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Masters
and Commanders –
music from seafaring film classics
Alfred
NEWMAN (1901-1970)
1. Conquest from
Captain from Castile [3:35]; Miklos
ROZSA (1907-1995)
2. The Mayflower
from Plymouth Adventure [3:56];
Klaus
BADELT (b.1968)
3. The Medallion Calls [1:13]; 4. The
Black Pearl [2:19]; 5. He’s a Pirate [1:16];
from Pirates of the Caribbean: The
Curse of the Black Pearl; Hans
ZIMMER (b.1957)
6. Jack Sparrow
[4:06]; 7. Hornpipe [1:22]; from Pirates
of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest;Erich
Wolfgang KORNGOLD (1897-1957)
8. Overture to
Captain Blood [3:22]; Luigi
BOCCHERINI (1743-1805)
9. Los Manolos
(from La Musica Notturna delle Strade
di Madrid) from Master and Commander:
The Far Sideof the World [3:27];
Elmer
BERNSTEIN (1922-2004)
10. Prelude [3:17];
11. Out to Sea [3:21]; from The Buccaneer;
Franz
WAXMAN (1906-1967)
12. Overture to
Anne of the Indies [4:19]; Henry
MANCINI (1924-1994)
13. Arctic Whale
Hunt from The White Dawn [3:42];
KORNGOLD
14. Suite from
The Sea Hawk [5:31]; Bronislau
KAPER (1902-1983)
15. Main Title from Mutiny on the Bounty
[2:07]; WAXMAN
16. Suite from
Captains Courageous [5:37]; Morton
GOULD (1913-1996)
17. Main Title
("The Ship") from Windjammer [3:04];
John
DEBNEY (b.1956) 18.
End Title from Cutthroat Island [5:08]
The Cincinnati Pops Orchestra/Erich Kunzel
TELARC CD-80682 [61:42]
For
all lovers of film music and seafaring
films in particular this is a must.
It was Miklos Rozsa in his book "Double
Life" who explained, as the title
suggests, that he had a difficult job
in persuading people that his mainstream
classical music writing was serious
and that he shouldn’t be "written
off" as simply a writer of music
for films who had nothing else to say.
By this I don’t mean to say that composers
of music for films alone shouldn’t be
taken seriously either. It is clear
that the discipline of writing music
of specific lengths with tight deadlines
and sometimes without even seeing the
film first is a huge demand on the great
skills such people have. Nor would I
wish to suggest that their music cannot
stand the test of time away from the
films and down the years. It may not
always be true but this disc is packed
with music that will survive. The dedication
of such composers is no less amazing
– Rozsa spent no less that a year and
a half researching for one film and
long periods of time on all his film
scores. One of Korngold’s film scores
ran to no less that 90 minutes of music.
This disc, which I hope is only one
of a series - plenty more music for
seafaring films out there - has some
truly memorable music and all unmistakably
connected with the sea. Those who are
film music buffs will be pleased to
note that the disc includes classic
scores from Rozsa, Korngold (Captain
Blood and The Sea Hawk),
Bernstein, Waxman and Henry Mancini
among others. Those who are perhaps
new to such films but who have warmed
to the antics of Johnny Depp (aka Captain
Jack Sparrow) will be pleased to know
the disc includes music from two of
the series by different composers. The
second, Hans Zimmer, has managed to
weave a suggestion of Klaus Badelt’s
music from the first film into his own
to keep a continuity – clever! One message
that comes from discs of film music
is that films would lack the excitement
they have if there was no music in them
and that the general public is exposed
to a genre of music many of them would
not hear in their everyday life – so
there’s educational value too! I loved
this disc and anyone who loves films
will too I’m sure. The music is well
selected and beautifully played by a
committed orchestra under a conductor
who is equally enthusiastic about the
film music genre.
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