Intrada Soundtrack Forum

Besides LAURA of course, what other Raksin scores can you recommend? I briefly had his score to SYLVIA on LP, also to curious to know what his score to THE DAY AFTER is like? (a grim, yet very powerful film I enjoy alot)

Any not-well-know-but-deserves-a-release gems out there? How about LP's to be reissued on CD? What's your fav score of his?

Matt

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There is a RCA release that includes Laura, The Bad and the Beautiful, and Forever Amber. Raksin conducts the orchestra and it is a nice cd of his music.
Tom

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What Ron said. Those are about all that is available, along with the RCA Classic Film scores CD. Pity.

You might check your local library for something called Wondeful Inventions, or A Composer In Hollywood, orsome such title. It might include a Raksin CD with suites from THE REDEEMER, SEPERATE TABLES, CARRIE and FORCE OF EVIL.

If you have a turntable, check eBay for either SYLVIA or WILL PENNY.

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[quote="anasazi"]What Ron said. Those are about all that is available, along with the RCA Classic Film scores CD. Pity.
quote]

Varese released the original tracks from FOREVER AMBER (VSD 5857) and Fox Classics released a suite (about 27 minutes) from LAURA coupled with Bennie Herrmann's JANE EYRE.

I am partial to Raksin's FOREVER AMBER and WILL PENNY. The DVD of Charles Chaplin's MODERN TIMES is worth a look to hear David Raksin's arrangements/orchestrations of Chaplin's whistlings. Alfred Newman conducted.

b.

I second all the nominations above, and will add that the Library of Congress recording mentioned above also includes some extremely fun music he wrote for some UPA cartoons. My faves therein are THE UNICORN IN THE GARDEN and especially MADELEINE.

I did get to hear all of the music that Raksin wrote for THE DAY AFTER (he wrote more music than actually made it into the broadcast) in one of his classes (he had just recently done it). Some of it was VERY touching stuff written in his own non-symmetrical melodic style. He told us that in the final sequence, where Jason Robards interacts with a homeless man, the "executives" who saw it with the music were crying. Later, it was determined that it was "too much" and cut that part out. The title music is not his original writing; he adapted Thomson's THE RIVER music at the request of the director (I believe).

SEPARATE TABLES and CARRIE, both pictures he showed to his classes, were really imaginative and melodic scores.

(I'll make a couple more recommendations later after I've looked over his filmography.)

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DavidinBerkeley

"Ask [the director] where the camera comes from and I'll tell him where the music comes from" (David Raksin)

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DavidinBerkeley

"Ask [the director] where the camera comes from and I'll tell him where the music comes from" (David Raksin)

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DavidinBerkeley

"Ask [the director] where the camera comes from and I'll tell him where the music comes from" (David Raksin)

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DavidinBerkeley

"Ask [the director] where the camera comes from and I'll tell him where the music comes from" (David Raksin)

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DavidinBerkeley

"Ask [the director] where the camera comes from and I'll tell him where the music comes from" (David Raksin)

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http://www.mjefilms.com

I'm fond enough of his celebrated work [LAURA, FOREVER AMBER, etc.] but admit my favorite Raksin scores remain his unrecorded APACHE and oddly titled INVITATION TO A GUNFIGHTER. Hopefully I've been mis-told that music elements for both are lost.
--Doug

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