Film Score Rundowns

FILM SCORE BLOGS by Bill Wrobel
Monday, January 24, 2005 at 5:45 pm [Blog # 15]

I did a good deal of film music research this previous week—but more on that later.

On the TRUE cable channel right now is The Heroes of Telemark, music by Malcolm Arnold. It is conceivable I can spend some time on that score at Columbia Studios, so I’ll have a good listen to the score and record parts of it and then decide if it’s worth the trouble. I am interested but only so much time is available, and I may want to spend the limited free time on other scores there. However, I did research Arnold’s Cowboy in Africa that is available for research at UCSB (although only part of the full score was available) .I shared my research with am Arnold enthusiast in Germany. I attempted to research The Bridge on the River Kwai at Columbia because that score holds far more interest than Telemark, but unfortunately only the separate March was there, if I remember correctly. I need to find my old notes (in my “old notes” box!).

The Telemark written score is held in Box 153 at the studio (actually the music department is not on a site off the studio on Venice Blvd where they order the music materials from another off-site warehouse location). On The Waterfront is there in Boxes 293 and 1043. I’d like to see that one. Raksin’s Jubal is in Boxes 79 and 279, while City Without Men is in Box 13, and Love Has Many Faces is in Box 165. However, I am not particularly interested in Raksin, although I would look at them if I had the time. I believe I have a xerox of a title page from Love that I Xeroxed (the score happened to be in the same box of a score by another composer that I was researching). If I recall, Raksin provided well-detailed sketches. I may like to see Experiment in Terror by Mancini, and maybe Arizona by Victor Young.

[Note: Listening to Telemark in the background, there was a very long stretch without music, only now appearing in the ski chase. Kirk Douglas just shot the bearded guy. I believe Arnold missed several good opportunities of underscoring scenes without dialog, including a scene when the heroes were climbing down a cliff in the evening. I remember when Steiner scored a similar scene (not a Norwegian winter scene but out in the summer Old West Indian territory!) in Charge at Telemark River—oh, I mean, Charge at Feather River! Exciting music! It was Reel 10/4 that one can title “The Ledge.” In Bar 14, the bowed trem violins played Line 3 F# whole note to (Bar 15) F to (Bar 16) E to (Bar 17) D#, and so forth in the semi-tone descent. The flutes did the same as well as the Novachord. The trumpets and Pos in felts played the melody line forte on small octave (Pos) and Line 1 F# dotted half note to E quarter note (repeated next bar) to (Bar 16) F# whole note tied to dotted quarter note next bar (followed by an 8th rest) to E to F# tenuto quarter notes. Meanwhile the horns and viole play the rhythmic figures of small octave A/middle C# quarter notes to “3” triplet value 8th notes to half notes (repeated next bar) to (Bar 16) A/C# quarter notes to “3” triplet 8ths figure to quarter notes to another triplet figure to (Bar 17) A/C# quarter notes to three triplet 8ths figures. The Fags and VC/CB play a different figure repeat thru these bars of Great octave F# quarter note up to small octave C# up to F# back down to C# quarter notes played legato. The bass clarinet plays this an octave higher. All repeat the bar in Bars 15, 16, 17 at least. The piano plays Contra-octave F# and Great octave F# to (etc). The timp rolls on Great octave F# dotted half note (followed by a quarter rest), repeated next bars.]

Of course Lawrence of Arabia is held in Columbia Studios in Box 125. I began to research that one four years ago or so. I started on 1M1 “Main Titles” written on 30-stave paper. I assume Gerald Shurmann orchestrated it but I did not see his name. Quarter note = 92. Two flutes play cresc poco a poco Line 2 Eb/A whole notes in 4/4 time tied to whole notes next four bars. Violins II play the Line 2 Eb whole notes as well, while violins I play A. Violas play Line 2 A tied whole notes. Three clarinets play pp cresc Line 1 A [written B] whole notes thru Bar 4. The main thrust of these first four bars is the repeated quarter note simple patterns. Bassoons play Great octave Eb/A tenuto quarter notes played 4X and repeated thru Bar 4. Horns play the pattern on small octave Eb/A/Line 1 Eb/A tenuto quarter notes (also cresc poco a poco). Trumpet II (in C) plays Line 1 A quarter notes, while Pos play small octave Eb/A notes, and tubas play Great octave Eb/A. VC play Great octave A/small octave Eb quarter notes, and CB on small octave Eb-Eb-Eb-Eb. The timp beats Eb down to Great octave A 8th notes (crossbeam connected) played 4 X per bar. The bass drum is rolled on a whole note. The Main Title melody line begins in Bar 8 with the violins, flutes, piccolo, oboes, Eb clarinet, clarinets I-II, and horns playing it. The tonality starts on Bb major (Bb/D/F) and then F maj (F/A/C) in Bar 9, and then Eb maj (Eb/G/Bb) in Bar 10.

[So far no more Arnold music since that ski chase! Long stretches without music. Wait, now there’s music when Kirk goes on the Hydro ferry ride with the German on board. I believe the heavy water tanks are on the boat. I do not think I will focus on this score, except for perhaps a few hours if I get the opportunity. As a side note, Anton Diffring plays a role in the movie. He was also in Fahrenheit 451.]

Back in 2000 at Columbia Studios, I wanted to research John Barry’s score for Hanover Street. Unfortunately, only the Theme was available in two-stave format. The key signature is F major (one flat) in 4/4 time. Slowly and Gently, the top staff plays mf Line 1 C/F/A (F maj 2nd inversion) whole notes to (Bar 2) E/A/Line 2 C (A minor 2nd inv). The bottom staff line plays Great octave F up to small octave C 8th notes (crossbeam connected) up to A quarter note tied to A 8th down to E 8th note up to F down to C 8th notes. In Bar 2, it plays Great octave A up to small octave E 8th notes up to middle C quarter note tied to C 8th down to E 8th up to A quarter note.

I did, however, pull the full score to Barry’s My Life from 1993. It’s a pleasant score. I have the dvd. In 1-M-1 (“Starlight, Star Bright”). Barry opens the cue with the synth on the pipe organ mode, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 horns, harp, and muted strings (16 violins I, 14 violins II, 12 violas, 10 celli, 8 basses). Once again he uses the F major tonality, one of his favorites. Violins I play Line 1 A/Line 2 C whole notes legato to (Bar 2) C/E whole notes to (Bar 3) D/F whole notes to (Bar 4) C/E, while violins II play Line 3 C whole note tied thru Bar 9. Viole play middle C/F whole notes to (Bar 2) F/G whole notes to (Bar 3) F/A to (Bar 4) E/A. VC play small octave F/A whole notes to (Bar 2) G/middle C to (Bar 3) A/D to (Bar 4) A/C. CB play Line 1 F down to (Bar 2) middle C whole notes to (Bar 3) D down to (Bar 4) A. After an 8th rest in Bar 1, the synth plays p Line 1 F 8ths up to A/C 8th back down to B 8th up to A/C quarter notes tied to 8ths (followed by an 8th rest). After an 8th rest in Bar 2, it plays G 8th up to C/E 8ths back down to G 8th up to C/E quarter notes tied to 8ths (followed by an 8th rest). After an 8th rest in Bar 1, the solo first flute plays the melody line on Line 2 A quarter note legato to G half note tied to 8th note next bar (followed by an 8th rest) down to E tenuto quarter note up to G dotted quarter note down to E 8th up to (Bar 3) Line 3 D tenuto quarter note to E quarter note tied to half note and tied to dotted half note and 8th note in Bar 4. In Bar 5, the horns take over the melody line on small octave A [written A since it is a “Concert Score”) tenuto quarter note to G half note tied to 8th note next bar (etc).
I liked cue 6M2 “Did You Used To Sleep Up There Too?” and 12 M 3 “Backyard Carnival.” Barry is certainly not a sophisticated, elaborate composer (!) but he hits a nerve with his simplicity. I understand many women in the audience find his music quite appealing, especially his Somewhere In Time score. I would really love to study that score, but alas it is a Universal Studios movie, and I’ll probably never get a chance to research it.

Also at Columbia Studios, I studied very briefly back on June 18, 2000 the “concert score” to Vertical Limit by James Newton Howard, orchestrated by Brad Dechter (??—unsure of the spelling right now) and Jeff Atmajian, Pete Anthony, Jon Kull, Frank Bennett, and ???. The first cue is 1M 0, version I, “Opening” that has the gran casa (bass drum), timp., and strings. In Bar 5, violins I play pp cresc poco a poco Line 1 Eb whole note tied to whole notes thru Bar 12, while violins II play Line 1 D tied whole notes thru Bar 9, and viole on small octave G. VC/CB in Bar 6 play Great octave C whole note tied thru Bar 10. Etc. In Bar 21 in 6/4 time, the flutes and violins play the rapid repeat figures vigorous and forte of 16th notes Line 3 C rinforzando 16th down to G-F-Eb (crossbeams connected) to next figure of F down to C up to F to G 16ths (connected by two crossbeams). Repeat these two figures two more times, and repeat this bar thru Bar 24. Clarinets play a different repeat figure of ascending middle C-Eb-F-G 16ths played 6X. VC/CB play Great octave C whole note tied to next three bars. Six horns play the melody line fortissimo on middle C rinforzando half note up to G rinforzando half note up to Bb legato to A quarter notes to (Bar 2) Bb rinforzando half note down to G half note up to Line 2 C rinforzando quarter note legato down to G quarter note up to (Bar 3) Bb rinforzando half note legato down to F half note down to middle C legato up to F quarter notes.

At that same day or week I also quickly worked on Goldsmith’s Hollow Man. I liked the score, although the movie itself is rather hard to stomach! Pretty intense and creepy. The Main title utilized 2 flutes, oboe, English horn, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 Fags, 6 horns, 3 Pos, tuba, harp, piano, 16 violins I, 16 violins II, 12 viole, 10 VC, and 6 CB. In Bar 1 in _ time, the bottom staff of the harp plays mp Great octave D 8th note up to small octave D 8th note tied to D quarter note down to Great octave A quarter note. After a quarter rest in Bar 1, the top staff plays Line 1 D down to small octave A to Bb back to A legato 8th notes. Repeat this bar in the next three bars. After two quarter rests in Bar 1, clarinet I plays Bb to A [written middle C-B] 8th notes, repeated next three bars. Etc.

I like the next cue “The Rat” (Reel 1/pt 2). Thirty-two (!) violins play pp Line 3 G whole note in 4/4 time tied to whole notes thru Bar 5, while 12 viole play Line 1 G notes with the diamond symbol harmonics symbol above the notes, cresc poco a poco. In Bar 6, the violins then “play chromatics as rapidly as possible ad lib” and cresc poco a poco. In Bar 2, flute I plays p the melody line of Line 3 G half note to F3 to E quarter notes down to (Bar 3) Line 2 B quarter note to Line 3 C# half note tied to 8th note (followed by an 8th rest). Etc. Then the music swells as the horns and trombones start to play, followed next bar by the trumpets, and so forth.

I also like the next cue (not on the cd) of “Lady In The Window” (R1/pt 3). Sords violins play pp Line 1 E dotted half notes in _ time tied to whole notes next three bars, and then (in Bar 5) Eb/Gb dotted half notes tied to next bar crescendo to (Bar 7) D/F dotted half notes tied to next bar, etc. Viole in bar 7 finally appear to play small octave A dotted half note tied to next bar. VC in Bar 1 pluck pizzicato small octave E quarter note (followed by a quarter rest) up to middle C quarter note to (Bar 2) B quarter note (followed by two quarter rests). Repeat these two bars in the next two bars. CB are pizzicato on E quarter note (followed by a quarter rest) up to B quarter note down to (bar 2) E quarter note (followed by a quarter rest). Repeat next two bars. The harp bottom staff plays p Great octave E quarter note up to small octave E down to Great octave B quarter notes down to (Bar 2) E dotted half note (repeated next two bars). After two quarter rests in Bar 1, the top staff of the harp plays middle C quarter note to (bar 2) B dotted half note. After two quarter rests, the clarinet plays mp > p middle C to B written D-C#] 8th notes (repeated next three bars).

Enough now on my old Columbia Studio research—although I should mention that I spent a lot more time on Rozsa’s The Golden Voyage of Sinbad and Sahara, and also Horner’s Krull, and Steiner’s two movies there, and Williams’ Close Encounters Of The Third Kind and Hook. Very briefly I looked at Wojciech Kilar’s Dracula. Very atmospheric movie, and I liked the score. I also liked his score for Roman Polanksky’s excellently directed The Ninth Gate. The movie had a great look! And it helps to have Johnny Depp in the lead role! In the cue “Huneter’s Prelude,” the timp plays mf Great octave A-A-A “3” triplet value 8th notes to A-A-A quarter notes (repeated to end of cue). In Bar 5, 12VC/8 CB play Great octave A to B half notes up to (Bar 6) C half note down to Great octave F to E quarter notes to (Bar 7) F to G quarter notes to G# half note to (Bars 8-9) a repeat of Bars 5-7, etc. Of course “The Train” cue (stylized scene) is pretty similar. The timp beats mf Great octave A rinforzando quarter note (followed by a quarter and half rest), repeat next bars. Viole play mf marcato “3” triplet value 8th notes small octave A-A-A tenuto and staccato notes combination (slight separation between notes) to A-A-A quarter notes in that manner, repeated next bars. VC/CB play the same but in the Great octave register. In Bar 4, the two Fags and the C. Fag play Great octave A to B half notes to (Bar 5) C half note down to Great octave F to E quarter notes (etc). The tubas play Contra-octave and Great octave A half notes to B half notes to (Bar 5) Great octave and small octave C half notes (etc).

Now: Speaking of Malcolm Arnold, I worked on his Cowboys In Africa, as mentioned earlier, on Monday, September 27, 2004, and on another occasion. It’s in Collection 034 at UCLA, General Music Corp., Box 8. This of course is the feature film, not the music adapted for the tv series. Cue 1-M-1 is Moderato in 4/4 time. Instrumentation: 4 flutes, 2 oboes, bass clarinet, 4 horns, 3 Bb trumpets, 3 Pos, 2 guitars, piano, bongos, tambourine, cymbal, Tom Toms, bass drum, 2 viole, 2 VC, bass. The bass clarinet/viole/guitar II/top staff piano play Line 1 (middle) C while VC/CB/Piano bottom staff play Great octave rinforzando C (and also small octave C for piano) whole note fortissimo tied to quarter note next bar down to G back up to C back down to G rinforzando quarter notes up to B rinforzando whole note tied to half note next bar, and then down to F# rinforzando half note up to (Bar 5) B to Bb half notes to (Bar 6) A whole note tied to quarter note next bar to F-A-F rinforzando quarter notes, etc. After a quarter rest in Bar 3, the horns and flutes and oboes are prominent playing G#/B half notes, etc etc. If Arnold did his own orchestration (I don’t know since the orchestrator wasn’t inserted on the title pages), then it’s pretty clean-cut writing. Neat and tidy.

At this moment in the background, I am listening (and partially watching) my dvd of Body and Soul starring John Garfield and Lilli Palmer. It’s a 1947 black and white movie that has the screenplay of Abraham Polanky. I purchased it primarily because I worked briefly on the four-stave Conductor score held in the MGM Collection at Cal State Long Beach. I worked on it last Thursday, January 20th. I finished my work on the full score to Goodbye, Mr. Chips and decided to work on this one. I knew the dvd was available, so it was a good choice in order to hear the music. There was a very detailed sketch score (reverse black negative copy) of Ramrod by Adolph Deutsch, but there is no dvd of it. The same applies to Tiomkin’s So This Is New York, also available at Cal State Long Beach.

Body and Soul was composed by Hugo Friedhofer, orchestrated primarily by Jerome Moross (interesting). Maybe Hugo knew Moross and gave him a job as an orchestrator between scoring assignments. I don’t know. It’s interesting also because Friedhofer is one of the absolute best and well-praised orchestrators among his peers. I guess he didn’t have time to do his own orchestration. It is an Enterprise Production, the same also for Ramrod, and I believe So This is N.Y. Basically it’s a Republic Pictures movie. There are 22 cues, 12 reels. The movie is so-so, and the music is fine, well crafted—but it doesn’t really move me as, say, A Steiner score, or a Herrmann score. The “Main Title” is 33 bars in length, 1:50 duration. In C time, it starts forte crescendo on C tenuto and also rinforzando quarter note up to Eb 8th to G 8th tied to half note and tied to (Bar 2) 8th note down to C quarter note up to Eb 8th (all notes up to here are rinforzand0/tenuto) to G rinforzando 8th up to Bb dotted quarter note to (Bar 3) G sforzando whole note tied to (Bar 4 in _ time) dotted half note. After a half and 8th rest in Bar 1, the brass etc play Great octave C/small octave C/Eb/G/middle C (C min) rinforzando and tenuto quarter notes to Bb/Bb/small octave F/Bb/Line 1 D 8th notes to (Bar 2) Contra-octave and Great octave Ab/small octave G/middle C/Eb whole notes tied to 8th notes next bar, etc.
The next cue is “Charlie Goes Home,” Misterioso in _ time, 59 bars. Etc.

At this moment of writing, I just finished watching Chapter 17 that included the R7/pt 1 cue, “Over Trained” that features the sexy sax as Alice woos Charlie while he’s training outdoors. Key signature of Ab major (four flats).

At Cal State Long Beach, I also studied Kaper’s Bataan. I had hoped it was the full score of the actual movie. However, while it is a full score orchestrated by Leonid Raab, this 29 page document is actually some sort of a suite of the movie. It doesn’t open as the movie does (available on dvd). However, Bars 39 thru 55 (Marcia) is just like the movie score, the principal theme and rhythmic pattern. Andante in Cut time, Kaper constructs a very professional, detailed score. He was quite clever and exciting in Them! For Warner Bros. in 1954, clever with his chord structures, interesting timbres, etc. He was certainly top of the line, but unfortunately he didn’t seem to make it “big” in terms of stature in most of his career. Rozsa was the “Main Man” for MGM, but I think Kaper was equal in stature in terms of craftsmanship and skill—although Rozsa wrote more memorable music. Rozsa and Herrmann were definitely colleagues of equal standing, at least in terms of having a unique and easily identifiable “sound.” Kaper was a bit amorphous in style in a lot of ways—although you wouldn’t hear that in Them! Or in the Main Title of Auntie Mame, etc. Waxman and Kaper were of the same overall league but Waxman was more successful and had a more distinctive style. I loved his Silver Chalice score, believe it or not (I studied the score at USC), and had loads of fun with the Jack Benny score for the Horn Blows At Midnight, and of course Demetrius and the Gladiators and Prince Valiant are showcase works. Yes, I prefer Waxman over Kaper, but Kaper had skill and cleverness and sophistication in spades. Maybe he should’ve had more scoring projects for action/adventure/pageantry/sci-fi movies. His music shined thru better in the Warner Bros. sound stages.

I started to work on Gerald Schurmann’s Man In The Sky that’s available also at Cal State Long Beach, but didn’t have enough time—even after three days there. It’s a far shorter score than the others. Looks interests though, and I wish I had a video of it, or can hear it and see it on TCM soon. Cue 1A is 8 bars in length, and utilizes the oboe, Bb clarinet, 4 horns, harp, and strings. He creates a somewhat virtuoso solo clarinet passage in the first four bars, and then the oboe takes over.

So This is New York (1948) by Tiomkin looks like a fun movie and score, but I have had the opportunity to see it. The written score available is simply a three-stave conductor written on “Enterprise Prod. Music Sheet No. 25 A.” Ramrod by Deutsch also looks very interesting, and I hope to get a chance to see the movie. Here we have the black negative copy of the actual sketch score, not the generic Conductor score, and Adolph gives it a look of articulation and direction. The “Main Title” is con bravura in 3/2 time, 28 bars. Next is “The Buggy and Horseman,” con moto in 4/4 time, 43 bars. Next is “Dave Walks to Saloon,” andante-smorzando in C time, 21 bars. Etc.

I should note that it was a genuine pleasure researching in the Special Collections Room on the 5th floor of the Cal State Long Beach Library. There is plenty of room in the expansive floor, plenty of natural light, nice and friendly and tall librarian named Kristie, no monitors bugging you or insisting that you handle the documents just so and perfectly, and so on. Unfortunately there’s precious little of film music available for research! Also it opens at 8 am. That’s unusual. Most places open at 10 pm, some at 9 am. It does close for an hour between noon and one p.m., but that’s okay—time to lunch. It’s closed on Saturday (standard). UCSB, however, is the only one I know that opens on Saturday for research, although limited hours from 1 to 5 pm. In fact, I was at UCSB last Saturday researching Herrmann’s delightful A Christmas Carol. It’s a huge work, and I need at least a full day more to take enough notes. That may have to wait until late spring when next I take a vacation. We’ll probably be at Ojai again on Saturday, but I won’t go out of the way to Goleta to resume research. I’d like to research at the Krishnamurti Library at Ojai because it doesn’t open until 1 pm. I want to look at the pre-1933 material not available in print, especially his questions and answers sessions.

While at Cal State Long Beach before the Special Collections room reopened at 1 pm., I briefly looked at the volumes of the old Modern Music periodicals, and researched more Herrmann. I looked at them at USC or UCLA long ago. Herrmann wrote a paper titled “Four Symphonies by Charles Ives” in Volume 22, May-June 1945. Interesting read. I wrote about it briefly yesterday evening on Talking Herrmann under the Vaughan Williams thread. Aaron Copland’s essay, “Second Thoughts on Hollywood,” is particularly fun and entertaining and interesting. He puts Max Steiner down!

Well, time for bed. Have to get up early for work.

© Copyright 2005 Bill Wrobel

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