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Classic Choral Themes From the Movies ***
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BuySoundtrax BSXGD0128 (download)
9 tracks - 45:11

https://buysoundtrax.myshopify.com/products/classic-choral-themes-from-the-movies?_pos=1&_sid=b268ef23e&_ss=r 

This collection of choral film music appears to be a compilation of tracks drawn from a variety of BuySoundtrax/Dragon’s Domain releases, serving as a sampler. Some selections seem to come from the OSTs, while the Miklós Rózsa excerpts from Ben-Hur and King of Kings are recorded with the Brigham Young University A Capella Choir (culled from the label’s compilation of Rózsa choral music released in 2012). Meanwhile, the Brian May (Thirst suite) and Tony Bremner (The Everlasting Secret Family) tracks come from an earlier Dragon’s Domain compilation of Australian film music (DDR 694).

Apart perhaps from the opening suite from Christopher Young’s Hellbound: Hellraiser II, most of the tracks here are lesser known, which is actually a good thing, as many compilations cycle through the same material again and again. For instance, the austere “The Great Prayer” from Laurence Rosenthal’s 1979 score for Meetings With Remarkable Men is not something you’re likely to find on your average film music collection, choral-based or otherwise.

Also on hand is the haunting main theme from Mark Snow’s 1992 TV movie score A Woman Scorned: The Betty Broderick Story, where the harp opening fosters a subtle sense of mystery. Richard Band’s “Cantos Profane” from Troll (1986) makes for a nice little surprise, as does “Godzilla Under the Sea” from Akira Ifukube’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters, performed here by the choral group Bukimisha.

Overall, this is a fine sampler of choral music that you’re unlikely to find collected elsewhere. It’s at least worth auditioning the tracks at the label’s website. —Steven A. Kennedy

Comments regarding this review can be sent to: [email protected].

Ernest Gold (1921-1999) had a rich composing career, writing such classic scores as Exodus, On the Beach and It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. However, his resume is dotted with just as many odds and ends, some of which have been gathered together by Dragon’s Domain for The Ernest Gold Collection, Vol. 1.

Smooth as Silk (1946), the first of several noir and noir-adjacent stories scored by Gold, is represented by two source tracks: “Dinner Music” makes for a laid-back piece of muted trumpet and tinkling piano, before building to a frantic climax of racing strings and booming brass. “Private Party” is more samba flavored, with shaker percussion and muted horns.

Written a year later but opening the album is the “Main Title” for Exposed (1947), which ably captures the crime drama’s moods, from imposing brass to swirling string work. The music of The Naked Street (1955) is quite eclectic, with high strings and muted trombone earmarking “The Cheating Husband.” “The Baby Dies” is appropriately grim with its doleful string work. The same instrument section gets a workout in the tense “Hijacking,” while “Brother and Sister” looks back almost wistfully on the events of the story, with harp supporting wavering strings.

The semi-documentary UFO (1956) examines the rise of the flying saucer phenomenon. The stately march of the “Main Title” gets things off to a rousing start with cascading brass. After a string ostinato and muted, bustling trumpets whisk us away to “Washington,” “Saucer Concerto” throws in some disturbing musical effects, while “Washington National” creeps along with horns and sorrowful string work.

Man on the Prowl (1957) pits a family against a mentally fractured delivery man. The theremin takes the lead in the “Main Title,” spiced with quaking horn figures. “What I’ve Got Isn’t for Delivery Boys” is a dramatic piece for woodwinds and occasional brass. Strings and flute steadily build in “A Good Angle,” while the “Radio Source” cue favors swaying trumpets and bassoon backing. Following a return of the theremin, “The End of Doug and Finale” slowly trudges along to an uplifting brass finish.

Wink of an Eye (1958) is a more lighthearted tale of jealousy and murder (!), reflected by the theme in the “Main Title”: swing trumpets with woodwind accents not too far removed from a musical idiom one might find in a sitcom. “All Is Well” draws out the main theme, one of several quotes performed on everything from chimes to flute.

One of Gold’s last projects, Safari 3000 (1982) was an odd story of an auto rally across Africa, and its score is heavily featured here. In “Flute Source/Start Your Engines/Airport Arrival,” a tribal flute solo leads to a rousing passage for booming horns and chopping strings. The main theme presents itself on brass before the cue concludes with an exotic, Arabic-sounding transitional melody.

Made of up four short cues, “This Is a Rented Car/Lorenzo/Get on With It/Steal That Engine” bounces from bounding brass and burbling woodwinds to a romantic-sounding theme on lush strings; a downbeat violin solo then trades off with a descending villain motif that is passed around the orchestra.

The jaunty music of “The Race Begins” works in a brief quote of “America the Beautiful” on chimes, before giving way to “Bridge Peril,” with its pounding piano and exciting brass. “Meet in the Mud/Find the Salami” is carried by lush strings and a horn reading of the main theme, while “Take a Picture” introduces a harpsichord into the comical mix.

Escalating four-note horn figures wind their way through “Behind You/Story Time” before sliding strings and a neoclassical passage finish things off. “Zebras/I Hope We Win,” meanwhile, races along with galloping brass and chattering xylophone, as well as the return of the romantic motif.

The main theme starts off “It Doesn’t Have to Be/Those Cigars Are Killing Me/Up a Willow Tree/The Moment Supreme” before the appearance of a bouncy horn idea. In the midst of the upbeat scoring comes a quote of “Rule Britannia.” “A Short Cut/Thanks for the Push/End Credits” begins with a string ostinato and Arabic-like winds before reprising the main theme on brass and chimes.

In the midst of the score, Gold also provides several source cues. The rock-based “Rally Party Source” is comprised of drums, guitar and peppy organ. “Hotel Lounge Source” carries a party atmosphere, driven by upbeat trumpets and guitar. “Hotel Lounge Source #2” employs piano, sounding not unlike “As Time Goes By.” Finally, “Let’s Dance” is a slow dance for saxophone and bass guitar.

Once again, Dragon’s Domain deserves credit for excavating and compiling a composer’s lesser-known efforts, and The Ernest Gold Collection, Vol. 1 emerges as one of the year’s most pleasant surprises. —Tor Harbin