Graham Parlett has reconstructed two
passages from the soundtrack and the
set of 78s (that featured Bax's lover,
Harriet Cohen) released soon after the
release of the film, i.e. the opening
sections of 'Pickpocketing' and of 'Oliver
at Mr Brownlow's house.' Luckily, however,
the rest of the music survives in written
form either in Bax's own hand or of
those of copyists.
In 1986, Cloud Nine Records released
a David Wishart-produced album of a
24.5-minute suite of music from Oliver
Twist (CN 7012) that comprised the seven-movement
concert suite Muir Matheson had compiled
from the score plus additional extracts
taken from Bax's original manuscript
and not used in the film. The sumptuous
gate-fold cover of the LP version included
over a dozen stills from the film and
interesting notes that included the
following:
"Despite his reservations about
the melding of music and speech on soundtracks
(a problem to which Vaughan Williams
had more readily adjusted) Bax was persuaded
by Muir Matheson to compose the score…though
it is clear that he undertook the commission
with reluctance, commenting to a friend
that he had been 'inveigled not to say
bullied' into writing the music for
the film. Bax was not partial to Dickens'
novel, and feeling there to be no music
in the subject he set himself the task
of thinking up counterparts in sound
to Gillray's and Rowlandson's savage
cartoons as the first step in creating
the score. He was also under pressure
to complete the score quickly as the
date for the film's premiere loomed
ever closer, but he refused to be 'stampeded'
and some time later he wrote to a friend:
'I am still plagued by the Oliver Twist
film for which I struggled in agonies
to provide music…I cannot imagine
any subject more unsuited to me…"
Despite these reservations, he is quoted
as having, in retrospect, derived something
from the challenge: "Composing
for the film was hard work and I found
I had to adapt my normal approach quite
a bit. It was nevertheless an interesting
experience and I was particularly impressed
by the ingenuity and skill of the musical
director, Muir Matheson, in the actual
process of recording the music with
the picture on the screen
The time pressure might well explain
why Bax chose to use material from his
1916 orchestral work In Memoriam (in
tribute to the executed Irish nationalist
leader Padraig Pearse) to underscore
the scene towards the end in which Oliver
is reunited with Mr Brownlow, and for
a dawn scene after Bill Sykes has slain
Nancy. This is one of the highlights
of the score. Other memorable tracks
include: the dramatically-charged and
atmospheric storm music as Oliver's
mother struggles towards the workhouse
for his birth, the eerie music as a
frightened Oliver tries to go to sleep
amongst the coffins in the undertakers'
shop, the artful and cheeky music associated
with 'Fagin's romp' (his instructions
on how to pick pockets) and the peaceful,
tranquil music associated with Oliver's
recovery in Mr Brownlow's house after
his appearance in court (the character
of this music is reminiscent of Bax's
Morning Song, (Maytime in Sussex ) for
piano and orchestra that Bax had written
the year before, 1947, for Harriet Cohen
and in response to a commission for
a piece to celebrate the 21st birthday
of the then Princess Elizabeth.
The Cloud Nine recording also featured
24 minutes of music (the complete score)
from the 1942 documentary film, Malta
GC that celebrated the heroism of the
islanders against the Germans in World
War II. The noted film critic, C.A.
Lejeune described Bax's music as being
'so full of riches that the discerning
listener will want to hear the soundtrack
again and again'. Indeed the music was
widely played at the time. Yet Bax having
laboured over the score was far from
pleased about how his music had been
subordinated to the narration: "I
do not think the medium is at present
at all satisfactory as far as the composer
is concerned as his music is largely
inaudible, toned down for, in many cases,
quite unnecessary talk. This is, in
my opinion, quite needless as it is
possible to pay attention to two things
at the same time if they appeal to different
parts of the intelligence."
This new Chandos album's Malta GC music
- a suite of 12.5 minutes - is confined
to that of the second reel that includes
a "Gay March" (in the good
old-fashioned sense of the word), a
quiet interlude and some atmospheric
street music, plus a final heroic march
that bears more than a passing resemblance
to Men of Harlech.
Although this is fine music splendidly
played and recorded, I personally feel
that Bax's discomfort with the medium
of film music shows through and I much
prefer to listen to his symphonic Oliver
score as absolute music divorced from
its screenplay.
A Pendant Note by Ian Lace:-
Since this review was first posted,
and as I expected, my remarks in the
last paragraph of the above review have
prompted some controversy. I remain
unrepentant. My response is -
First let me proclaim my ardent love
and championship of Bax over many, many
years and my equal enthusiasm for film
music.
Now, I emphasise that my remarks in
my review constitute my own personal
opinion. No doubt others will disagree.
But I remember feeling uncomfortable,in
the main, about the blending of visual
images and the music when I saw David
Lean's film Oliver Twist but as I will
concede there were exceptions notably
the opening storm music and, possibly,
'Fagin's Romp.'
It is a matter of record that Bax felt
uncomfortable with the medium of film
music and that he had did not like Charles
Dickens' book (frankly neither do I
for that matter) For me, the essential
Bax, at his best, is too wild, too big,
too fundamental too elemental, to be
constrained by the four walls of a theatre
and a cinema screen. It is also pretty
well accepted that by the time Bax had
retired to Storrington his best works
were behind him and it has to be admitted
that although it has its merits, Oliver
Twist is by no means top-drawer Bax.
Interestingly, if we consider source
music, film producers have plenty of
marvellous material if they look at
the Bax tone poems and symphonies. Consider
the opening of The Garden of Fand; that
is film music, a very realistic evocation
of the movement of the sea; or the first
two symphonies, they could have yielded
material for the film Michael Collins.
A reviewer has to be honest and write
what he feels and I have to say that
I much prefer to listen to his Oliver
Twist as absolute orchestral music without
associating it with any visual images.
Ian Lace
BBC Philharmonic/Rumon
Gamba