I wish this composer would get that old spark back, or at least lose interest in doing such simple themes now. His greatness was linked to some of the most complex and incredibly fierce music of the sixties through the eighties. And when needed, the most haunting. That said, his work on MULAN was just gorgeous. The score gets short-shifted on the album but what's there is rewarding.