INTERVIEW ON THE
CHANDOS FILM MUSIC SERIES WITH CONDUCTOR,
RUMON GAMBA.
This
month (September 2007) Chandos are releasing
"The Film Music of Erich Wolfgang
Korngold - Volume II": The Sea
Hawk performed by the BBC Philharmonic
in a special editing by the recording’s
conductor Rumon Gamba. This release
coincides with renewed interest in Korngold
as the 50th anniversary of
his death approaches on 29 November
2007. [Volume I of Korngold’s film Music,
conducted by Gamba, released in 2005,
comprised a suite from The Adventures
of Robin Hood and the complete score
for The Sea Wolf.]
This new album is another
in a continuing series of Chandos recordings
of Korngold’s orchestral, vocal, instrumental
and chamber music that commenced in
the early 1990s, the majority recorded
by the BBC Philharmonic conducted by
Matthias Bamert and Sir Edward Downes.
Rumon Gamba, currently
Music director of the Iceland Symphony
Orchestra, works with most of the major
UK orchestras and many in Europe and
further afield. Gamba studied at Durham
University; and later with Colin Metters,
Sir Colin Davis and George Hurst at
the Royal Academy of Music where he
was the first conducting student to
receive the Dip. RAM. As a result of
winning the ‘Lloyds Bank BBC Young Musician
1998 Conductors’ Workshop’, he was appointed
Assistant Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic.
Gamba has recorded
much British film and TV music for Chandos.
Recordings include: three volumes of
film music by Vaughan Williams (including
Scott of the Antarctic, 49th
Parallel and The Story
of a Flemish Farm), Sir Arthur
Bliss (including Things To Come
and Caesar and Cleopatra),
Sir Arnold Bax (Oliver Twist
and Malta, G.C.) and one volume
of film music by Sir Malcolm Arnold
(including The Belles of St Trinians
and Trapeze); plus the film music
of John Addison (including A Bridge
Too Far, The Charge of the Light Brigade
and Reach for the Sky), Richard
Addinsell (including Scrooge, Blithe
Spirit and Goodbye Mr Chips),
Francis Chagrin (including The Colditz
Story and Last Holiday),
Richard Rodney Bennett (including Far
From the Madding Crowd, and Murder
on the Orient Express), Ron
Goodwin (including 633 Squadron
and Battle of Britain) and Alan
Rawsthorne (including The Cruel Sea
and The Captive Heart).
The Questions
What
was the first film score that really
impressed you and what inspired you
to embark on recording such music?
RG I remember
watching Scott of the Antarctic
with my Mum one afternoon when I was
a young boy – I don’t know how old I
was but I do remember the film having
an effect on me for the atmosphere it
created, both cinematically and aurally,
not least the wonderful score by Vaughan
Williams. As I grew older, my interest
in film grew and, being a musician my
love of film music also – people can
be very sniffy about film music but
I didn’t have any second thoughts when
I started talking to Chandos about recording
some for CD.
One
commentator has written about Korngold:
"His early fame peaked at twenty
with his world-acclaimed opera Die tote
Stadt…The downhill course after that
led to Hollywood where he composed scores,
albeit Oscar-winning ones for ’Robin
Hood and Anthony Adverse." Would
you like to comment on this assertion
please?
RG His fame
may have peaked but certainly not his
talent – it is so easy to fall into
that ‘unfulfilled promise of a wunderkind’
stereotype without listening to his
music. Just because he went to America
and didn’t compose music in a hut in
Austrian countryside seems to be a negative
thing for some people. Although I believe
he died thinking his music was out of
touch with his contemporaries, you only
need to look at (let alone listen to!)
the score of the late Symphony in F#
to realise that this man was by no means
on a downhill course. And let’s not
forget that he didn’t abandon his own
musical style to fit in with Hollywood
– he kept his voice and musical beliefs
consistent through to the end.
Some
Korngold film scores e.g. The
Sea Hawk and The Adventures of
Robin Hood, seem to be overly preferred
by record companies at the expense of
others - Kings Row, for instance,
recorded superbly by Charles Gerhardt
in 1979 in an extended suite occupying
one LP/CD, but now surely in need of
a reassessment and re-recording in today’s
digital sound?
RG I suppose
both The Sea Hawk and Robin
Hood are better known films and
the music is very forthright and reminiscent
of Errol Flynn doing his stuff. Of course
we need to do the other films as well
– performing material is often the issue,
some music just comes off the shelf
while others need a lot of work to make
them performable.
You've
made a point - and I think it's a good
one - that The
Sea Hawk is best represented by a
single suite presenting the music in
a coherent sweep without the distraction
of every mote and sliver of music. Do
you see yourself applying this to any
other scores?
RG There are
record companies out there that provide
every note and those discs (whilst valuable
and interesting) somehow don’t do it
for me as a listening experience. If
we want the widest audience possible
to come into contact with this great
music, I feel it needs to be presented
in a compelling format. We have always
tried to offer suites from film scores
in the Chandos series - if that means
a score only has three interesting cues,
then that is what will be recorded and
we will try and mould them into their
most appealing guise.
Following
on from the above question, do you routinely
look out for inclusion in your film
music suites, composed material that,
for one reason or another, was unable
to be used in a completed production?
RG Many of the
Chandos discs have music that was either
cut or cues that were faded out (sometimes
incredibly early!). Occasionally we
have original material and it is amazing
to see the craftsmanship and care that
has gone into producing a musical gem
only for the final cut to include just
a small chip of that gem in it.
How
did the BBC Philharmonic players react
to The
Sea Hawk music and how enthusiastic
are the players and those of the BBC
Concert Orchestra, generally, about
the Chandos film music recordings. What
is your/their attitude towards the often
snooty view of film music held by academia,
particularly British music academia
– or do you/they think attitudes are
beginning to change?
RG Players want
something to play and in The Sea
Hawk, they certainly had enough
to get their teeth into! Korngold’s
music is very difficult to play and
there are so many layers of detail and
a vast range of colours to bring out.
Luckily the BBC Philharmonic know Korngold’s
style well having recorded much of his
concert music over the years and these
players always give everything which
is another important key to getting
his music right – you really have to
go for it to bring it off!
I never hear any complaints
about the music itself – it is always
well written and generally either beautiful
or exciting or has something else to
capture musical imaginations … perhaps
we just leave the boring stuff out!
I think attitudes are
changing in general and I can only assume
that with more concert performances
and CDs that the ‘what isn’t known can’t
be any good’ attitude will disappear.
I was once told (by a well known conductor
no less) not to bother learning any
of Sibelius’ symphonies other than the
2nd or 5th as
no one wants to hear the unknown ones
anyway…..
Before
we leave Korngold, have you and/or Chandos
any plans to record any of the composer’s
operas? Would you be interested in such
a project?
RG No plans
that involve me unfortunately!
Will
the Chandos series cover the music of
other Hollywood composers eg. Max Steiner,
and neglected writers such as Frederick
Hollander. There is so much of Max Steiner’s
music that is crying out for modern
recordings such as: She,
Distant Drums and The Fountainhead;
and what about the lighter music of
the neglected Frederick Hollander -
his delightful music for It Should
Happen To You, for instance.
RG We aren’t
exactly stuck for music to record! But
we’ve made the leap across the Atlantic
now so I think we will follow up with
some other worthy composers!
What
is the Hollywood classic film score
you would most like to record complete,
or as a symphonic suite
RG I’ve just
done it actually – The Sea Hawk!
Steiner’s King Kong is a close
second.
Hollywood
film scores from the golden age
are often proclaimed as more successful
- than much of the music of British
cinema of the 1940s-60s? Your comments,
please.
RG I really
feel it is a matter of familiarity –
look how widely distributed those Hollywood
films were. The Brits never had that
much exposure in the states.
A
number of British film score have successfully
been arranged by their composers for
concert performance – e.g.
Scott of the Antarctic, Things To Come,
Henry V and Our Man in
Havana. From all of the British film
music you have thus far recorded please
select three scores, not yet arranged
for the concert hall, that you think
would most suitable as concert suites
– say for performance at the Proms?
Please give reasons for your choices.
RG I very much
enjoyed Arnold’s film music and think
that there could be more suites of his
scores which would be very appealing
to the public. Trapeze would
work very well – I think a lot of people
know the film and of course it has some
very ‘visual’ music within it.
Rawsthorne was perhaps
the greatest discovery for me – I knew
the film The Cruel Sea well and
slightly regretted that we only did
two pieces from that score on our disc
of his music.
My other regret (sorry
Chandos) is that we only squeezed reel
2 of Malta GC onto our Bax disc
and I think playing both reels in the
concert hall would have people wondering
why it isn’t played more. (OK I know
that one was a bit of a cheat – I think
it used to pop up now and then in the
old days….!)
I think a suite from
Alwyn’s Geordie would work well
in the concert hall – perhaps a film
music version of Arnold’s Scottish Dances!
Of
the British film music arrangers working
on the Chandos series, Philip Lane appears
to have been the busiest. Could you
describe your working relationship with
him.
RG As well
as being a mine of information, and
as well as shaping film music into suites
for our use, he has been known to take
down film scores by ear – not a task
for the impatient! Philip just wants
this music to be heard and unlike many
composers/arrangers, he isn’t at all
proprietary with any of it – he hands
it to me and he sits back and enjoys
listening to whatever I do with it (or
perhaps cursing himself for a wrong
note in the horns…!)
Much
of the British Film Music you have recorded
was for war films. Which three scores
of this genre did you find the most
inspiring and why?
RG I liked
49th Parallel very
much – a very wide range of musical
ideas and absolutely not your stereotypical
war marches! This is the Vaughan Williams
of the 5th symphony, not
of the 4th.
I’ve already mentioned
Malta GC – I find Bax’s idiom
very interesting. On the face of it
you might be getting a March but with
his harmonic language, you get so much
more.
I really got into Rawsthorne’s
Burma Victory. Perhaps along
similar lines to the Bax, I find a lot
‘behind the notes’ in Rawsthorne – perhaps
it is a moment of astringency that will
highlight a particular shot or a specifically
coloured chord. These composers were
turning out stuff this good for propaganda
documentaries!!
Of
all the scores you have conducted which
were the most challenging technically
and interpretatively? Which three proved
to be the most satisfying for yourself?
RG The Sea
Wolf was a challenge – a massive
orchestra with many layers of detail,
but still trying to make an overall
sweep without getting bogged down in
micro-managing the music. Also, the
music is much less swashbuckling than
others we have mentioned by Korngold
– you have to dig a little deeper and
adopt a sense of drama and atmosphere
that wouldn’t be out of place in Wagner.
I loved doing Things
to Come – what imagination and how
daring to write a film score like that
in 1936. Then again, the film is in
a class of its own as well. I’ve since
performed a suite of my own (thanks
to Philip Lane) on a few occasions –
including at the Proms, and it goes
down so well, I think it is more exciting
than Bliss’s own suite!
Perhaps the pinnacle
was to record Scott of the Antarctic
– I really didn’t want to get it wrong!
In terms of performing, it felt like
playing something so well known, so
familiar but also exploring something
for the first time. How remarkable that
this piece in particular should have
felt like that. The orchestra showed
great reverence for it as well – a smashing
atmosphere and a splendid disc even
if I say so myself!!
Just
two specific British composer questions:
Many people admire Ron Goodwin’s film
music. Goodwin got a rather raw deal
standing in for Walton in the context
of The
Battle of Britain considering
the quality of Goodwin’s music, especially
his ‘Aces High’ Luftwaffe march. Would
you like to comment please?
RG Once Ron
has been away for as long as Walton
has, then we will be able to look back
and really appreciate what he did for
that film.
The
other: You have completed the Chandos
series of Malcolm Arnold symphonies
tackling two of the most recalcitrant
– nos. 7 and 9. When you were getting
to know and record them, did you pick
up any echoes of Arnold’s film music
- perhaps the more psychologically torturous
material?
RG I’ll be honest
and say no to this question. I tried
to enter each symphony’s own world on
its own terms (definitely the only way
to approach the 9th!). Undoubtedly
my knowledge of Arnold’s music (particularly
the other symphonies) would have informed
certain aspects of my interpretations,
but only subconsciously.
What
British film scores would you most cherish
for future recording projects?
RG Everyone seems to
be waiting for The Red Shoes,
including me…
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