September 1, 2011

  • Best of September (2011): New to the Collection

    The past month was a chance to catch up on some missed scores and enjoy a few special releases as well.

    The best score of 2011 may well have been John Powell's How To Train Your Dragon.  I finally picked up a hard copy to enjoy in my regular, non-computer listening time.  It is easily recommended for all.  The other great score from 2011 was Carter Burwell's True Grit.  You might call this a "composer's" score because Burwell uses quotations of period hymns and shapes them in the score to follow specific characters and their growth over the course of the narrative.  This really is one of the most fascinating works deemed "ineligible" because it did not contain enough "original material" when Oscar nominations were handed out this year.  Too bad, but at least we can enjoy Burwell's fascinating arrangements and the subtlety he brings to this music. 

    Film Score Monthly released Ennio Morricone's fascinating score to Days of Heaven.  The Terrance Malick film remains one of his masterpieces and both it and the score are worthy parallels for the director's latest film The Tree of Life.  The latter features an equally great score by Alexandre Desplat.  Both films feature music that was used uniquely by Malick.  Morricone's genious here was the way he incorporates a Saint-Saens piece that Malick wanted to use and recreates his very own stylistic version that can reference the other piece and be used in different ways on its own.  FSM's two-disc set lets you hear a film order and a disc of music as "originally' intended.  It is all simply fascinating.

    In case you missed it, Intrada is releasing a number of CDs with Disney in a new agreement that fans hoped will bring many treasures to disc.  The label's first release was Giacchino's Up.  At first it seemed like it would be much ado about nothing, but the next release was a shocker.  The Black Hole has different associations depending on ones age.  It is not the masterpiece the studio hoped for by any means, but it does feature a number of amazing sequences.  More interesting was that John Barry was commissioned to provide a score.  In recorded history, this score is important because it was one of the first scores to be recorded using state-of-the-art digital technology.  The LP was a prized collector's item and now anyone can pick up a copy in its first CD release ever.  Fortunately, the release is not a limited edition!  Available at www.intrada.com.

    Finally, a new two-disc compilation, Music of Michel Legrand from Silva, finds the composer performing his famous themes with the Moscow Virtuosi.  This is one of those sets that you listen to again almost immediately after it plays through.  The music here is simply gorgeous in these arrangements that stay somewhat faithful to the originals and add an element of jazz orchestral improv once in a while.  There are even some non-film selections from Legrands early days that make an appearance here.  The composer will be 80 next year, and this set is a great way to celebrate his many amazing works!