Intrada Soundtrack Forum

November 06, 2001

Sodom And Gomorrah
Composed and Conducted by Miklos Rozsa
Collectables COL-CD-6480
Tracks: 15
Total Time = 42:35

Hebrews! Elamites! Jehovah! Battles, storms, lots of salt! And, of course, those twin cities of vice... Sodom and Gomorrah!

Juicy subject matter for a movie in 1963.

What better composer to bring music to SODOM AND GOMORRAH than Miklos Rozsa. Actually, Dimitri Tiomkin was set to score this one. Illness prevented him from it, Rozsa took over.

Rozsa had dominated spectacles for some time. QUO VADIS, IVANHOE, JULIUS CAESAR, KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE, BEN-HUR, EL CID, KING OF KINGS. Yes, Miklos Rozsa was qualified.

Ironically, when Rozsa took on SODOM AND GOMORRAH it was the genre itself that was less qualified. Big, widescreen, "roadshow" epic spectaculars about the bible and Rome and all that stuff had been popular for more than a decade. But something was changing. THE ROBE and BEN-HUR and EL CID were popular. The historical subjects were a draw. But by the early sixties other kinds of big "roadshow" movies came into play. The cycle of huge, lavish comedy spectaculars started in the early sixties with IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD (or even AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS before it), continued with THOSE MAGNIFICENT MEN IN THEIR FLYING MACHINES and THE GREAT RACE and THE HALLELUJAH TRAIL and so forth. Big lumbering comedies that somehow took the stuffing out of the historical spectacles. Perhaps the literate SPARTACUS and CLEOPATRA just filled sixties audiences up. Who knows? But by the time SODOM AND GOMORRAH opened, audiences were growing tired.

Stewart Granger was somewhat beyond his prime. Stanley Baker wasn't really well known. Pier Angeli was on the way up, but not up enough. Limited star power, lavish history lesson, the bible. Success was limited.

But Rozsa's music. Colorful, exciting, epic... unforgettable!

Recorded in Rome under Rozsa's baton, mention here is due a unique - and wonderful - anomaly in the recording itself. Microphone placement provided tighter than normal sonics for similar recordings done in Italy. One such placement, intentional or not, seems mere inches from the third trombonist! What a delicious sound. Throughout the score, whenever things get thick, there's a crisp, meaty trombone sound cutting through everything. It's dynamic!

Rozsa fashioned a darker, edgier score than customary for his period movies. Dissonance plays a big role. So do octaves, open fourths and fifths, ideas where harmony is sparse, nonexistent.

In fact, the "Overture" begins with a violent series of octaves. A melodic figure soon enters, associated with Lot and the Hebrews, also stated in octaves. It's amazing how long Rozsa works his winding, swirling material with octaves alone. When harmony finally enters it emphasizes minor.

It's also interesting to note that Rozsa's two richest themes are both in minor. Along with the exotic, sometimes harsh music for Sodom and Gomorrah, the overall weight of the score is more intense, less "heavenly" inspired. Chromatic movement, raised intervals, stuff to give things edge.

That said, the pair of gentler themes are sumptuous. Interestingly, both are rooted in minor, providing somber weight, but inside give equal time to major harmonies. It gives them sad, yearning qualities.

The primary love theme is used during the central part of the "Overture". It receives lengthy treatment during the "River Pastorale" cue as well. The other gentle line occurs during "Answer To A Dream". One of Rozsa's finest tunes, it shares equal spotlight with rich underlying harmonies.

There are also marches, battles, music for violence. In fact, music for the twin cities of vice dominate much of the score. One strong motif, frequent in the movie, only pronounced once on the album, occurs late during "The Jordan". Following an intense, somewhat dissonant marching tune, an expressive melody enters. Though complimentary to the march, it represents the Hebrews at work, nobility, that kind of thing. Like the two earlier discussed melodies, this one shares spotlight with underlying chords that shift between minor and major.

If asked I can spotlight a favorite moment without any doubts.

"Epilogue". What Rozsa does to wrap the score.

Launching with his primary love theme, Rozsa states it in the established minor. As the cue develops you notice it growing in scale. Then, with a flourish, it becomes a fanfare motif for brass, in major. The theme has literally transformed! As bells ring and musicians blare, the tune plays finally as a fanfare for trumpets, a resplendant coda to end all codas.

The album for SODOM AND GOMORRAH has an interesting history. There were seemingly endless versions. It was first released on LP by RCA in both stereo and mono versions when the movie came out. Stereo copies were rare from day one. The collector's market in the seventies made them extremely valuable to own. A reissue came out from RCA in Japan during that prime collector's period, in stereo. A limited private issue prepared by Tony Thomas then became available for a short period, missing some tracks but including new material, albeit only in mono. A fully expanded, 2 LP version arrived from Italy next. In stereo, it was the best presentation to date. A CD finally arrived in 1990 on the Cambria label. Longer than the original RCA release, shorter than the Italian release, it had frustrating poor sound, in mono to boot.

Now a proper CD release of the original stereo RCA album has finally been made available. Though not expanded, the 42 minutes of music as originally presented provide a stunning, epic listening experience.

A Rozsa spectacular!

November 13, 2001

Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone
Composed and Conducted by John Williams
Warner Sunset/Nonesuch/Atlantic 83491-2
Tracks: 19
Total Time = 73:34

Lots of composers could write music for Harry Potter's first big screen adventure. Few could make his wondrous world really come to life. Here's one movie that surely needs music with a beginning, music that takes you on a journey... finally comes to a satisfying close. All with a sense of wonder. Exhilaration, excitement... WONDER!

The composer needs to be a great tune writer. Rich, soaring themes will be a must. There must be excitement. Busy, frenetic, musical dash up the wazoo!

Mostly, this composer should be a magician. Everyone on the planet and beyond has read these stories, fallen in love with them. Now the movie makers have turned the printed page, our imaginations, into reality, of sorts. We'll see what all the fuss is about, right up there on the screen.

The composer will have to be creative enough to point us in the right direction, start us on our journey, provide enough material to endure the trip, and finish while making us beg for more. It's safe to assume there'll be more Harry Potter movies.

To underscore our "first years" at Hogwarts, you'll want someone who can combine the creative fantasy of STAR WARS, soaring flight of SUPERMAN, energetic fun of INDIANA JONES and childhood imagination of E.T. To top it off, you'll want a few winks of diabolical mischief - something like those WITCHES OF EASTWICK received. You'd want the music funny, you'd want it scary.

What's more, you'd want it to be whimsical, light... sometimes. But not always. There are pretty wild things happening here. People and beasties of all shapes and sizes. This composer needs to go "over the top" at any moment, to compose pretty big stuff.

When you think about it, there's really only one person for the job.

John Williams is the man.

The album for HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE is a class act. It starts as quietly as they come, solo celeste to be certain. It presents numerous themes, goes up and over, soars, plays, tugs at the heart.

And it comes to a glorious finish.

Play this one and you'll surely want more. This one brings Quidditch to life. Anchors a chess match to end all chess matches. Conjures Fluffy, Hedwig, Albus Dumbledore.

And it paints a face on You-Know-Who.

John Williams fashions a main theme, a spooky tune tainted with mischief, then draws (on the album, anyway) a second important melody from his bag of tricks. Interestingly, both use a triple meter. The first plays in minor, the second plays in major.

That second theme is rich stuff, all meat and no potatoes. It's the kind of line Williams (and Williams alone) writes. Soaring melody, cascading woodwinds and strings, fanfare brass. Mixed in a bowl by this wizard composer, it's an incredible meal. When finished, it winds down to a gentle close. Not unlike an end credits piece.

And we've only completed the first two steps of our album journey. Onward.

Baby Harry arrives, magical music plays, chorus hides in the background. Celeste ushers in the main theme, chorus and strings lift it upwards. Variants follow.

Diagon Alley gets cute wizard-shopping-mall music, colored by frisky violin, then gives way to more weighty stuff. The journey to Hogwarts gets robust quotes of the main theme, then ushers in fanfares for upper brass. We enter the Great Hall to elegant, but quiet and dignified fanfares, then move in magical directions.

Highlights in the score are many. Here are just a few.

Hearing Mr. Longbottom fly. It's not all fun, dramatic moments do occur. Rich chords, vibrant French horn lines. The initial tune for Longbottom gets sturdy treatment, then comes back to the ground. The start of Hogwarts Forever calls for a massive choir of French horns. All French horns and nothing but. It's regal, full of stately melody, running figures, sturdy bass lines, piercing peaks of splendor. An amazing passage, and all for that most expressive of brass instruments. A full choir of 'em!

Quidditch time. Wow! If the game is vivid in J.K. Rowling's book, it's surely vivid in the music. For eight minutes Williams keeps you spellbound. New material abounds, fanfares, soaring musical triumphs. And lots of energy. It's one wild game. It's one wild cue. Music for broomsticks that go up, that go down. Ultimately, after a near hidden quote from the main theme, the soaring secondary theme takes over.

And that chess game? It's certainly an intense way to play. John Williams sucks us into darker, dramatic places. As it progresses, horns and trumpets elevate the stakes. Drums pound, the orchestra follows suit, the game crashes to a close.

There's even a moment for Williams to go down his own highly personalized, richly triumphant road. As we leave Hogwarts, our musical tour guide brings the curtain down with class.

Hedwig (the owl) corners the finale, getting a spectacular finish.

The journey complete, John Williams ends his score. With a flourish, with a bravo fortissimo from his orchestra, Williams brings to a close Harry's first big screen adventure!

I can't wait for more!


November 20, 2001

The Last Castle
Composed and Conducted by Jerry Goldsmith
Decca Records/UMG Soundtracks 440 016 193-2
Tracks: 13
Total Time = 43:06

First, a word of caution. When playing this album, remember RAMBO III came and went some time ago.

Cryptic? Okay, I'll explain.

THE LAST CASTLE is a strong score, but Jerry Goldsmith wrote his primary melodic idea several years ago. In fact, it was originally the motif that accompanied Rambo into Afghanistan on his third trip to the big screen.

It's hard to ignore this. Goldsmith harmonizes it with fourths and fifths, as in Rambo III. He plays it on trumpet and French horn, also like Rambo III. At least the setting in THE LAST CASTLE is peacetime.

Well, sort of.

The movie opened just days after September 11, 2001. The original marketing campaign of an upside American flag was jettisoned in favor of head shots and helicopters. It didn't matter. People had a war to follow. A movie about flags just didn't matter right now.

Too bad. They missed an okay movie, terrific performance, solid score.

Actually, part of the problem may have been the movie itself. Robert Redford is a tarnished general now serving time in "The Last Castle". Fallen hero, that kind of thing. He crosses paths with mean James Gandolfini (the "warden"), mingles with prisoners, incites the inevitable riot.

Gandolfini isn't really bad enough to despise. Guards are mostly soldiers doing their duty, prisoners are so decent you forget they're guilty of anything. Something seems out of whack.

There's a great flag scene, however.

Maybe in another time.

Interestingly, the movie can be seen as something of a game. Chess. The title refers to a locale, a building. It also refers to an important chess move. The game even plays a part in the movie. Ultimately, Redford sends in his pawns, knights, bishops to do battle with Gandolfini's team. Checkmate for real.

Jerry Goldsmith saw more here. Inspired playing by Robert Redford, expressive shots of the flag, courage, heroes, the military. Stuff he draws from like no other composer in movies.

His main theme features trumpet. It's been his solo instrument of choice in military movies for decades. All three Rambo movies contain lengthy trumpet solos. IN HARM'S WAY has some strong ones, ditto MacARTHUR, THE WIND AND THE LION, CAPRICORN ONE, A GATHERING OF EAGLES, many others. For THE LAST CASTLE, trumpet player Malcolm McNab even receives credit on screen. His sound is warm, emotional. Note worthy. (Sorry, couldn't resist.)

The main theme ("The Castle") plays in C minor. Basses are firm, harmonies are sparse. Nothing gets in the way. It's all about trumpet. No other instrument better taps into the feel of heroic figures standing alone. The main idea is a triadic figure outlining a minor chord. Extensions of the idea raise the emotional level, but it all keeps returning back to basics. The triadic figure. Goldsmith adds strings, French horn, snare drum, but nothing big nor demanding. Solitary mood prevails.

"Irwin Arrives" follows a similar path. Redford arrives, the chess pieces are assembled.

A high point in the drama occurs with Gandolfini punishing Redford, requiring him to carry large rocks. It's designed to break his spirit. Since it's Robert Redford this doesn't happen. The fallen hero moves the rocks, lifts them, stacks them. He also gains respect from the other prisoners. The game is underway.

Goldsmith follows all this activity but places his emphasis on the primary motif. While acknowledging there is action, Goldsmith chooses to focus on the fallen general now rising upwards. The tone starts in solemn manner, grows in intensity, finally emerges triumphant. A turning point in the story, Goldsmith mirrors it with a bold new idea, first in low brass, then upper brass.

Most of the full-blooded action occurs late in the movie. The riot. Goldsmith sets the stage for clashing forces with "The Count Down". Bursts of rhythmic activity in French horn, percussion give way eventually to strong quotes of the primary triadic figure. No longer suppressed nor solitary, the idea moves through brass over pounding rhythms. Ascending triad-like arpeggios in trumpets color the excitement. Everything moves directly into "Hold Them", at which point Goldsmith makes clear the original solitary motif has grown in stature, size.

In the strongest visual moment on screen, Gandolfini stares down at the battle. Close-up of glasses, determined looks. The challenge is on. Goldsmith mirrors the idea with relish during "Taking Command". With a virtuoso double-tonguing figure in French horn and trumpet, armies charge. The primary motif jockeys with a jagged, open fifth motif in low brass. Percussion pound. It's total war.

Without spoiling the finish, suffice there's a flag. The stars and stripes, the red, white and blue. Goldsmith tips his hat, calls the cue "The Flag". Amidst some suspense, he corrals his main material. Harmonies now grow in weight. The main triadic idea returns on trumpet. This time however, orchestra joins in, everything crescendos. At the climactic moment, with a crash of cymbals, the music peaks in splendid manner. Interestingly, at the height of this climax, Goldsmith draws not from his main theme but rather the ascending arpeggios from earlier action music. Here the idea becomes a stirring motif for unison French horns cutting through the entire orchestra.

Goldsmith closes the score with a reprise of his main theme in full, calling it "September 11, 2001".

Make sure you stop the disc here. A "work song" of sorts by Dean Hall otherwise shatters the mood.

An odd note regarding audio. Bruce Botnick recorded, mixed, mastered. He possibly boo-booed. Snippets of flutter seem to plague horn, trumpet spots. Anomalies occur, as with the similarly tainted mastering of THE EDGE.

Flaws aside, the score is rich and rewarding.

Music for heroes.

November 27, 2001

The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring
Composed and Conducted by Howard Shore
Reprise 9 48238-2
Tracks: 18 Total Time = 71:27

Think Wagner. Think Orff. Think both of them together. Add contemporary harmonies, rhythms. Sprinkle in Shore. You're hitting the tip of an iceberg.

No one's done a movie score quite like this before. Not in awhile, anyway. It's big, massive. It doesn't have one climax, it's got many of them. Huge peaks, dynamic moments of overwhelming power.

And heart!

It's not just big. Moments of subtlety, mystique merge with the mass. And when the gentle, pure sound of Enya enters at midpoint, it's not only moving, it's memorable.

Still, it's a sense of grandeur, of overwhelming power that stays with you the longest.

Shore writes in thick gestures. Wagner. Not just in terms of size. His harmonies are voiced in thick blocks. Octaves are reinforced through numerous instrumental families, everything feels weighted. It adds scale, mass that is seldom heard in movie music. Shore combines the London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Voices and the London Oratory School Schola. There's an assist from the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. There are soloists. Engineering up the wazoo! Your floors will shake, your ears will ring. Wow!

Architecturally, Shore does something fascinating. He opens with a combination of mystique and suspense. He begins to add darker material. Then he explodes in mass.

Yet, his centerpiece, his primary building block if you will, is a bold fanfare-like idea in broad, major sonorities. Amidst an almost oppressive mood of power, of despair, Shore anchors his musical structure around a solitary bright motif. It's striking, certainly effective. Adding to his massive scale, Shore actually creates a main theme and several smaller ideas as well but remains restrained in their use. It's the fanfare theme that binds Shores disparate elements.

Leonard Rosenman tackled an animated version of the famous J.R.R. Tolkien fantasy at the close of the seventies. In fairness, his music had to meld an awkward animation technique with an incomplete story. Tolkien's trilogy was reduced by Ralph Bakshi to roughly one and a half parts, with an unsatisfying finish. Even with the truncated material, Rosenman created a grand, epic work with spectacular moments. While producing the initial CD version of the score I enjoyed hearing Rosenman's anecdotes about efforts to put creative, even outlandish material into his music only to have Bakshi back away from it.

For the live action version, Peter Jackson has bigger ambitions. The entire trilogy, to be sure.

He's off to a spectacular start, music-wise. Letting Shore work on a massive, operatic scale suits Tolkien. It's a big tale, a massive adventure. Middle Earth, Hobbits, Elves, Dwarves, monsters and men, sorcery and sacrifice, friendship and love. And the ring.
Shore plays his cards slowly. It all begins in minor. "The Prophecy". Quiet strings, choir. Brass sneak in, crescendo, everything grows. Solo trumpet brings things to a close, a tune emerging.

"Concerning Hobbits" takes the tune, moves forward. Shore also begins to fiddle with his main idea, suggesting the second part of it. It's a distant relative, something to be unraveled later. For now the Hobbit tune dominates.

"The Shadow Of The Past" lets Shore tip his cards a bit. As the music intensifies, explodes, Shore adds an important idea with his chorus. Dense, symmetrical rhythms, a mood of darkness.

"The Treason Of Isengard" briefly introduces his main theme, then becomes the critical point where Shore quotes his primary building block. Interestingly, the fanfare theme plays once in it's proper guise, major chords and all. Then, as quickly as it unfolds, it sheds the appearance, becomes a dark, aggressive line for French horn.

"The Black Rider" and "At The Sign Of The Prancing Pony" combine energetic material with the symmetrical, oppressive sound of the chorus. "A Knife In The Dark" explores it further, affording the dark material moments both subtle and intense. "Flight To The Ford" spans an array of ideas from somber to powerful. The oppressive choral idea, followed by a virtuoso display of French horn, highlights.

"Many Meetings" finally introduces strong major harmonies to the fabric. The main theme is allowed time to emerge, develop on solo clarinet. Strings take it from there.

"The Council Of Elrond". The top of Shore's wide arch. First heard is Enya, a Celtic sound effective in movies as diverse as TITANIC, LAST OF THE MOHICANS, BRAVEHEART. It's the haunting theme for Aragorn and Arwen. This gives way - at last - to a major ringing of Shore's fanfare idea. Building through the orchestra, blocks of sturdy harmony, the piece climaxes in bright, major colors.

Having built the upward side of his work, Shore comes down the other side. All of his ideas, now familiar, get their say. The fanfare highlights "The Ring Goes South". Intense action closes "A Journey In The Dark".

A particularly exciting variant of the fanfare opens "The Bridge Of Khazad Dum". Intense material follows, then chorus, propulsive rhythms, action. "Lothlorien" becomes mystical, later solemn. "The Great River" uses chorus, but now in serene, majestic fashion. The fanfare theme is heard.

"Amon Hen" begins with mystique, grows powerful, becomes the stunning highlight of Shore's intense side. Mournful ideas follow. It's serious music, a set piece of the entire work. The fanfare idea brings it to a close.

"The Breaking Of The Fellowship" and "May It Be" play as one nearly twelve-minute finale. Emotional, rich music. Major themes are summoned, minus the darkness, without oppression. The fanfare theme gets particularly moving treatment. Celtic flavor returns, Enya returns.

Enya's melody jockeys with Shore's fanfare, both seek equal time. Enya's haunting theme takes over, becomes one of the most moving lines in recent memory. However, finishing this massive structure with perfectly-shaped final bricks, Shore's main theme gets one last quote, then gives way to a resounding statement of the ever-important, foundation-laying fanfare.

Interestingly, Shore climaxes his entire score emphasizing an open-spaced fifth. Your ear fills this in, naturally, as major. But you have to do some of the work. You get to think about it. What results is an incredibly strong finish, appropriate to such a massive, thought-provoking work.

Just how massive? Reprise, in a spectacular move worthy of the subject, has issued the album in not one, not two, not even three or four, nor five or six, but in seven - yes seven!! - editions. Musical contents are identical. But six completely different covers highlight the standard jewel box editions, a red leather-bound package compliments a seventh, limited collector's version.

Collect 'em all!