Screen Archives Entertainment: FILM MUSIC SOCIETY

CONVERSATION PIECE: AN UNVARNISHED CHAT WITH BERNARD HERRMANN

Mon, 20 Nov 2023 09:53:08 EST

$24.95

Composed by: Bernard Herrmann

Newly restored, premiere release of a 1970 audio interview with one of the most influential film composers of all time. 1000 limited edition.

1 Past Interviews; Being A Composer; Ghost Writing And Quality Of Recent Film Music 7:45
2 Writing Concert Music; Current Symphony Concerts; Opera Wuthering Heights 4:05
3 Working With Orson Welles; Creative Control; Pop Culture 5:31
4 Alfred Hitchcock And Torn Curtain; Hiring In Hollywood; His Film Music On Record 3:18
5 Reinterpreting His Film Music For Concerts And Records; Criticism Of Stravinsky's Views 5:58
6 Modern Commercial Success; Current Work; Opera A Christmas Carol 5:44
7 His Music On Record; Composing Music Today 3:47
8 Influenced By Charlies Ives; Network And BBC Orchestras; Local Concert Works; Preserving The Past 4:43
9 Concert Music And Free Radio Play; Offensive Commercials; Royalties; Classical Music Record Sales; Soundtracks Sell Movies 6:22
10 Music As A Living Art; Listening To His Own Music On Record; How He Composes; Controversial And Contemporary Operas 11:07
11 Film Composers He Admires; Rejecting Work; Disagreement With Hitchcock For Torn Curtain; Importance Of Self-Respect 6:21
12 Music From Hitchcock Films; London Phase Four Recordings; Opera Wuthering Heights Album Sales 4:12
13 Symphony Orchestra In Los Angeles; Zubin Mehta; Film Music In Concert Hollywood Bowl And Johnny Green; Ghost-Writing; Radio Programming On Film Music 4:00
14 England's Interest In Film Music; Trends In America; Early Days Of The Beatles; Engelbert Humperdinck; Goodbyes 5:58

THE WORLD WAR II DOCUMENTARY MUSIC OF DIMITRI TIOMKIN

Mon, 04 Apr 2022 00:00:00 EST

$29.95

Composed by: Dimitri Tiomkin

The Film Music Society is pleased to offer previously unreleased recordings of eminent film composer Dimitri Tiomkin's scores from four historically significant World War II documentary features.

The World War II Documentary Music of Dimitri Tiomkin includes nearly 79 minutes of Tiomkin's music from the Army orientation films of producer Frank Capra - 'The Battle of Russia' (1943), 'Tunisian Victory' (1944), 'The Negro Soldier' (1944) and 'San Pietro' (1945) - ranging in style from inspiring military marches to themes that underpin the despair of war, from American gospel and jazz to traditional Russian folk melodies, from the modern beat of the big band to the classical strains of Tschaikovsky and Rachmaninoff.

The recordings in this collection originated from 16 inch acetate transcription discs owned by Tiomkin, which were transferred to 1/4 inch magnetic tape in the mid-1980s by innovative recording engineer Bob Auger. The tapes remained in the possession of Tiomkin's wife Olivia until earlier this year when they were transferred to digital format for restoration and inclusion on this CD.

Accompanying these recordings is a deluxe 16-page booklet containing never-before-seen photographs and authoritative liner notes by Tiomkin expert Warren Sherk.

The World War II Documentary Music of Dimitri Tiomkin is a Limited Edition release of 1000 copies.

THE BATTLE OF RUSSIA - The 60-minute documentary was the fifth of the Army Special Service's 'Why We Fight' series. Assembled under the supervision of Lt. Colonel Frank Capra, the film is a sublimely assembled collection of authentic newsreel footage from both the U.S. Signal Corps and various Soviet sources. Narrated by Anthony Veiller, Battle for Russia is designed to clarify the history of America's Russian allies to military and civilian audiences alike, and to emphasize the importance of Russo-American cooperation in defeating the Nazi juggernaut. The film's highlight is the siege of Stalingrad, alternately terrifying and awe-inspiring. The musical score was by Russian expatriate Dmitri Tiomkin, who'd previously collaborated with Capra on 'Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.' 1943

TUNISIAN VICTORY - Like the military operation it celebrates, 'Tunisian Victory' is a joint Anglo-American project. Produced by the British Film Unit and the U.S. Army Signal Corps, the film was supervised by England's Hugh Stewart and Hollywood's Frank Capra. Running 75 minutes - unusually long for a documentary, even a wartime one - the film covers the length and breadth of the allied North African campaign, from first landings to final triumph. The film is narrated by Bernard Miles and Burgess Meredith, respectively impersonating a British 'Tommy' and an American GI. 'Tunisian Victory' was distributed to civilian audiences by MGM. 1944

THE NEGRO SOLDIER - During WWII, the U.S. government produced numerous documentaries, often under the supervision of Frank Capra, designed to build support for the war. One of the more curious entries in this effort was 'The Negro Soldier.' The structure of the film is that of a black minister who preaches a sermon to his all-black congregation. Over the course of 40 minutes, the minister recounts the contributions of blacks in American military history, from Crispus Attucks and the Boston Massacre to the men who served in WWI, along the way touching on the War of 1812, the Civil War, the exploration of the West and the building of the railroad, the Spanish-American War, and the building of the Panama Canal. Throughout, the filmmakers blend archival footage and Hollywood re-creations to illustrate the preacher's words, and even include a re-creation of the destruction by the Nazis of a WWI monument in France to African-American soldiers. The film then slips into a more general history, telling of Booker T. Washington, George Washington Carver and the roles blacks have played in such fields as law, medicine, global exploration, music, education, art, academia, and athletics. The second half of The Negro Soldier moves into the present, describing the crimes of the Germans and Japanese and filling the screen with graphic images of hangings, bombings, and bodies; following the sentimental story of a young man through basic training; and wrapping up with a slew of images showing African-Americans serving in all aspects of military life, from infantrymen and tank destroyers to engineers and quartermasters. 'The Negro Soldier' was written by Carlton Moss, who would become an important figure in African-American independent cinema, and the following year the U.S. Navy released a follow-up of sorts, 'The Negro Sailor.' 1944

SAN PIETRO - 'The Battle of San Pietro' was Hollywood filmmaker John Huston's first effort for the U.S. War Department. Scripted by British novelist Eric Ambler, the film, largely comprised of on-the-spot combat footage, concentrates on a grueling battle in the Italian stronghold of San Pietro. The Germans, making full use of the town's natural fortifications, dug in and began defending their position by slaughtering hundreds of Allied troops. The 143rd infantry regiment lost 12 of its 16 tanks in the bloody battle. Huston and Ambler concentrate on the men of the 143rd, sparing the audience nothing in showing the bodies of the victims, intercut with shots of those same unfortunates, grinning and gabbing in the hours before their deaths. The filmmakers fully intended Battle of San Pietro as an anti-war film, but the military brass, concerned that the relatives of the dead soldiers would be subject to undue agony by so uncompromising a film, demanded that the picture be recut, toning down the stench of death and emphasizing the resilience of those who survived. Even in its truncated form, 'The Battle of San Pietro' was strong stuff for a home-front audience weaned on the optimistic propaganda dispensed by newsreels and fictional Hollywood war pictures. 1945

Tunisian Victory (1944)
1 1M1/1M2 2:29
2 1M3 0:51
3 1M5 2:30
4 1M8 (Outtake) 1:05
5 3M1 (Outtake) 1:02
6 3M3/3M4 1:34
7 3M7 (Partial Outtake) 1:45
8 8M5 (Partial Outtake) 2:45

San Pietro (1945)
9 M11 (Partial Outtake) 2:28
10 M12 1:54
11 M13 (Partial Outtake) 1:48
12 M14 (Outtake) 0:41
13 M21 (Partial Outtake) 2:25
14 M22 (Partial Outtake) 1:41
15 M24 2:08
16 M42 2:11
17 M43 (Outtake) 2:04
18 M50 3:39
19 M52 2:43

The Negro Soldier (1944)
20 1M1/1M2 1:32
21 1M3 (Outtake) 0:28
22 1M4 (Partial Outtake) 0:32
23 2M1 1:33
24 2M2/2M2A/2M2AA 1:38
25 3M7 (Outtake) 0:38
26 3M10A 0:28
27 4M5 1:01
28 4M6 3:09
29 5M2 1:35
30 5M3 1:23

The Battle Of Russia (1943)
31 1M1 1:28
32 1M2/1M3 1:19
33 1M4 1:11
34 1M6 0:34
35 1M8 0:39
36 2M1 1:52
37 2M4/2M6 (Partial Outtake) 0:53
38 2M8/2M8A (Alternate Version) 0:38
39 3M1 2:50
40 3M3 1:07
41 4M2 (Partial Outtake) 2:09
42 5M1 (Outtake) 1:58
43 5M3 1:43
44 5M4/5M5 1:25
45 6M1 (Outtake) 1:48
46 9M1/9M2 1:44
47 9M3/9AM1/9AM2 3:18

JUNGLE BOOK (ARCHIVAL EDITION)

Thu, 24 Mar 2022 11:53:13 EST

$29.95

Composed by: Miklos Rozsa

'Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book' is a Limited Edition release of 1000 copies.

The original film music production recordings are available here for the first time, nearly complete, and skillfully restored and remastered from the last surviving transcription discs.

Rózsa's music shines on this new CD in a way it never has before. Featuring lengthy and authoritative liner notes by Golden Age film expert Rudy Behlmer, this is an album you won't want to miss. As a bonus track, we've included a previously unavailable excerpt of a rare interview about the score with Rózsa himself, conducted by Behlmer in 1974.

1. Main Title 1:30
2. The Jungle 2:47
3. Animals of the Jungle 4:45
4. Nato Runs Away 2:31
5. The Wolf Cave and Mowgli' Lullaby 2:06
6. Shere Khan Chases Gorofli from the Jungle 2:25
7. Jungle Lullaby 1:21
8. Mowgli' Mother 1:44
9. Among Men 1:03
10. Mowgli and Mahalla Go to the Jungle 2:35
11. The Lost City 2:13
12. The White Cobra 3:22
13. Shere Kahn and the Stampede 4:37
14. Kaa the Rocksnake 5:12
15. Night in the Jungle 1:02
16. The Murder 3:05
17. Fury of the Jungle 2:20
18. Mowgli Saves his Mother 3:15
19. The Fire 4:01
20. The End 1:34
21. Excerpt of interview with Miklos Rozsa and Rudy Behlmer (6/1/74) 24:44

'The Jungle Book' isn't always faithful to the Rudyard Kipling original (in fact, it seldom is), but 1942 audiences swept up in the grandeur of the production values and the lush Technicolor photography didn't mind at all. Indian juvenile star Sabu plays Mowgli, who having been lost in the jungle as an infant has been raised by wolves. While he has no trouble conversing with his animal neighbors (whose voices aren't as ludicrous as you might think, though we never imagined that a snake could sound like Lionel Barrymore), Mowgli yearns to touch base with his human roots; thus, he returns to the native village whence he came. With the help of his jungle companions, Mowgli rescues his adoptive family, his natural mother (Rosemary DeCamp) and the rest of the humans from the greedy machinations of villains Joseph Calleia, John Qualen and Frank Puglia. Adapted for the screen by Lawrence Stallings and co-directed by Zoltan Korda and Andre De Toth, 'The Jungle Book' scored a significant hit for its distributor United Artists, who really needed a smash at this point in time.

ALEXANDER THE GREAT AND OTHER RARE ROSENMAN

Mon, 07 Mar 2022 14:18:01 EST

$29.95

Composed by: Leonard Rosenman

The centerpiece of the album is Rosenman's original music for the legendary unsold television pilot Alexander the Great, which starred William Shatner and was a candidate for the fall 1964 season on ABC. Rosenman composed a massive choral and orchestral score for this epic set in the first century B.C. It may be the most ambitious score ever written for an unrealized television series.

Also included are 19 minutes of music from the original first-season library of television's landmark war series Combat!, composed and conducted by Rosenman in Rome in 1962; excerpts from Rosenman's Emmy-winning score for the 1976 miniseries Sybil, including an unreleased recording of a song, 'I Remember Me,' written for the miniseries by Rosenman and lyricists Marilyn and Alan Bergman, and performed by noted vocalist Shelby Flint; and selections from his touching score for one of Michael Landon's final projects, the Emmy-nominated Where Pigeons Go To Die (1990) which starred Art Carney.

Rounding out the album is his music for Body Wars, composed in 1989 for a project directed by his friend Leonard Nimoy, with whom he worked on Star Trek IV. Body Wars was a theme-park attraction at Walt Disney's EPCOT Center in Florida; the ride was a journey through the human body that was reminiscent of Fantastic Voyage, which Rosenman had scored in 1966. BODY WARS (1989)
1. Body Wars Theme (3:26)
2. Coming to Get You (1:39)
3. Ready Now (1:04)
4. Welcome Home (0:39)

WHERE PIGEONS GO TO DIE (1990)
5. Opening (5:44)
6. Dangerous Flight (3:01)
7. Dickens Returns/Closing (6:26)
8. End Credits (1:18)

SYBIL (1976)
9. Part 1 Main Title (1:59)
10. The Awakening/End Title (7:16)
11. 'I Remember Me' (full version) (2:04)

COMBAT! (1962)
12. Main Title (0:50)
13. Soldiers Searching (1:22)
14. A Hero's Death (1:00)
15. Enemy Territory (1:29)
16. Wartime Liaison (2:07)
17. Diversion (1:12)
18. Tortured Crawling (1:03)
19. French Café (3:48)
20. Battle (0:57)
21. Hand to Hand Combat (1:03)
22. Brief Respite/Finale (2:58)
23. Combat! March (1:01)

ALEXANDER THE GREAT (1964)
24. Main Title (0:50)
25. The Hanged (0:37)
26. Meet Alexander (1:32)
27. The Dagger (1:46)
28. Orgy (3:15)
29. On the Move (1:09)
30. Antigonus Dies (1:39)
31. The Pursuit (1:13)
32. Ada's Dance (1:25)
33. Big Battle/Conquered (6:35)
34. End Credits (1:21)