Mysterious Island and Fahrenheit 451 Re-Recordings!

[Curt Chiarelli]

Big news for all you soundtrack afficionadoes out here on the boards: composer/conductor William Stromberg has announced that his re-recordings of Bernard Herrmann's classic scores for Mysterious Island (1961) and Fahrenheit 451 (1966) with the Moscow Symphony Orchestra will be available on CD in autumn this year!

Although the original soundtrack score conducted by Herrmann with the London Symphony Orchestra has been available before (in a sadly incomplete version due to missing master tapes) - it was first released in monaural on a beautiful double-fold LP album in the spring of 1985, then in stereo on CD in the early 1990s - this will be the premier release of the entire score - including cues not used in the final cut of the film. Five excerpts from his score were conducted and re-recorded by Herrmann himself with the National Philharmonic in 1975 for Decca Records shortly before his untimely death. Although this full dimensional stereo recording was superb in quality, Herrmann's tempi were (due to his declining health) sluggish.

Here are a few video tape clips of Mr. Stromberg conducting two cues, The Giant Crab and The Balloon:

YouTube - Bernard Herrmann's The Giant Crab

MySpaceTV: The Balloon 2 by William Stromberg

The original score was recorded in London in 1961 (as was the practice of the industry during that era) in a dry accoustic using close miking proceedures. If these clips offer any indication, such will not be the case in this new digital release - music fans will be treated to a rich sonic profile offering both depth and detail that will display Herrmann's visceral score and its brilliant orchestrations to its best adavantage.

Herrmann, a master of orchestral colour, was rivalled only by Maurice Ravel himself. Here's the instrumentation for Mysterious Island, a mammoth ensemble, unorthodox as it is brilliant:

Woodwind
3 Flutes (All 3 Double Piccolo)
3 Oboes (All Double English Horns)
3 Bb Clarinets
2 Bb Bass Clarinets (Bass Clarinet 1 Doubles Bb Clarinet)
3 Bassoons
2 Contra Bassoons

Brass
8 French Horns (All Mutes)
3 Bb Trumpets (Straight & Cup Mutes)
3 Trombones (Straight & Cup Mutes)
4 Tubas

Strings
22 Violins
10 Violas
10 Celli
7 Bass (Low “C” Extensions)

Percussion
2 (Sometimes 4) Tympani
8 pedal Tympanis
4 Suspended Cymbals (Various Sizes)
2 Cymbals (Large & Medium)
2 Large Bass Drums
2 Large Tam Tams
Chimes (1 Set) with additional high F# & G
2 Snare Drums
2 Tenor Drums
4 Harps
2 Triangles (Small & Large)
2 Glocks
2 Vibes (With Working Motors)
2 Xylophones
Tambourine
Wood Block
Whip

On the second CD release, Fahrenheit 451 will be coupled with Walking Distance (1959), another Herrmann masterpiece commissioned by CBS for a first season episode of The Twilight Zone.

These albums promise to be the most anticipated releases of the year!

[Allegra]

Awesome! Powerful stuff. Thanks, Curt. I haven't seen these two films, have to look out for the DVDs and the new CDs. Found this fabulous Rozsa's Ben-Hur video clip:
YouTube - BEN-HUR ('59) - Tribute to Soundtrack: The Galley Slaves!

Spellbound rehearsal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tR2vbLwTew

[Curt Chiarelli]

Hi Lily:

Rosza's a master isn't he? Here's a photo of him accepting the Oscar for Ben Hur from Gene Kelly in 1960:

[Curt Chiarelli]

An update! Both Mysterious Island and Fahrenheit 451 (plus Walking Distance) will be available for sale on November 19th through Screen Archives Entertainment:

http://www.screenarchives.com/email.cfm?eid=8

To further tantalize you, here are some more excerpts from this thrilling new recording of Mysterious Island:

Exploration

http://sae.rciwebhosting.net/media/8107-4414.mp3

The Giant Bees

http://sae.rciwebhosting.net/media/8107-4416.mp3

Finale

http://sae.rciwebhosting.net/media/8107-4417.mp3




Unidentified London Symphony Orchestra violinist, Bernard Herrmann and Charles H. Schneer, producer of Mysterious Island. London, 1961.



Bernard Herrmann and Charles H. Schneer. Mysterious Island recording session with the London Symphony Orchestra. 1961



Bernard Herrmann and Ray Bradbury. Los Angeles, 1965.

[Allegra]

Thanks for the update, Curt. When Moscow Symphony Orchestra plays you know it's in good hands! The Giant Bees sounds like the variation of Flight of Bumblebee.

[Curt Chiarelli]

Yes, a lot of folks say that, but on closer examination the content of both compositions couldn't be more dissimilar! Actually, the only similarities between them are the employment of trills in the woodwinds, flutter-tonguing in the brass and vibrato in the strings. Outside of these orchestral colours, they're completely different.

Even though both Rimsky-Korsakov and Herrmann were master colourists, for my money, nothing in the entire classical repertory is as unique as Herrmann's use of low woodwind sonorities! Sui generis!

[Allegra]

On the second listening, I can see what you mean. Pity the samples are too short. I'm totally unfamiliar with Herrmann's film scores. I always think soundtracks can only be fully appreciated while watching the film, or at least, having seen the film.