Thriller 2 (TV Series): Music by Jerry Goldsmith

Lucie Svehlova, violin. Jaromir Klepac, piano.
City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra/Nic Raine
Tadlow Music 029
Total Time:  70:44
Recording:   ****/****
Performance: ****/****

Last year, Tadlow released a collection of scores from the classic television series, Thriller (1960-62).  Opening with Boris Karloff setting up our tale, each week brought a new shocking horror story that tended to be quite advanced for its time.  Jerry Goldsmith had been working in television on projects such as Climax! and Playhouse 90, but this would be a chance for him to create more modern and experimental music—the sort of style in seed form that would blossom across his career.  He would provide original scores for sixteen episodes for the short-lived series.  In their first release, Tadlow focused on six episodes and they repeat that plan here for Thriller 2.  Orchestrations and reconstructions for the project are by Leigh Phillips who had the DVD isolated scores as a guide.  The members of the City of Prague Philharmonic are here under the direction of Nic Raine to bring Goldsmith fans further explorations of some of the composer’s earliest music.

One of the remarkable aspects about this recording is its fuller sound.  Often TV scores from the period can feel a bit dry and cut rather close.  Tadlow’s sound helps expand the ambience and reverb to allow for a more modern orchestral sound.  There are some really amazing moments in these scores that tend to feature melodies that will take on slightly different shape in future film score by the composer.  Each of the episodes has a “Prologue/Roll” call track that is then followed by a suite of music from that episode. Most compelling is a melody that appears in the suite for “God Grant That She Lye Stille” (a la Papillon).  Some of the ways the brass harmonies punctuate the woodwind ideas in alternation will become a common stylistic approach in Goldsmith’s music and it is fascinating to hear this on display here.  As is the case, the music has a somewhat episodic quality, but is interesting to hear how Goldsmith works towards a specific sound world in these scores.  Each suite thus creates the right chilling atmosphere with excellent shifts in orchestration to make this possible.  Many of the scores use a smaller ensemble and in this collection violins are completely absent!  A list of the ensemble makeup for each episode helps see the many ways Goldsmith was experimenting with sound (like all those flutes in “Late Date”!).  It is like he took a page from Herrmann’s playbook, but then added his own unique ostinato approaches and clusters of harmony.  Now and then he throws in the sort of classic styles (like the Western-Spanish styles of “The Bride Who Died Twice”) one might expect, but they still have his fingerprints plainly there.  “Masquerade” has touches that will be explored in his work on The Twilight Zone as well.  The suites are intended to give us a sample of the music from each episode.  They do not necessarily all have that big finale as this tended to be reserved for the actual end of the episode itself with the theme following.

As one listens to these scores from Thriller it is rather fascinating that there was this opportunity to craft such unique music for television.  They are of further interest to Goldsmith fans for the ways we can hear early versions of common tropes in his music.  But there are plenty of unique aspects that show him experimenting.  That it is still his music though is very clear demonstrating he had begun to find his own voice even while pulling in influences from contemporary scoring maestros.  Television scores can be a little rougher to get into with their often briefer cues, but Phillips has chosen this material wisely and crafted dramatic and engaging concert suites.

For an added bonus, the album closes with the “Teakwood Nocturne” from the Terror in Teakwood episode.  The piece was originally a piano solo and was written by studio pianist and composer Caesar Giovannini (1925-2017).  Intended to be a period piece, it helps provide the perfect contrast to Goldmsith’s starker contemporary scoring.  The piece has been transcribed here for violin and piano to feature the concertmaster Lucie Svehlova.  It is a stunningly beautiful work that hopefully will become more widely known, even an orchestral version might be worth considering if there is to ever be a Thriller 3!

Fans of Rachel Portman should be rejoicing at this new limited edition deluxe three-disc set of her work for The Storyteller (1987-88; 1991).  The edition is being released by Varese Sarabande,  Muppet creator Jim Henson was in the midst of many creative bursts in the 1980s that began by first wrapping The Muppet Show and moving into the fantasy worlds of The Dark Crystal (1982) and Labyrinth (1988).  In the middle of this fertile time, he produced Fraggle Rock which ran on HBO (1983-1987) becoming an important cultural touchpoint for those who were able to watch it on premium cable.  As Fraggle Rock was coming to a close, his daughter Lisa suggested a series that would be an anthology of stories steeped in mythology and folklore.  That idea would become The Storyteller.  John Hurt played the narrator who relates these tales to his rather cynical dog.  The series ran in the UK and appeared here on NBC first.  While reviews were stellar (it even received a Primetime Emmy) the series did not quite catch on and it was dropped from the latter’s schedule.  It would get a second chance on pay cable when HBO decided to run the series and even added a third set of stories, The Storyteller: Greek Myths (1991).

Composer Rachel Portman was in that early stage of her career where a great project would catapult her into more work.  Her first film, Privileged (1982) is remembered mostly for its introduction of Hugh Grant.  Other projects that followed were mostly made for TV movies.  The opportunity to work on a series with somewhat cinematic qualities was an important opportunity for her to demonstrate her craft and she would score all the episodes for both incarnations of the series.

She would write a deliciously mysterious “Main Title” with an opening flute line that gives way to a dark bass clarinet.  Varese opens the first disc with an extended version of this opening leaving disc two to open with the version featuring John Hurt’s narration.  Both discs for The Storyteller are bookended by title music, an “end title” for disc one, and then a shorter main title for disc two.  Disc Two also includes a couple of unused bumpers for the series.  The music is presented as suites (“A” and “B”) that essentially present the two halves of the episode.  These are presented in chronological order.  The music here encapsulates so much of what Portman’s music is known for overall.  Warm string writing, gorgeous melodies that are brilliantly shifted through different instrumental timbres, and that little minor third minimalist-like ostinato pattern.  These are on display throughout the music for “Hans the Hedgehog” which features a heart-melting flute theme and gorgeous soprano sax.  There is even a delightful fiddle jig that adds some folkish flair.  In “A Short Story”, Portman uses her end titles music as the thematic source developing here with these contrasts of darkness (bass clarinet) and magical light (celesta).  Some of the stories are equally creepy, beginning with Fearnot which adds to this with the use of Ondes Martenot and tremolo strings.  There is also a truly beautiful violin idea.  The Luck Child is perhaps one of the darker episodes and Portman creates the perfect atmosphere with the use of contrabassoon and an ethnic flute.  A light flute line is also used against a plodding trombone and strings for “The Heartless Giant.”  Disc two begins with the equally moving “The Soldier and Death” which features a plaintive oboe, a mysterious bass flute in its texture, and later organ.  The score tends to feature rich low woodwinds and adds a harp for a touch of magic.  French Horn becomes an important color connected in the story of “The True Bride” along with celesta.  For the more sinuous, and frightening tale of The Three Ravens Portman chose to use a cor anglaise which adds a deep, dark, reedy quality to the music.  The soprano sax returns for Sapsorrow which also features a truly beautiful waltz, and a nice little string quartet moment.  Throughout the series, the low bass clarinet often helps present the series main theme which creates a nice overall connection across the series.  There tends to be one amazing thematic surprise after another for Portman’s fans to rediscover.

Disc three focuses on music for The Greek Myths and is edited similarly with the two suites for each of the four episodes here.  The UK version is used to open the disc with the US one closing off the primary portion of the presentation.  A couple of brief “bonus” tracks are then added.  The theme here revisits the original with some slight color differences.  The paired suites here for these four episodes are slightly longer than those from the primary series.  However, the style and rich thematic content continues with a general darker mood across the different stories.  First up is Theseus and the Minotaur”. The score continues in the style of those from the previous series, adding trumpet here for its primary tonal color against strings and winds.  The second suite features some interesting folk music that has a more medieval/ancient quality.  Perseus and the Gorgon has some equally beautiful lyric writing that explores low flutes and oboe and adds a sense of danger with high clarinet following a somewhat more sinister melodic outline.  Piano is also added for an extra magical touch here.  That romantic piano and strings, with flute, quality opens Daedalus and Icarus, but this too soon shifts into dark undulating colors.  These two opposites of simple beauty and darker brooding are the primary contrasts of these scores.  The latter suite feels almost balletic in its structure.    The final set of suites follows the storied lovers Orpheus and Eurydice.  This opens with a rapid flute idea in a modal melodic idea that is then accompanied by other folk-like instrumental sounds and a style that was used earlier.  This one tends to rely more on simple solo instrumental statements though lending it a decidedly ancient character, even when the string orchestra and harp appear.  These add a deeper emotional warmth to the music while the “period” or “folk” moments provide the musical contrast.  Each of these little episodes features more gorgeous music that reveals how Portman’s music has coalesced into the sort of sound that would become noted throughout her work in the early 1990s culminating in her Oscar for Emma (1996).

Though a physical set was not submitted for review, the booklet that will be included was provided.  It is set up as a series of interview responses by the different creative forces involved.  These are organized into good succinct commentary that explores, the stories, the resulting mini films, the music—including brief commentary on each episode’s ideas; and the historical aspects of the primary series.  The information for The Greek Myths though is minimal.  Otherwise, it is a very well-done monument to this important moment of television history.  In a day of so much electronic generic writing, it is an amazing experience to sit back and enjoy the various ways Portman’s music warms these tales, adds an appropriate amount of emotional depth, and helps draw us into these fantasy worlds that blend aspects of darkness and light.  Each has an almost timeless quality to them which makes for an engaging, and rich, listening experience.