Even If A Man Is Pure At Heart

[Foxbat]

And says his prayers by night

If you know those lines then you know what I'm looking for - namely information on Universal's 1941 Wolf Man (starring Lon Chaney Jnr)

The scenes where Chaney transforms are accompanied by a single, melancholy Cello which (in my opinion ) rank amongst the best audio/visual sequences ever produced by Hollywood.

I am trying to identify the composer (in the hope that I can pick up a recording somewhere). So far, I have identified Charles Previn as Musical director but no luck with the composer. I have tried IMDB but to no avail. Can anybody help? Could it be the same guy that composed the music for Frankenstein? (can't remember his name).

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[pyan]

The info I can find, Foxbat, gives Charles Previn as composer and MD, but also credits Hans J. Salter and Frank Skinner (presumably not the comedian!) as composers as well: however, it doesn't specify what contributions each made.
Perhaps there is something under the individual names that might mention if they wrote the 'cello solo.

Hope this is of some help.

[clovis-man]

Originally Posted by Foxbat

Could it be the same guy that composed the music for Frankenstein? (can't remember his name).

Franz Waxman. A quick Google search indicates that he had nothing to do with The Wolf Man.

[j. d. worthington]

IIRC, it was Salter who did most of the work on The Wolf Man. There was, I believe, an album put out 20+ years ago by Varese/Saraband that had this score; I know they put out some others using the Universal scores, but I wouldn't swear that this was one... however, I do have a memory of seeing it, so you might be able to find out via information on their label....

Ah... found something on this:

SALTER / SKINNER: Monster Music CD - Listen to Classical Music - Film Music Music - Naxos Direct

Seems it was a collaborative effort by Skinner and Salter for both The Invisible Man Returns and The Wolf Man, while Previn did some of the more memorable pieces for the film:

Frank Skinner & Hans J. Salter: Monster Music: Information and Much More from Answers.com

Oh, and I can't resist being a bit pedantic here:

Even a man who is pure at heart
And says his prayers by night,
May become a wolf when the wolfsbane blooms
And the autumn moon is bright

variant: "and the moon is full and bright"

[Foxbat]

Thanks for the info folks. My search continues.

@j.d. pedantism ain't so bad. It's my favourite verse in Horror (not that there are many...if any...others)

[Foxbat]

Update - It's amazing how much you find when you know what you are looking for. Now found a ton of monster music and the Wolfman score is now ordered. Will probably order much more soon now that I have all this info.

Give yourselves a pat on the back....and thanks

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by Foxbat

Thanks for the info folks. My search continues.

@j.d. pedantism ain't so bad. It's my favourite verse in Horror (not that there are many...if any...others)

Well, depends on whether you mean Horror as in the field in general (in which case there are some fine pieces of horrific verse out there, both classic and modern), or in movies (in which case there are some, but the pickings are much more slim)....

Originally Posted by Foxbat

Update - It's amazing how much you find when you know what you are looking for. Now found a ton of monster music and the Wolfman score is now ordered. Will probably order much more soon now that I have all this info.

Give yourselves a pat on the back....and thanks

Well, now you've got to promise not to hold us in suspense, and tell us who wrote the particular piece you were referring to... and which discs you ordered. (I may see about doing the same myself!)

[Foxbat]

The disc I have ordered is The Monster Music of Hans Salter and Frank Skinner.
The blurb says that this disc contains the Wolfman theme (among many others).

I also discovered the opening theme to Universal's Flash Gordon serial (and other movies/serials) was Franz Liszt's Les Preludes so I've ordered that as well. I think this piece was also used in Dracula's Daughter but am not 100% on that.

[clovis-man]

Originally Posted by Foxbat

I also discovered the opening theme to Universal's Flash Gordon serial (and other movies/serials) was Franz Liszt's Les Preludes so I've ordered that as well. I think this piece was also used in Dracula's Daughter but am not 100% on that.

The Buster Crabbe Flash Gordon serials used music from an amazingly diverse range of source material. Check out this website for a survey of them and some great sound bites as well:

Tony LoBue's Flash Gordon Web Site...

When you're done, be sure to click on the home page link at the bottom. Lots of great stuff about the serials and the participants.

[Foxbat]

Thanks for the link

Wow!! Loads of stuff there!

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by clovis-man

The Buster Crabbe Flash Gordon serials used music from an amazingly diverse range of source material. Check out this website for a survey of them and some great sound bites as well:

Tony LoBue's Flash Gordon Web Site...

When you're done, be sure to click on the home page link at the bottom. Lots of great stuff about the serials and the participants.

It's times like this when I'm torn between loving this place and a sense of despair -- loving it because this group is great for coming up with resources on such a tremendous range of things; despair because I'd need at least six lifetimes just to scratch the surface of it all!

I second Foxbat, C-M: Thanks for the link!

[Ursa major]

Originally Posted by Foxbat

I also discovered the opening theme to Universal's Flash Gordon serial (and other movies/serials) was Franz Liszt's Les Preludes so I've ordered that as well.

There's a good chance that the blurb on the CD may mention the programme for this symphonic poem; its preface includes the following question: "What is out life but a series of preludes to that unknown song of which death sounds the first and solemn note?" It is best to ignore this: the first appearance of the music was as an overture to a choral work, 'The Four Elements', and as such it is more an evocation of Mediterranean life than a meditation on human existence. (In any case, I hope you enjoy it.)

[Foxbat]

Originally Posted by Ursa major

There's a good chance that the blurb on the CD may mention the programme for this symphonic poem; its preface includes the following question: "What is out life but a series of preludes to that unknown song of which death sounds the first and solemn note?" It is best to ignore this: the first appearance of the music was as an overture to a choral work, 'The Four Elements', and as such it is more an evocation of Mediterranean life than a meditation on human existence. (In any case, I hope you enjoy it.)

After what I've heard used in Flash (and enjoyed very much) I'm looking forward to hearing the whole piece. I'm pretty sure I will not be disappointed

[clovis-man]

Originally Posted by Foxbat

After what I've heard used in Flash (and enjoyed very much) I'm looking forward to hearing the whole piece. I'm pretty sure I will not be disappointed

Franz Liszt was, first and foremost, a virtuoso pianist. He loved showy pieces with which he could amaze and delight his audience. His compositions took a similar course. One criticism of his works that I have heard is that all of it "starts out like a new revelation and ends up like a circus". There is some truth in that. I think the best thing to keep in mind is that "Les Peludes" and many of his other tone poems contain beautiful and majestic music. So they should be enjoyed for those moments.

I imagine it would be overkill, but I could envision enjoying a sub-forum on soundtracks under the "Film" heading.

[Ursa major]

That's how it often seems, clovis-man, but that's because we usually only get to hear the "popular" works, which are a small part of an oeuvre consisting of hundreds of works written over 60+ years.

Very few people will have heard any of the many religious works Liszt wrote (for piano, for orchestra, for choir-plus-organ). Some of these (as well as the later secular piano pieces) sound like early twentieth century music and can be very stark. (The Via Crucis is a good example of what I mean.)


Oh, and the end of the second Hungarian Rhapsody is very good "circus music", IMHO (as long as you avoid pianists like Lang Lang - and there are quite a few like him, sadly - who seem to avoid playing what's written in the score in their desire to play as many notes as possible - I have to switch the radio off when they give us their "interpretations").