Lost In the Shuffle VI

Since tomorrow is the 9th of the month, I had to bump up this weekend’s installment of “Lost In the Shuffle” so that I can post my monthly “9 on the 9th” post on the proper date. Mea culpa if this tampers with the rules of the online universe.

THE LION IN WINTER (1968) – Eya, Eya, Nova Gaudia

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Here’s a case of a score that will never get lost in the shuffle. THE LION IN WINTER is one of my favorite films (which should have won the Oscar over OLIVER!) and contains my favorite performances by Peter O’Toole (who should have won the Oscar over Cliff Robertson in CHARLY) and Katharine Hepburn (who did win the Oscar, tying with Barbra Streisand for FUNNY GIRL). All underscored by arguably John Barry’s finest score, for which he won his third Oscar. While this track doesn’t showcase the dramatic aspects of the score, it does illustrate one of its unique features–Barry’s use of chorus. “The church’s influence was a dominant factor at the time of the drama, and the music said that subliminally,”  said Barry in the liner notes.  “The Gregorian chants, Latin text, and church music are all things Henry had to deal with.  Using them then was a very simple thought but it proved very powerful, because it permeated just about everything in the film.” The title of this a capella Latin track translates to “Hail, hail, a new joy.”

1001 ARABIAN NIGHTS (1959) – Bar Fly Magoo

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After nearly a decade of successful animated shorts, Mr. Magoo made the leap to feature film with 1001 ARABIAN NIGHTS. Since the character of Magoo (voiced by Jim Bachus) grates on my nerves, I’ve never seen this Aladdin-inspired tale. That’s why I was so pleasantly surprised by Film Score Monthly’s release of George Duning’s score (paired with his jazz BELL, BOOK AND CANDLE) a few years ago. The score is a delightful mix of late 1950’s animated scoring and Arabian-flavored melodies and orchestrations. The brief “Bar Fly Magoo” is an instrumental version of Magoo’s earlier song, “Magoo’s Blues,” played on an upright saloon piano.

JOHN ADAMS (2008) – John Says Goodbye

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In my 4 Scores for the Fourth post, I confessed that Rob Lane and Joseph Vitarelli’s score for JOHN ADAMS did not make much of an impression on me as I was watching the miniseries. While Lane got nominated for his portion of the score, Vitarelli was left out. “John Says Goodbye” is one of Vitarelli’s cues, a sorrowful flute melody followed by the strings. I must say, it’s a lovely track. Perhaps I need to revisit the score.

SKY BANDITS (1986) – Barney and Luke

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When I found out that SKY BANDITS was being released a couple of years ago, I had fond memories of a piece of mid-1970’s dreck from my teen years about a band of hang gliders who rescue a family from terrorists. Nope, that was SKY RIDERS, with a score by Lalo Schifrin (recently released on his Aleph label). With its story about a pair of Old West gunfighters who end up as fighter pilots in World War I, SKY BANDITS sounds even more far-fetched than SKY RIDERS. I honestly don’t think I’d ever listened to the score by Croatian composer Alfi Kabiljo until today. My mistake. The rousing score makes me want to investigate other works by this relatively unknown composer. The light-hearted “Barney and Luke” contains a fun, loping melody, and the second appearance in this post by an old saloon piano. What’s up with that?

THE NORTH STAR (1943) – Main Title

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In  a 2007 Film Score Monthly Online article entitled “Propoganda and Peasants,” I discussed Aaron Copland’s Oscar-nominated score for THE NORTH STAR. Written by Lillian Hellman, the film is a supreme example of wartime pro-Soviet propoganda about a Ukrainian farming collective under siege by the Nazis. Unlike many of his film scores, Copland never extrapolated any of the NORTH STAR material to make a separate concert suite. In 2001 conductor Jonathan Sheffer unearthed the score in the Library of Congress and later conducted a 17-minute suite with the Eos Orchestra on the compilation CD, Celluloid Copland. The score is a unique blend of Copland’s open harmonies and lyrics by Ira Gershwin for the original songs used throughout the film. The “Main Title” begins with a typical Copland brass fanfare followed by three-note motifs in the winds conveying the peaceful life of the collective farmer. The piccolo plays the melody from the song “There’s No Village Like Mine.”