As I was doing a little research on Oscar Levant for the thread about him, I was thinking (incorrectly, as it turned out) that he had played a part in the 1947 film Night Song. I first saw this film in a horrible 16mm print for early television when I was a teen. And really fell for the piano concerto, the "Concerto for Sweeney" that the blind composer Dana Andrews couldn't seem to complete. And I had not paid attention to the credits to see who actually wrote the concerto. It was performed, at the conclusion of the film by Artur Rubinstein with the NY Phil. under Ormandy. An impressive thing for a 17 year old....
Well I wrote to Mr. Ormandy in Philadelphi to ask who composed it and if it had been recorded commercially. I got a very kind note back; he knew nought of a recording but told me that Leith Stevens (1909-1970) had written the concerto and it was Piano Concerto in c. He also gave me Mr. Stevens address in California. So being a persistent teen, I wrote to him. No, sadly, his concerto had never been recorded - it was written in 1947 during a musicians strike and union leader Petrillo had put a ban on any recording of the work. As I recall, they had defied Petrillo and went ahead with the film and that's what p'd him off. Stevens said he had tried for over 20 years to get the ban lifted, without success. I just read the NY Times review of the film - he hated the music and about all he did like was Hoagy Carmichael's role as Andrews friend and mentor......
It finally got done, again sadly, after Mr. Stevens death. If you've never heard it, the clip from the film is on YouTube - 1947 sound, of course. And they chopped about 2 minutes off of the ten and a half minute concerto. The CD is still available and is complete.
Nothing profound, but I still like it. And beware, the film is a real tear jerker.
Sorry for the ramble.....there has been a lot of interesting music written for films and not much of it has been taken very seriously. Perhaps there's room for some discussion here.
Jerry
Quote from: jerfilm on Saturday 24 September 2011, 15:22
Sorry for the ramble.....there has been a lot of interesting music written for films and not much of it has been taken very seriously. Perhaps there's room for some discussion here.
Jerry
I echo Jerry's suggestion about the discussion of film music, some of which merits serious consideration in my view. Beginning with Korngold and Bernard Herrmann, composers wrote music of extraordinary quality which not only contributed greatly to the mood and and narrative of the film but, in many cases, is worthy of a separate existence as free-standing concert music.
With limited knowledge of the topic,
I am very fond of Naxos CD "Warsaw Concerto and other piano concerto for the movies" (Naxos 8.554323. P. Fowke piano, P.O Duinn cond., RTE Concert Orch.)
Works by:
-Richard Addinsell
-Jack Beaver
-Miklos Rosza
-Nino Rota
-Richard Rodney Bennett
-Hubert Bath
-Bernard Hermann
-Charles Williams
-Leonard Pennario
Mostly in the remote days of LP (or- better-...... short playing vinyl) obviously the Addinsell, but also the Rosza (Spellbound Concerto), the Bath (Cornish Rhapsody) and the Williams (The dream of Olwen) were fairly often recorded.
Gershwin actually originally wrote about 2/3rd of his Second Rhapsody for the film Delicious (under the title 'New York Rhapsody') before expanding it into the work known known. It's recorded in the earlier form on another 'Piano Concertos from Movies' disc which many of the above ones as well.
There's also an interesting set of arrangements that were originally on the LP for Parrish with three themes for that film, plus Gone With the Wind and A Summer Place (available on the CD here http://www.screenarchives.com/title_detail.cfm/ID/10972/JOHN-PAUL-JONES-PARRISH/ )
Quote from: jerfilm on Saturday 24 September 2011, 15:22
Sorry for the ramble.....there has been a lot of interesting music written for films and not much of it has been taken very seriously. Perhaps there's room for some discussion here.
Jerry
At least in my corner of the world, film music is becoming more and more frequently played in concerts. Last year we had a whole evening of classic scores: Captain Blood, The Magnificent Seven, North by Northwest, et al. And just last evening we had a fine concert beginning with Korngold's Much Ado About Nothing. Not film music, but just to hear Korngold live is a treat. The audience was totally delighted. We're getting the violin concerto (from film music) soon, and keep the fingers crossed, but talk of doing Korngold's Symphony is in the air. Sure, the Star Wars extravaganzas are still going strong, but slowly and steadily, film music is making its way in. And there is so much wonderful music to explore. Another good sign is the long overdue re-release of the RCA Classic Film Scores. Add to it the ongoing Chandos recordings, Naxos and the magnificent releases from Tribute Film Classics and I believe that there a lot of people taking film music quite seriously.
Quote from: alberto on Saturday 24 September 2011, 18:14
Mostly in the remote days of LP (or- better-...... short playing vinyl) obviously the Addinsell, but also the Rosza (Spellbound Concerto), the Bath (Cornish Rhapsody) and the Williams (The dream of Olwen) were fairly often recorded.
Another concerto worth searching for is the Mansell Concerto by Kenneth Leslie Smith, from a film called The Woman's Angle. If my memory is correct, it is rather short, and so could easily be used to help fill up a disc. The film itself seems to have been a failure. One critic described it as "a grim little sample of bad writing, bad acting and bad directing all around" (no mention of the music).
I always wanted to hear the Phantom of the Opera's Piano Concerto in it's complete (fictional) version! After all, none other than Franz Liszt played it and was enthusiastic about it! There's a four minute version on some CD that just doesn't cut it for me, of course the movie is one of my all time favorites, esp the version with Claude Rains. But all in all, movie piano concertos are fun for me.
... and there is also quite a luscius and uncommon Hollyoodian Piano Concerto by Shostakovich, entitled "The Assault on the Red Hill", to the Stalinist movie "The Unforgettable Year 1919". It was first recorded over here (with a wrong title translation "The Assault on Beautiful Gorky") in 1983 by EMI (Dmitry Alexeev, Piano") and later on, in 2000, I conducted the same piece in Moscow on a Marco Polo/Naxos recording (Pianist Ellena Alekseyeva) - the two artists are nor related.
Regards from Zurich/Switzerland
Adriano
(conductor-composer)
As a longtime fan of film music, I had been thinking about this for the last week or so, but the exchanges are already so thick and fast, and the generosity of members brings a constant flood of downloads to explore, so I thought maybe this was something for later down the track (as perhaps early music and baroque may be). Deciding who would count as unsung - especially from an international perspective - may be an issue; and, I can't imagine that we want to drift into electronic, pop, lounge, etc., which accounts for a lot of film music, so deciding what would be suitable for this forum might also be a problem. Just a thought.
Adriano just beat me to posting in connection with Shostakovich's so-called Assault on Beautiful Gorky. I can still mention, however the Cello Concerto included in Korngold's 1946 film score for Deception. This was later slightly expanded and published as an independent piece.
My favorite is Max Steiner. But did Steiner write any concert music at all beyond, say, the long suite from Gone With the Wind?
Jerry
well, if we're no longer talking about concertos but just film scores as concert music, I think the suite (on cpo) arranged from The Night of the Iguana (1964, music by Benjamin Frankel) would work very well...
Quote from: eschiss1 on Monday 26 September 2011, 15:44
well, if we're no longer talking about concertos but just film scores as concert music, I think the suite (on cpo) arranged from The Night of the Iguana (1964, music by Benjamin Frankel) would work very well...
The title of the thread is
Concertos and such for film scores, so I thought everyone was on topic.
They are on topic. And that's why I hedged a bit in the thread title........... :)
Jerry
My. I thought my specs needed a nudge in their specs.
The suite from "Four Wives" by Max Steiner is orchestral with lots of piano, so that might fit in the "and such", plus it's a nice piece.
I think the preceding few posts prove that my cautions were perhaps justified. Neither Shostakovich nor Steiner could be regarded as unsung; and, once you go go beyond concertos and into "and such" the scope of the genre becomes a problem. Is this about film scores as such, or about pieces of music which are somehow embedded within a film? I'm confused! :-\
Has there ever been a recording of the piano concerto made (not by the composer, I gather) from some of M. Weinberg's music to the film The Cranes are Flying?
Well I would say in defense of the thread (and my ego.....) that while composers like Shostakovish and Steiner are not unknown, the are fairly unsung in terms of their concert music. Lots of folks know Korngold for his superb background scores, but how many have ever heard (or heard of) his Symphony?
And certainly a fair share of film scores could be considered as "romantic" in style, if there are folks that want to talk about them, why not?
And if this music and discussion thereof is no appropriate for a forum that is supposedly devoted to the music of the romantic era and general style, then where does the recent glut of post-romantic (and beyond) 20th century music fit into the scheme of things?
One of the great things that attracts me to this forum is the fact that many of us have vastly divergent views and musical tastes but we don't ridicule each other, or put folks down for their opinions or use inappropriate language. How refreshing is that if you read many blogs on various subjects?
Jerry
Shostakovich's concert music seems to me much better-known (on the whole- not all of it equally or even proportionately!)- than his film scores?, likewise that of Aaron Copland (Arthur Honegger's concert music is somewhat better-known than his film scores in that neither side is still all that well-known really but the latter is -really- not well-known; Saint-Saëns' concert-music is a good-deal better-known than his few (one?) contributions to the early film score- etc.)
Oh, and not to forget Carl Davis who has written a number of very nice scores for historic silent feature films of the 1920's.
Jerry
In addition to the Symphonie [not very] Moderne, Steiner wrote the terrific, deliriously pseudo-Gershwin Magic Island Symphony in the 1940 James Cagney picture City for Conquest. This is in DIRE need of recording.
Quite a robust thread. My 2 cents in 2 words: Roy Webb. His noir scores in particular are standouts. Anybody else a fan of his?
Symphony from film scores: I gather Alex North, I think it was, incorporated the music that he wrote for 2001 and which Kubrick then did not use, into his 3rd symphony. (No, I have not heard any concert music by Alex North, but this statement has intrigued me since I read it some time back.)
I wonder how many of these composers scored their own concertos. Richard Addinsell certainly didn't score his and I believe was give a lot of help with its composition. From what I know, much film music is a collective effort with credit given to the 'big name'
As for Arthur Honegger, this should not be a closet thing anymore since I've recorded his film music on 4 CDs long ago, and that sold very well. 2 voluems vere reissued not long ago. I don't learn all that from royalties received (Marco Polo never pays such a thing), but I look at the composer's rights lists and those from our performer's society and radio performances.
Regards from Switzerland