Hollywood Sound - Music for the Movies / Max Steiner, Franz Waxman, David Raksin

With a revived interest in the scores created for Hollywood films in the 1930's and 40's. "Music for the Movies: The Hollywood Sound" explores a segment of that legacy through composers like Max Steiner ("Gone With the Wind"), Franz Waxman ("Bride of Frankenstein") and Erich Korngold ("The Adventures of Robin Hood"), all of whom came from Europe. Steiner was a pupil of Ravel. The American roster includes David Raksin ("Laura") and Alfred Newman ("The Hunchback of Notre Dame"). Host and narrator John Mauceri conducts the BBC National Orchestra of Wales against a backdrop of clips from the various movies.

Seeing The Music

This is a wonderful release! An unusual but most welcome DVD issue and about time too. An 85 minute disc that not only explains but demonstrates the intricacies of adding music to film through the use of a "live" orchestra in the studio with film clips displayed on a screen in the background.The featured orchestra is the superb BBC National Symphony Orchestra Of Wales conducted with fine aplomb by genial host and narrator John Mauceri who lovingly takes us through some splendid explainatory excerpts of music by such legendary film music luminaries as Max Steiner, Erich Korngold, Alfred Newman, Dimitri Tiomkin and David Raksin.

Raksin himself is actually in attendance at the sessions and tells us how he came to write his now famous theme from "Laura" some fifty years ago. The orchestra then plays an excerpt from the score with the appropriate scene from the film used as a backdrop.
The most interesting section is the first example where Mauceri explains
to us, in some detail, how Steiner's famous Tara Theme works on our thought processes to identify with Scarlet's plight in the "I'll never be hungry again" sequence in "Gone With The Wind". And also when her father tells her that "land is the only thing that matters" the camera pans back to reveal Scarlet and her father silhouetted against that brilliant red sunset sky. Mauceri then gestures from the podium with his baton and the orchestra renders a spine-tingling fortissimo treatment of the famous uplifting theme exactly as Steiner scored it.
We are treated to something similar with a scene from the Steiner scored
"Casablanca" and cellist the late Eleanor Slatkin - a member of the Warner Bros. Orchestra for 25 years - tells us how Steiner loved her playing and always wrote a cello solo for her in his scores. It goes on to show a scene from the Steiner scored "Johnny Belinda" ('48) and Slatkin's melancholy almost heart-rending solo playing in the aftermath of Belinda's brutal rape.
Alfred Newman is represented by three of his scores - the famous giving
of water scene from "The Hunchback Of Notre Dame" (1939), the hospital-waste disposal sequence from "Song Of Bernadette" (1943) and the lovely Irish based theme for Maureen O'Hara from "How Green Was My valley". The Welsh orchestra providing beautiful renditions of his music with accompanying movie excerpts.
Erich Wolfgang Korngold's blistering action cue for The Final Duel from
"The Adventures Of Robin Hood" is given full vent by the studio orchestra who respond to Maurceri's conducting prowess magnificently while up on the screen Robin dispatches, once and for all, the dastardly Sir Guy which elicits the quip from David Raksin "I don't think Errol Flynn would have been as brave without that music". Finally we are treated to the finale and End Title by Dimitri Tiomkin from his "Red River" score with the male studio chorus joining the orchestra to expertly intone that great Red River theme.

This terrific DVD was directed by Joshua Waltezky who in 1993 won an Oscar nomination for his equally brilliant documentry on Bernard Herrmann.
This disc will not only be indispensable to every film student and film music devotee alike but will also be an invaluable aid to music students everywhere. February 22, 2008

Oustanding in Every Way!

Both an educational and entertaining look at the classic Hollywood music scoring of the 1930s and 1940s. Host and narrator John Mauceri conducts the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in carefully selected music cues from such classics as Laura, Bride of Frankenstein, Gone With the Wind, Casablanca, Adventures of Robin Hood, The Song of Bernadette, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Johnny Belinda, How Green Was My Valley and Red River. Composer David Raksin gives us in depth background on the composing of his famous theme for "Laura". The process of film scoring is touched explored. Anyone who loves the film music of Steiner, Newman, Waxman, Korngold and Raskin will find this a fascinating 85 minutes. This would be great for a film course also. Highly recommended! August 19, 2007

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