Here are three choral
suites assembled from Rozsa’s luxurious
film music soused in colour and atmosphere.
The source films are
from an era long before CGI created
the illusion of vast numbers, fantasy
and epic spirit. Armies of extras and
builders contributed to unapologetically
awesome spectacle. Music played a key
role in conjuring the grand illusion.
Rozsa virtually wrote the text book
and established the style. Aside from
a weeping drooping sentimentality which
must have gone down a treat with the
producers and certainly drew in audiences,
the music does not lack strength. Listen
to ‘Rowing of the Galley Slaves’ (Ben-Hur)
which has all the relentless power of
his scores for the film noir movies
of the fifties. ‘The Miracle’ and ‘Finale’
of Ben Hur radiates supercharged Hollywood
spirituality just dripping syrup. The
choral Quo Vadis has more backbone -
almost Orff - but not quite. Rozsa was
no slouch at barbaric rasping marches
and the ‘Ave Caesar’ from Quo Vadis
and ‘Roman legions’ are good examples.
The sensuous ‘Fertility Hymn’ is a bit
gung-ho but then perhaps the Mormon
Tabernacle are not all that at ease
with the subject matter. The ‘Assyrian
Dance’ in fact has an Arabian flavour
and pace and comes complete with with
pipe and tabor sounds. The lengthy ‘Marcus
and Lygia’ cue is well done but Kunzel
could have made it even more languorous.
‘The Miracle and Finale’ again has the
heavenly hosts in silvery vocalising
form creating an aureole over the reflective
chiming of the orchestra.
King of Kings has a
substantial overture as does Ben-Hur.
Both are pushed vigorously forward.
One does however a note a diminution
in invention from the really Hungarian
accented imaginative strengths of Ben-Hur
to the going-through-the-motions invention
of King of Kings. In ‘The Feast of Passover’
(King of Kings) the music sounds authentically
and fittingly Jewish. ‘Herod's Feast’
is superbly done. The manner was adopted,
and I think topped, by Basil Poledouris
in his ‘Bacchanale’ from the music for
the first Conan film. ‘The Miracles’
movement is an improvement. It has depth
- this is not awe-struck syrup but gives
off a sense of otherworldly threat in
the opening. There is something almost
unnerving about the music - a subtle
minatory mood.
Telarc do this sort
of thing with style and we should be
grateful that they have made real a
project intended by the composer but
never brought to fruition. The recording
and microphone placement choices are
well made though I have recently heard
even better in the shape of a CD long
on the market: Varese-Sarabande's McNeely
directed complete score of Herrmann's
‘Marnie’ in which the RSNO and V-S made
one of the best sounding albums I have
ever heard ranking with Gerhardt's Waxman
CD in the RCA-BMG Great Film Scores
series. Rozsa completists have no choice
and must snap up this album.
Perhaps next time Telarc
will consider an even finer project:
a disc of Rozsa’s two motets for chorus
and organ Vanities of life (1967)
and To Everything There Is A Season
(1946). This is not to mention the Psalm
23 (1972) and the Three Chinese
Poems (1977) - all by Rozsa.
The music has never
sounded as princely despite the orchestra
being recorded in one location and the
chorus separately at another, all on
different dates.
Rob Barnett
see also review
by Ian Lace
Mormon Tabernacle Choir/Craig Jessop 
