Play It Again/Classic Sound of Hollywood

SONY MASTERWORK 88843 03384 2

Theme From Peyton Place

 

On April 1st Sony Masterworks released a two CD set called Play It Again Sam The Classic Sound of Hollywood a little different compilation featuring such conductors as Charles Gerhardt, Maurice Jarre, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Elmer Bernstein, John Williams, Arthur Fiedler, and Ennio Morricone. The tracks selected span a 40 year time period from “King Kong” to “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” They dug deep into the vaults to find such selections as “The Thing,” “Peyton Place,” and “Salome.” The CD which is available from Amazon for $17.00 is an excellent choice for the listener who wants a taste of my favorite soundtrack material Golden Age and several selections of material are included and performed by Charles Gerhardt and the National Philharmonic. I can’t stress enough the superior recording, arranging, and performing such classic works as Max Steiner’s “King Kong (1933)” The seven plus minute track includes the main title, aborigine dance, and Kong’s appearance on stage in New York. This was one of the first major studio releases (RKO) that had 60 minutes of original music. I have it ranked as one of the top three scores of all time. “Salome” is a treat with its oriental mysticism remind me of a mature Rimsky-Korsakov with ear attention harp glissandos. With “Of Human Bondage” and “Between Two Worlds” you’ll hear the classic golden age sound that helped make there lavish productions even more extravagant with music you’ll walk away from the theater humming. Another seldom heard sleeper “The Thing From Another World” from multi award winning Dimitri Tiomkin is a departure from the brash dissonance of so many of the ‘B’ movies. Tiomkin was classically trained by Alexander Glazunov and it shows in this ten minute suite. Yes the theremin was used as it was in films of this genre especially in this time period. And I must certainly classify this one as an A- picture. Of course you’ll also hear your favorites from “Lawrence of Arabia,” “Gone With the Wind,” and “Breakfast At Tiffany’s.”
Track Listing:
DISC ONE
Peyton Place (3:23)
The Thing (10:34)
Salome (5:06)
Of Human Bondage (12:28)
Between Two Worlds (7:34)
The Sea Hawk (15:37)
Total Time: 54:40
DISC TWO
Gone With the Wind (3:06)
Doctor Zhivago (5:16)
Psycho (1:01)
Lawrence of Arabia (4:30)
The Magnificent Seven (3:59)
Vertigo (6:44)
Casablanca ( (8:43)
The Good,The Bad, and The Ugly (3:07)
Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (3:29)
King Kong (7:23)
Ben Hur (3:42)
Breakfast at Tiffany’s (2:42)
Total Time: 54:22