Korngold’s
music for
The Prince and the Pauper is
best known, perhaps, in the form of the score’s leading
motif used in the Finale of the composer’s
Violin Concerto (1947).
My recommended recording is the 1953 RCA recording with Heifetz
and
the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
The Prince and the Pauper,
based on the story by Mark Twain, was Errol Flynn’s seventh film for Warner Bros and
his second to be scored by Korngold;
Captain Blood - 1935,
was his first. This is the premiere recording of the complete
score. It is a revelation thanks to the meticulous reconstruction
and preparation work by the Tribute team of John Morgan, Anna
Bonn and William Stromberg.
The Prince and the Pauper music is scored for a large
orchestra that includes an elaborate percussion section including
snare drum, bass drum, gong, woodblock, various sized cymbals,
triangle, tambourine, bells, vibraphone, xylophone, marimba plus
two harps piano and celesta. Interestingly, John Morgan, writing
in the booklet suggests that “Korngold’s
Pauper score
is at times reminiscent of Richard Strauss’s
Le bourgeois
gentilhomme and other neo-classical works but that it also
anticipates the music of Francis Poulenc”.
Hitherto the recordings have only been of suites and these have
variously been conducted by: Charles Gerhardt on RCA GD 80185;
André Previn on DG 471347 and another by the Brandenburg
Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by William Stromberg on Marco
Polo. There is also a fragment conducted by Korngold, himself,
on the Premier label.
The main stars of
The Prince and the Pauper were
the child actors, the Mauch twins, Billy and Bobby playing the
boy king
Edward VI and his identical-looking friend the beggar, Tom. Errol
Flynn, playing a relative supporting role, does not appear on-screen
until almost an hour has elapsed. Claude Rains again presents
a portrait of suave villainy as the would-be power-behind-the-throne,
Hertford.
Twain’s story, simply put, is about the consequences
of the boys unwittingly exchanging places - Tom to the Palace
and Edward to the mean streets of Tudor London - in the critical
period between the death of old King Henry VIII and the coronation
of the boy king, Edward VI. An assortment of villains, in the
palace and in the streets, threaten the two boys. They are rescued
from their predicaments by their own quick wits and by the swashbuckling
Flynn playing the adventurer Miles Henderson.
This new Tribute recording has exemplary sound. How wonderfully
the Moscow players respond to William Stromberg’s conducting
of this notoriously difficult music. There are so many eccentric
tempo changes and a plethora of intricate and very fast passages
that must have taxed the Orchestra to the limit. An example is
in the two ‘Seals’ cues where not only the orchestra
had to race but also the pianist Irina Popova. She had to sprint
through an exposed virtuoso solo part requiring great dexterity
and accuracy. The presto cues, more often than not, underscore
the high-spirited escapades of the two boys or Henderson’s
fights.
Korngold had a happy knack of responding to the exuberance
of childhood. An example of this is his music for the early children-at-play
scenes in
Kings Row. This score has rambunctious music
aplenty contrasted with, in the Main Title, that sense of dreamy,
yearning nostalgia that only Korngold could conjure. The warm
affectionate material for the kindly Father Andrew also touches
the heart and once again Korngold enthusiasts might be reminded
of a similar achingly beautiful theme for Paris’s grandmother
in
Kings Row. Another gem is ‘Dining Scene’ with
its haunting violin and saxophone solos for the scene when Henderson
takes the endangered Edward under his wing. A romantic violin
solo - recalling Korngold’s music for
Another Dawn
- decorates ‘Flirt’ a sly, mocking flirtatious
waltz for Flynn. This cue is very appropriate to Flynn’s
dashing, devil-may-care flighty persona. Appropriately, it also
features a more down-to-earth saxophone part. From intimacy to
pomp, there is also grand regal court music anticipating similar
material for
The Sea Hawk.
A sumptuously illustrated 32-page booklet features notes from
each of the Tribute principals plus details of the film’s
casting and production together with rare stills and poster designs
and full track analyses.
For Korngold fans this is a must.
Ian Lace
Track listing:
1. Main Title 1:43
2. A Prince Is Born :33
3. Tavern and Palace 3:15
4. Tom/Tom Continuation 6:36
5. The Bench :44
6. The Prince 3:24
7. Biscuit and Seal 1:53
8. The Prince Goes Back 1:42
9. The Captain :47
10. The Boys Go to Play :49
11. Mirror 1:55
12. Prince Outside Palace 1:48
13. The Next Morning 1:14
14. Pauper Goes to King 2:11
15. That Is My Son :34
16. The King Is Dead 1:26
17. The Dog :55
18. The Church 1:13
19. Riot 1:23
20. Dining Scene 3:44
21. The Crown :58
22. His Majesty :57
23. Exit :31
24. The Murder 1:05
25. Street Scene 1:27
26. Nuts Knocker :25
27. Pauper’s Coronation :42
28. Flirt 2:10
29. Robbery :33
30. Knife Fight 2:13
31. The Maid and the Ride 1:43
32. The Prayer :52
33. Duel 2:26
34. Fanfares :09
35. Organ :27
36. God Save the King :06
37. Seal #1 1:04
38. Seal #2 :58
39. Hurrah! :56
40. Epilogue 2:09
41. End Title 1:11
Bonus Tracks
42. Trailer 2:43
43. British End Title 1:24