Intrada Soundtrack Forum

May 04, 1999

Goodbye Lover
1999
John Ottman
Milan 73138 35876-2
24 Tracks 36:52

John Ottman is one of the newer composers and boasts a pretty high profile already. He gained his first touchdown scoring The Usual Suspects for Bryan Singer in 1995, a neat movie in which he also worked admirably as film editor. He’s pretty active as a composer and is well represented on recordings already. Alongside The Usual Suspects there are albums including The Cable Guy, Incognito, Apt Pupil (also for Bryan Singer), Snow White-A tale Of Terror and Halloween H2O.

Ottman’s newest score came out recently on Milan. The exact age is somewhat interesting though. Goodbye Lover was shot two years ago. It was later scored by Ottman in March of 1998. It’s just becoming visible now.

The cast is reasonably intriguing. Patricia Arquette, Dermot Mulroney, Ellen DeGeneres, Mary-Louise Parker and Don Johnson. The director is Roland Joffe.

Ottman saw the picture as an "odd little film" and wrote music in an erotic and playful manner. Since the picture was a thriller with a body count the music needed also be dark and complicated. And while not always serious the score is never silly.

Ottman centered the music around the character of Sandra, a complex figure of evil and innocence. Sandra’s a bad girl who doesn’t quite understand what she does is bad. And she likes The Sound Of Music by Rodgers and Hammerstein.

Not an easy personality to catch. But Ottman does. He captures her sensuality with his sliding strings, solo sax and occasional trumpet. But her innocence is revealed with an abundance of lighter strings, glockenspiel, harpsichord and piano. An animated string figure keeps the mood suspenseful, plotting. And deftly, Ottman suggests bits of "My Favorite Things" from the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical into Sandra’s "theme". All combined, the music balances between erotic and darkly sinister, playful and innocent.

In tracks like "Sandra Follows" the intensity increases but the texture remains crisp, never too thick. Representing the occasional action side of the score are tracks like "Protecting An Investment" and "Goodbye, Lover". Both of those feature an abundance of challenging string effects and some neatly distinctive low trombone figures to punctuate the action.

There is a haunting and sad guise to much of the score too, and it is this portion I am most fond of. One such track is "Victims", a brief cue gently orchestrated with oboe in a minor key, moving through some dark material into somber ideas for clarinet and upper strings. The richest of these cues is probably "A Broken Heart", where the faintest trace of "My Favorite Things" evolves into a haunting melody for delicately played piano. My admiration is for the transparent scoring here. Ottman keeps the tone dark with his perpetual use of minor keys and sinister melodic ideas, yet uses solo colors and subdued dynamics instead of heavy-handed gimmicks. The results are often heartbreaking.

Much of the scoring uses the sensibilities of Herrmann and Goldsmith, two composers obviously of influence to Ottman. But he does more than imitate their musicality. Ottman consistently writes music that gets inside a film he is involved on. Not content with just nailing specific scenes on screen he goes after entire moods. This was his approach to the skillful music in The Usual Suspects and certainly central to the dark and twisted world of The Cable Guy.

Though there were numerous dimensions to capture in Goodbye Lover, Ottman has managed to create a remarkably cohesive work that moves between sinister and sensual with apparent ease.

Particular note goes to the recording, apparently made in Seattle, and engineered by Darell Harvey and John Mathias. No matter how intense the score becomes the recording remains stunningly clean and focused. There’s an abundance of tinkling piano figures, quiet arpeggios, delicate violin lines and percussive nuances. All are captured flawlessly. A lack of added low end to the strings or artificial reverb is a great plus too. The transparent colors of the music, even when aggressive and dramatic, come first.

Couple a first-rate recording with a terrific score and you have a another John Ottman touchdown.

May 11, 1999

The Mummy
1999
Jerry Goldsmith
Decca 289 466 458-2
15 Tracks 57:44

Jerry Goldsmith’s latest opus hit the stores on the same day as John Williams’ newest opus. I flipped a coin.

Imagine the rhythms from Mulan. Cross that with the strings of "Raisuli Attacks" from The Wind And The Lion. Mix in a prominent French horn section. You’re on path with The Mummy.

The French horn plays a major role in this score. Goldsmith uses it often in his work; here it carries the main theme and much of the rest of the score too. And another characteristic. A lot of action music. Lengthy cues with aggressive rhythms. Plus there is a chorus. And drums. Lots of drums.

One thing I am always a huge fan of. A score with a theme that is hit upon, tossed about, played with, but not fully realized until the end. What Bruce Broughton did with Tombstone, for example. And Goldsmith does something to that effect here. There is a main idea, first hinted at prominently by horns and trumpets a minute and a half into the third track ("Tauger Attack"), an action cue. It’s a scale-like idea, first rising then falling back down. The motif emerges in a more defined fashion with harmony during the fifth track ("Night Boarders"), another action cue. Getting similar treatment throughout the score, it finally emerges a dynamic theme for French horns about two minutes into the final track ("The Sand Volcano").

True to Goldsmith’s style, there are other recurring melodies, some used as often as the main theme. One of the important ones is introduced early in the first track ("Imhotep"), dramatically on (what else?) French horns. This initial track also presents another major theme, heard amongst the woodwinds and soaring violins.

Other tracks bring a lot of contrast to the fore. Track two ("The Sarcophagus") jabs and pulses with spitting trumpet figures, trombone outbursts and choral chanting. There is also a lot of suitably dark material for track eight ("The Crypt"), highlighted by growling low brass.

There is a quieter side on occasion, one such theme introduced in the first track, suggested during track four ("Giza Port") and developed richly during the final track. Yet another facet is the myriad of light percussive nuances coupled with electronics to give a suitable aura of the desert, of the vast sands of time.

But keeping it all moving are those relentless rhythms, pounding throughout tracks like eleven ("My Favorite Plague"), twelve ("Crowd Control"), and much of thirteen ("Rebirth"). That last cue is, in fact, an eight-minute highlight of the score, climaxing in a stirring variant of the main theme for - yes, you guessed it - those invincible French horns.

And just to keep action to the fore, track fourteen ("The Mummy") takes the main theme and runs it up against a variety of aggressive ideas showcasing the percussion. It’s another long ride, lasting over six minutes.

I certainly don’t know how the actual sessions in London ended but I can imagine at some point near the finish hearing Goldsmith exclaim loudly, "Thank God someone invented the French horn!"

Praise also to an incredibly clean and vibrant recording by our own Excalibur Collection engineer, the practically perfect Mike Ross-Trevor. After all, he’s the one who captured those French horns.

May 18, 1999

The Lion's Roar
Classic M-G-M Film Scores 1935-1965
Various Composers
Rhino 75701
2 Discs Total Time 157:12

With this generous two-disc set one will will find some thirty years of scoring at M-G-M. No songs, no source tracks. Just background scores. Carefully restored from original elements, many in stereo, all of them now very much in the foreground. In roughly chronological order no less.

My overwhelming favorite disc is the second. The fifties and sixties. And Home From The Hill and Cimarron. But the early material on the first disc is pretty significant stuff to be sure. It’s a great set, leaving me with only one quibble. I'll clarify later. There’s too much great stuff here to point out first.

No matter what age is involved, the elements mostly shine. The very old things sound okay and are carefully annotated as to any deficiency. Things that survived in stereo (a lot of them!) are pure bliss. The package comes with a terrific booklet. Nearly fifty pages of exhaustive notes on the pictures, the composers, the legacy of the M-G-M scoring scene.

Much of the material has been available before. But if you're reading this column you are most likely interested in the real taste treats - the previously unreleased music. And there’s lots of it. Herrmann, Waxman, Kaper, Previn, North, Mancini. Finally something by George Bassman. And Home From The Hill and Cimarron.

If Herbert Stothart is new to you here is a reasonably varied sampling. All previously unavailable. Listen to his approach with M-G-M’s original 1935 filming of the famous Mutiny On The Bounty. Sample his work on The Good Earth, Random Harvest and The Yearling. While I admire those it’s the suite from his The Wizard Of Oz that makes it for me. Maybe it's the familiarity. Maybe it’s just more interesting. Most likely it's because the suite contains (in stereo) my singular favorite Stothart moment, in the field of poppies when Dorothy and clan first sight Emerald City.

George Bassman, so rarely recorded (considering his importance), is touched upon with a tidbit from his 1945 music to The Clock. Bronislau Kaper has an enjoyable mini-suite from his score to Lili and gets a few moments with Invitation.

But disc one boils down to a triple threat: Rozsa, North and Previn. Three debuts on disc. Bad Day At Black Rock is a magnificent example of the ferocity Andre Previn could put into music. Here we have the main title. The strings are unrelenting, the brass pungent and piercing, the lines sharp and angled. It’s got energy to burn. Moving over to Alex North we get a selection from his 1955 score for I'll Cry Tomorrow. It shows us both the jazzy character of his smoldering fifties work and a taste of his more melodic orchestral writing for strings. And Rozsa gets a segment from Lust For Life as recorded for the actual soundtrack (not the later re-recording he made for Decca). Anyone who has ever asked me about favorites knows this score to be my choice of the fifties.

But on to that second disc.

It has some familiar stuff: Ben-Hur, How The West Was Won, Mutiny On The Bounty (the Bronislau Kaper sixties remake), A Patch Of Blue, King Of Kings, Raintree County. That’s some of the best film music you can get. But there’s new music here too. From Some Came Running we get not the re-recording Elmer Bernstein prepared for Capitol, but his genuine original soundtrack. It's impressive. And in like fashion, and a big deal for Goldsmith junkies, from The Prize we have the opening and closing of the score. Not the brief re-recording Jerry put together for MGM Records but the original, and vastly superior, original stereo soundtrack sessions. The opening piece is energetic and vital, brimming with Goldsmith rhythms and excitement. And for the first time on any recording we get his similarly energetic, richly dynamic finale to the score. It’s prime Goldsmith. I only wish this were longer, or complete! The stuff dreams are made...

For anyone interested in Bernard Herrmann the lengthy suite from his 1965 score to Joy In The Morning is going to be a pretty big highlight. Scored in similar fashion to Marnie, with an emphasis on his romantic side, the suite presents some expressive Herrmann music in terrific stereo sound.

Henry Mancini gets a nod with his early sixties score for Bachelor In Paradise. His melodic gifts are certainly apparent. Wish this one were longer too.

And then there is Home from The Hill and Cimarron. With a nod to the Herrmann music, I suppose this is what the set comes down to for me. The segments are longer, each over six minutes, so that probably contributes. But the music.

Cimarron was one of Franz Waxman's last scores. Dating from 1960, that year of legendary proportions for movie music (Spartacus, The Alamo, The Magnificent Seven, Exodus and so forth) it is simply one of Waxman’s best. For those familiar with Taras Bulba it might be fun to discover those wildly exciting Cossack rhythms had their origin here. Not in Russia but on our own plains of Oklahoma! Waxman pumped his all into this expansive Edna Ferber tale. The score (like 1962's Taras Bulba) places an angular theme against a driving rhythm. Not a sweeping or expansive Americana kind of score, a more rugged and propulsive one. Heard here in stereo, with incredibly clean sound, the sheer power of the score is apparent. Maybe a whole album someday.

And 1960 was also the year of Home From The Hill. One of the richest main themes in movie music. Bronislau Kaper was one composer whom, after decades of quality "golden age" music, suddenly opened up and flourished prior to his end - so to speak. Without a doubt his richest music came in the sixties, things like Mutiny On The Bounty and Lord Jim. And Home From The Hill.

It’s a lengthy score so this eight-minute suite really just gets you started. It samples both the stirring, passioned main theme (for Robert Mitchum and sons) and some intense action music for the outdoor scenes. But it’s that theme. I figure when it comes to great melodic ideas, this would be one of the ones to beat.

So my only quibble.

Remember George Bassman? That under-recorded chap? Where’s his finest hour?

Everyone could list endless omissions in compilations like this that attempt to cover decades. But my omission really makes sense. Really. And this one is even a truly great MGM movie to boot.

Many folks (myself included) feel Sam Peckinpah's finest picture wasn't The Wild Bunch (his most celebrated) but rather a much earlier elegy to the western genre, nobly titled Ride The High Country. It starred Randolph Scott and Joel McCrea in their finest hour. It sported early appearances by Peckinpah regulars like L.Q. Jones and Warren Oates. It even had a similar story, the aged gunfighters, the two sides of the law, a final showdown head on with the opposition. And it had a moving score by George Bassman.

Scored with little emphasis on rhythm or vitality, the music instead was solemn, expressive, frequently in a minor key. Bassman captured in a single theme both the outdoors locale and the elegiac storyline. It’s a truly memorable score. And a sad omission.

But I just know Rhino is gonna do a sequel to this set. They have to. They'll read this, discover the error of their ways, add the complete Prize, Home From The Hill, Cimarron, Bachelor In Paradise. Plus the entire George Bassman omission.

A great thirty-two CD set it'll be.

May 25, 1999

Amazing Stories
"The Mission" (John Williams)
"Dorothy And Ben" (Georges Delerue)
Varese Sarabande VSD-5941
18 Tracks Total Time = 41:27

There was a lot of hype for this 1985 TV series. I recall being excited to hear it would be broadcast in stereo, pretty uncommon then. Having read in the papers John Williams was scoring the theme gave me reason enough to catch the debut.

The first episode in September was called Ghost Train, featuring a score by Williams, directing by Steven Spielberg. How could it miss?

The opening theme worked wonders for me. Kind of like a one-minute version of one of those many Williams fanfares for the Olympics and stuff. It started with French horns and quickly turned into a soaring trumpet theme. Strings came in with another tune of their own, the trumpets hit their stride one more time and a quick flourish for everyone brought it to a close. No, it wasn't gonna miss.

But it kinda did.

Somehow the actual show just left me wondering where the "amazing" was. Oh well. I was hooked enough to catch the next installment. It came in the form of The Main Attraction, directed by Matthew Robbins with music by Craig Safan. Two fine artists they are, but an "amazing" story it wasn't. I was lowering expectations fast.

The third show was different. Alamo Jobe had a director I wasn't too familiar with, Michael Moore, but music by a composer I was familiar with, James Horner. Not only was the show reasonably good but the score was terrific. This was more like it.

I laughed at the next one, Mummy, Daddy, liked the music by Danny Elfman and Steve Bartek well enough. But it looked like this series just wasn't gonna ever truly hit bullseye.

And then came The Mission. Spielberg directed young Kevin Costner (praised earlier that year in the star-making Silverado) and again had John Williams on the podium putting music to picture. The usual half hour was upped to an hour. The canvas was World War II in the air.

Bullseye.

The show played like a fable. Part of it focused on a final bombing mission. Characters included the captain (Costner), several crew members (including Kiefer Sutherland and John Philbin) and a belly gunner (Casey Siemaszko). The bigger part, the "amazing" part, featured an air battle, a damaged plane low on fuel, the belly gunner in peril, a miracle of sorts, and finally a very moving end. All of it worked beautifully. One of TV’s finer hours.

The episode had over 25 minutes of music. This new Varese Sarabande album presents it all.

John Williams anchored his score around an arching theme heard early in "The Mission" and touched upon throughout. The music really gains a sense of urgency during "The Captain's Frustration" as Costner recognizes his dilemma -- an injured plane without fuel won’t stay up, landing a plane without gear will crush the belly gunner. More suspense is generated during "The Parachute", a failed attempt to lower a lifeline to the belly gunner.

The story really grows tense as the belly gunner awaits his fate, his friend preparing to shoot him in an act of mercy, the captain struggling to get wheels, a miracle, anything. Family awaits on the ground. A priest. And Williams is right there in the thick of it.

The final ten minutes or so were "amazing". With a tremendous buildup of suspense in the music, particularly a jagged figure for low piano and later trombones, the gun appears, the act of mercy nears, the captain struggles. Suddenly the belly gunner, sometimes a cartoonist, grabs his pencil and paper, whips out a cartoon. A plane -- his plane -- landing with huge wheels, cartoon wheels, the most amazing wheels any plane ever had.

And those wheels appear.

It was a moment begging for music out of the heavens. Williams delivered, and it arrives with a powerful chord in the brass and a soaring variant of the main theme. Major chords predominate, swirling strings rush about, the captain gets his miracle.

But there was still more to come. The plane lands but the crew disembarks to stare in awe at the cartoon wheels that kept them alive. They bring the (happily) sleeping belly gunner out of his turret to share the moment. Some guys get all the luck. As each crew member affectionately rubs the top of the gunner's head, Williams does what he does best. Delivers rich and moving music. The entire scene is scored, from delicate, ethereal sounds capturing a sense of wonder, to a powerful climactic crescendo as each crew member comes together with their miracle.

Worth the price of the CD alone.

However, as a bonus, a second episode appears, called Dorothy And Ben. This time Georges Delerue gets the spotlight for twelve minutes of what he did with such grace. Write gentle music. As I never saw the episode I can only relate it to the informative notes given in the packaging by Bob Townson. The episode sounds to be quite moving, elegiac. The music is certainly gentle, albeit a bit fragmented and aloof for the first part, warmer towards the end. The last track ("Dorothy") has Delerue opening up in a truly outstanding show of melody with melancholy.

To bookend the album the main and end titles by Williams do appear. Conductors for this terrific recording are Joel McNeely (the Williams music) and John Debney (the Delerue part). The competent playing comes from the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Frequent collaborators with Townson on classic film music, this is one of the best albums they have collectively assembled to date.

As other episodes received music by Bruce Broughton, Jerry Goldsmith, James Horner, Alan Silvestri, Thomas Newman and a host of others, one really does hope Varese Sarabande is simply giving us the first of many albums on Amazing Stories.