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  1. Timmer wrote
    sdtom wrote
    I do love Above and Beyond and I admit to being partial to Friedhofer.
    Thomas


    Me too Tom but Alan's choice was spot on IMO.

    I can't get used to al lthis agreeing - I need to come up with some unusual - and really personal - choices!
    The views expressed in this post are entirely my own and do not reflect the opinions of maintitles.net, or for that matter, anyone else. http://www.racksandtags.com/falkirkbairn
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      CommentAuthorMartijn
    • CommentTimeApr 23rd 2010
    Newman?
    NEWMAN?
    You chose that pathetic hack who isn't able to tie two notes together without a flourish of overdramatic strings over the brilliant and harsh innovation of Leith Stevens' The War Of The Worlds? I can't believe you would opt for such a safe, old-fashioned easy listen.
    It's like preferring James Last over Bach!
    I'm just too shocked for words.



    (Happy now, Alan? tongue )


    Seriously, although there is some STIFF competition this year, again from Rozsa with his enthralling and exciting Knights Of The Round Table (boy, those themes! How is it that every film then had at least three to four separate, concert-like themes? sad ), I think The Robe might well have been my choice as well. My balderdash outburst above notwithstanding, it's actually one of the cleverest things I think Newman has ever done, and a magnificent piece of work (which is probably why Newman would still refer to it musically decades hence).

    To me this is Newman's defining "spiritual sound", more so even than The Greatest Story Ever Told, in which The Robe is musically referenced throughout, incidentally.
    'no passion nor excitement here, despite all the notes and musicians' ~ Falkirkbairn
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      CommentAuthorDemetris
    • CommentTimeApr 23rd 2010
    ALFRED NEWMAN - the greatest story ever told.

    The theme
    ; of; the theme.
    Love Maintitles. It's full of Wanders.
    •  
      CommentAuthorMartijn
    • CommentTimeApr 23rd 2010
    Just a random exclamation, D.?
    Or are you ten years ahead of the rest of us? wink
    'no passion nor excitement here, despite all the notes and musicians' ~ Falkirkbairn
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      CommentAuthorDemetris
    • CommentTimeApr 23rd 2010
    Both; i am listening to it right now smile
    Love Maintitles. It's full of Wanders.
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      CommentAuthorThor
    • CommentTimeApr 23rd 2010
    Erik Woods wrote
    Thor wrote
    I love the Religious Sound, as you know, and Alfred Newman has touched on this in GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD and, partially, THE SONG OF BERNADETTE. But I've never heard THE ROBE. Is it in the same vein?


    Go HERE and listen to Show#1 Hour 3. The Robe comes on at 30:15.

    -Erik-


    Thanks. It doesn't really fall into the "Religious Sound" category that I love, but it's a pretty nice score. I loved the calmer bits, in particular.
    I am extremely serious.
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      CommentAuthorplindboe
    • CommentTimeApr 23rd 2010
    FalkirkBairn wrote
    1953 - The Robe - Alfred Newman


    I concur. Wonderful score! Right up there with "The greatest story ever told", if not better.

    Peter smile
    •  
      CommentAuthorsdtom
    • CommentTimeApr 23rd 2010
    It is your list and from the very start you said it was somewhat personal. My time will come with my list.
    Thomas
    listen to more classical music!
  2. sdtom wrote
    It is your list and from the very start you said it was somewhat personal. My time will come with my list.

    And I will look forward to reading your selections.

    1954 in a moment...
    The views expressed in this post are entirely my own and do not reflect the opinions of maintitles.net, or for that matter, anyone else. http://www.racksandtags.com/falkirkbairn
  3. 1954 - The Egyptian - Alfred Newman / Bernard Herrmann

    I think that I'm going to come in for a bit of stick with this choice as there's several other titles that are either seen as being strong favourites by others (Prince Valiant, Erik?) or are strong scores in themselves (e.g., On The Waterfront?

    But this score from two of the biggest names is full of wonderful music - and is a good example of how well two composers can get together (not physically though - I don't think that they met that often during writing) and produce a cohesive score.

    Although it's a cohesive whole, there is certainly two sides to it with Newman's more "religious sound" on the one hand and Herrmann's "inner turmoil" music on the other. Obviously I prefer the Herrmann tracks and this score again highlights well that there is more to this composer than his scores for Hitchcock films. Tracks such as "Nefer-Nefer-Nefer" and - particularly - "The Rebuke" are just so full of feeling.

    A word here about the availability of this score. This score has been given the treatment by both FSM and Morgan/Stromberg and I'd recommend both. Although there is a level of duplication of the music available on both CDs there is enough different music on either CD to warrant a purchase. If I remember, Herrmann's music is better represented on the Naxos re-recording.
    The views expressed in this post are entirely my own and do not reflect the opinions of maintitles.net, or for that matter, anyone else. http://www.racksandtags.com/falkirkbairn
    •  
      CommentAuthorsdtom
    • CommentTimeApr 24th 2010
    I have the original mono LP of the score on the Decca label. My father liked this movie and went out and bought the music so I remember somewhat hearing it growing up. I was quite unimpressed with the movie but do enjoy the music.

    On The Waterfront is an example of a groundbreaking score from Bernstein. I did a short article about the borrowing of the main theme by Goldsmith for L.A. Confidental. There isn't an OST of this but a fine 20 minute suite of material.
    http://sdtom.wordpress.com/2006/03/23/o … bernstein/

    Like you Alan Prince Valiant is extremely personal for Erik. I also find this a good rousing score from Waxman.

    One score that has gone relatively unnoticed is 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea from Paul Smith which would be my personal choice for 1954.
    http://sdtom.wordpress.com/2008/02/21/2 … 1954smith/

    And yet another interesting score is The Caine Mutiny from Max Steiner. The trivia on this one is it is the highest value soundtrack of any recording.

    So my ranking would be:
    1....20,000 Leagues Under The Sea.
    2....Prince Valiant
    3....On The Waterfront (If I was an academy member I would have voted for it)
    4....The Caine Mutiny
    5....The Egyptian

    One other interesting note for this year was an orchestral scoring nod for Henry Mancini for The Glenn Miller Story. He did write a beautiful song for this one called Too Little Time.

    If you've not seen On The Waterfront make an effort to. Well worth your time.
    Thomas
    listen to more classical music!
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      CommentAuthorplindboe
    • CommentTimeApr 25th 2010 edited
    I've never heard The egyptian before I must admit. I think my 1954 choice would have been The seven samurai. It's a very simple score, far removed from the Hollywood golden age sound, but that only makes me like it more.

    Listen here.

    Peter smile
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      CommentAuthorsdtom
    • CommentTimeApr 25th 2010
    The Egyptian is one to explore. I'm sure you can find some clips.
    Thomas
    listen to more classical music!
  4. Peter, I listened to Seven Samurai - and it does have some quite infectious pieces. But, it just too k so long to get started that it makes for a very difficult listen. I much prefer early Japanese scores such as Yojimbo.
    The views expressed in this post are entirely my own and do not reflect the opinions of maintitles.net, or for that matter, anyone else. http://www.racksandtags.com/falkirkbairn
    •  
      CommentAuthorsdtom
    • CommentTimeApr 25th 2010
    I wonder how many even have 20.000 Leagues
    listen to more classical music!
    •  
      CommentAuthorplindboe
    • CommentTimeApr 26th 2010
    Alan, I agree that many of the tracks seem to go on without doing much and hence the album can be a difficult listen if you play the whole thing in one go. But it does indeed also has some wonderful themes and great moments that are easy to love. I kinda like albums that are this way, because it makes it so easy to program the dull stuff out, so one is left with a short but extraordinary album.

    I only have a single track from Yojimbo so can't really comment on that. If it's better than Seven samurai it sounds like one I should try out.

    Peter smile
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      CommentAuthorplindboe
    • CommentTimeApr 26th 2010
    sdtom wrote
    I wonder how many even have 20.000 Leagues


    I only have 19.000 leagues. sad

    *apologizes for the bad joke

    Peter wink
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      CommentAuthorplindboe
    • CommentTimeApr 26th 2010
    sdtom wrote
    So my ranking would be:
    1....20,000 Leagues Under The Sea.
    2....Prince Valiant
    3....On The Waterfront (If I was an academy member I would have voted for it)
    4....The Caine Mutiny
    5....The Egyptian


    I have the march from "The Caine mutiny" which is pretty catchy. But that's about it. Will try to find sound samples of the others on Amazon.

    Peter smile
  5. plindboe wrote
    Alan, I agree that many of the tracks seem to go on without doing much and hence the album can be a difficult listen if you play the whole thing in one go. But it does indeed also has some wonderful themes and great moments that are easy to love. I kinda like albums that are this way, because it makes it so easy to program the dull stuff out, so one is left with a short but extraordinary album.

    I only have a single track from Yojimbo so can't really comment on that. If it's better than Seven samurai it sounds like one I should try out.

    Peter smile

    The only theme I tend to listen to on a regular basis (i.e., it's on my mp3 player is the one that's featured in the track "Kanbei & Katsushiro" - and it's a great theme). As you know with releases like Seven Samurai and Yojimbo there's a lot of short tracks and a lot of repeating of tracks/themes in these short tracks.

    If you have the main titles from Yojimbo then that covers a lot of what's on the CD. But I would recommend it if you enjoy the whole of Seven Samurai!

    Sorry, but 1955 will need to wait until another day.
    The views expressed in this post are entirely my own and do not reflect the opinions of maintitles.net, or for that matter, anyone else. http://www.racksandtags.com/falkirkbairn
    •  
      CommentAuthorsdtom
    • CommentTimeApr 26th 2010
    as the thought process continues
    listen to more classical music!
  6. 1955 - This Island Earth - Herman Stein / Henry Mancini / Hans J. Salter

    1955 was another very strong year when it comes to standout film scores. Many of them have very memorable thematic material that has stood the test of time to this day - The Gadfly, Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing. And there are several "landmark" scores - East of Eden, The Cobweb, The Man With The Golden Arm, The Trouble With Harry.

    But, I've gone again for a score that I have vivid memories of as a child. And I believe that the score has merit to be a worthy listen. Full of '50s B-movie music mannerisms - most obvious being the eerie electronics (with that descending scale to mirror the action late on in the film?) There's the romantic strings for the "hero" and his gal that's up against all that peril and the eerie music.

    The "action" scoring for the "Meteor Battle" late on in the film is what really stands out for me. Although, the music (from Herman Stein) isn't what you would call action music: rather, it's ramping up the tension bit by bit.

    A great score!?
    The views expressed in this post are entirely my own and do not reflect the opinions of maintitles.net, or for that matter, anyone else. http://www.racksandtags.com/falkirkbairn
    •  
      CommentAuthorsdtom
    • CommentTimeApr 27th 2010
    Well at least Herrmann failed to win another cheesy
    listen to more classical music!
    •  
      CommentAuthorsdtom
    • CommentTimeApr 27th 2010
    I would have given my vote to Gadfly, a wonderful Shostakovich piece.
    Thomas
    listen to more classical music!
  7. The Gadfly is certainly full of some very memorable thematic material, Tom. But, for me, the interest wasn't maintained in between.

    I'm beginning to find as the years roll on that it's becoming more difficult to choose. There's so many scores in the running each year now - and as the years progress there's more scores that have "special meaning" for me.

    So the choices could become even more unpredictable!

    1956, I think, is going to be between two titles - though neither is the score you may plump for, Tom.
    The views expressed in this post are entirely my own and do not reflect the opinions of maintitles.net, or for that matter, anyone else. http://www.racksandtags.com/falkirkbairn
    •  
      CommentAuthorsdtom
    • CommentTimeApr 27th 2010
    I patiently wait
    listen to more classical music!
    • CommentAuthorTimmer
    • CommentTimeApr 27th 2010
    I would have gone for The Man With The Golden Arm or The Gadfly. As for This Island Earth, it's been too long since I last saw it to remember the score.
    On Friday I ate a lot of dust and appeared orange near the end of the day ~ Bregt
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      CommentAuthorsdtom
    • CommentTimeApr 27th 2010
    As Alan said it is a personal list
    listen to more classical music!
    •  
      CommentAuthorplindboe
    • CommentTimeApr 27th 2010
    FalkirkBairn wrote
    The only theme I tend to listen to on a regular basis (i.e., it's on my mp3 player is the one that's featured in the track "Kanbei & Katsushiro" - and it's a great theme). As you know with releases like Seven Samurai and Yojimbo there's a lot of short tracks and a lot of repeating of tracks/themes in these short tracks.


    That track is my favourite as well. It's very simplistic, but that's part of its appeal. There are indeed several short tracks not worth listening to. The way I listen to the album is that I've rated all the tracks from 1-5 stars in itunes. I've then made a smart playlist with tracks rated from 3-5 stars, and if the search term is "Seven samurai", the resulting playlist contains all the tracks on the album worth listening to. This is why short or uninteresting tracks never really bother me, and the resulting listening experience is vastly better than listening to the entire album.

    I'll seek out some sound samples of Yojimbo, thanks for the info.

    Peter smile
    •  
      CommentAuthorplindboe
    • CommentTimeApr 27th 2010
    "Romance" from "Gadfly" is surely an extraordinary piece. It must be avaliable on nearly every classical compilation in the world, even though it was originally from a film score. Does the score have other great melodies?

    I can't comment much on 1955 besides that, as I don't have many scores from that year, and the ones I have I'm not terribly fond of. For instance "The man with the golden arm" is not a score I appreciate, as I'm not a jazz fan. The "Frankie machine" track has kinda grown on me though.

    Peter smile
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      CommentAuthorsdtom
    • CommentTimeApr 27th 2010
    Hmm is there another favorite Herrmann score?????
    listen to more classical music!