September 16, 2015

  • An "Organ-ic" Conan!

    Basil Poledouris’ classic adventure fantasy score, Conan the Barbarian (1982), remains one of the great classics of the genre with engaging melodic ideas and exciting music.  In what might be a “what?” reaction when one sees this new Naxos release, the score has been transcribed for organ by Philipp Peltser, who performs it here.

     

    The instrument used is the refurbished Glatter-Gotz/Rosales organ at Claremont United Church of Christ in Claremont, California.  Peltser is a student of Daniel Chorzempa, one of the great organists of the past century.  The idea here was to showcase the great potential of the instrument while reinterpreting Poledouris’ score.  Since this is not one of those massive theater organs with their host of percussive tricks, Peltser must reinterpret some of those rhythmic ideas in pedal playing and in distinct registrations.  This means that there are no anvils pounding away in “Anvil of Crom”, but the music still works.  In fact, it is in the more subtle, quiet lyric passages where Peltser’s transcription really shines best.  Here we can enjoy the harmonic writing and intriguing musical lines that shift through different organ stops.  The intent is to reinterpret the music so that it feels as if it was intended for organ.  Perhaps the “Column of Sadness/Wheel of Pain” track is a great place to start to see how this works and gain a deeper appreciation for what Peltser has done.  “The Mountain of Power” works quite well too as does “The Orgy”.  It is a committed performance that makes this feel like a modern organ suite—often recalling even early 20th-Century film music.  About the only thing is that it might have been nice to have a reprise at the end of at least a key theme rather than the abrupt way that “The Awakening” concludes.

     

    Purists, if they have made it this far, will shudder and walk away.  However, what Peltser has done is taken a classic film score and reinterpreted it in no way different from some of the electronic arrangement releases of scores that seem to pop up a lot these days.  His work here is superbly done with an obvious love for the music he is playing.  There have been previous theater organ, and showcase recordings of film music on large pipe organs in the past, if this one manages to be successful, it is likely we will be hearing more of these interesting interpretations in the future.