Bernard Herrmann: The Essential Film Music Collection

by Bernard Herrmann, Christopher Palmer, Nic Raine

Overview

Listening to any of legendary composer Bernard Herrmann's 48 film scores immediately presents the listener with the difficult task of deciphering the era from which it has been extracted. Herrmann managed to completely avoid the trappings of the pop culture compass throughout his four decades in the business, building a library of music that could be applied to films far into the future without the slightest hint of mustiness -- even Citizen Kane, his first foray into the world of film sounds as contemporary as anything by James Horner, Hans Zimmer, or Thomas Newman. Unfortunately, Silva America's two-disc, 28-track Essential Film Music collection, which allows listeners to sample some of the composer's finest work without investing in each and every "complete" score, is performed by the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, not taken from the original recordings. There is not a misplaced note anywhere to be found amidst the towering themes to the "Seventh Voyage of Sinbad," "Ghost and Mrs. Muir," "Vertigo," and "Taxi Driver," and not a composer yet busy in the world who has met the challenges that he set, but it sure would be nice to have a collection of this scope that featured Herrmann's original soundtrack versions.

Product Details

Release Date:	09/05/2006
Label:	Silva America
UPC:	0738572120825
catalogNumber:	1208
Rank:	45941

Tracks

Disc 1

1. Overture
2. Prelude / Finale
3. Nocturne
4. Suite
5. Suite
6. Romance
7. Memory Waltz
8. A Portrait of Hitch
9. Prelude
10. Prelude
11. Prelude / Nightmare
12. Scene D'Amour
13. Main Title

Disc 2

1. Prelude
2. Conversation Piece
3. Overture
4. The Twilight Zone, series theme (first year)
5. Suite
6. Prelude / The Balloon
7. Giant Bees / The Giant Crab
8. Suite
9. Prelude
10. Prelude & Farewell
11. Suite
12. Excerpt
13. Twisted Nerve
14. Excerpt
15. Night Piece for Saxophone and Orchestra

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Bernard Herrmann   Primary Artist
Nic Raine   Conductor
Gareth Williams   Human Whistle
Paul Bateman   Conductor
James Fitzpatrick   Conductor
City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra   Performing Ensemble

Technical Credits

Bernard Herrmann   Arranger,Composer
Christopher Palmer   Arranger
John Luard Timperley   Engineer
Gareth Williams   Arranger
Mike Townend   Arranger
David Wishart   Liner Notes
John Waxman   Manuscript Coordinator
James Fitzpatrick   Producer
Damien Doherty   Artwork
Rosilda de O. e Silva   Executive Producer
Reynold da Silva   Executive Producer
John W. Waxman   Manuscript Coordinator