45rpm 180g Double LP!Mastered by Bernie Grundman from the Original Analog Master Tapes & Pressed at RTI!
Numbered Deluxe Laminated Gatefold Jackets!
Only 2,500 Numbered Limited Edition Copies Worldwide!
One of Harry Pearson's TAS Super Disc Titles!
Michael Fremer Rated 10/10 Music, 10/10 Sonics!
Bernard Herrmann is known for breathing life into movies through his wonderful compositions. One of Herrmann's most popular collection of film scores, The Mysterious Film World Of Bernard Herrmann, is now available on audiophile quality 180g 45rpm Vinyl. This 1975 Phase 4 recording, originally released on London Records, pairs Bernard Hermann with the National Philharmonic Orchestra.Produced by Tim McDonald, this recording contains three stunning examples of film compositions which brought the fantasy of the movies closer to reality for millions of filmgoers. The three movies from Columbia Pictures are Mysterious Island, Jason And The Argonauts and The Three Worlds Of Gulliver.
Sit back and let this sonic experience transport you into another space and time.
"This album was recorded by the composer early in 1975 and has proved to be one of the more enduring parts of Bernard Herrmann's catalog, a steady seller on LP, and issued several times on CD. During the early to mid-'70s, Herrmann began re-recording many of his earlier scores at Kingsway Hall in London with the National Philharmonic Orchestra. The sound glitters, some of the brightest and richest audio of its period (attested to by the album's being part of Decca/London Phase 4 Stereo), and the performances have a dignity and intensity that makes the music -- drawn from the key parts of Herrmann's scores for the Ray Harryhausen-created fantasy films The Three Worlds of Gulliver, Mysterious Island, and Jason and the Argonauts -- seem even more serious and profound than it originally did. Herrmann tends to take the tempos slower than he did in the original scores, which gives him and the players a chance to open up the detail and nuances in the music, bringing out their surprising depth and complexity. What's more, the players sound like they're having the time of their lives playing it." - Bruce Eder, AllMusic
"One reason for Mysterious Island's high level of artistic success is the wallop of a score that Bernard Herrmann wrote for it. Composed in close proximity to Psycho (1960), Mysterious Island features Herrmann firing on all cylinders, in cues ranging from pounding intensity to soaring lyrical themes, all retaining the strong air of mystery and impending doom indicated by the title; it is one of Herrmann's best." - Dave Lewis, AllMusic
"Herrmann, as usual, creates striking, evocative sonic images and brilliant colours by using extraordinary combinations of instruments. For Jason and the Argonauts he chooses to ignore strings altogether. On the other hand, he expands the winds and percussion to a massively huge ensemble. In most cases he triples or quadruples the instrumental requirements over the standard symphony orchestra. Standard pairs of woodwinds are increased to: 4 flutes and piccolos, 6 oboes, 6 cor anglais, 6 clarinets, including bass and contrabass clarinets, and 6 bassoons including contra-bassoons. The mammoth brass section has 8 French horns, 6 trumpets, 6 trombones and 4 tubas! The immense battery of percussion has 26+ instruments plus 2 complete groups of 5 timpani each. The cymbals alone feature: 4 suspended cymbals, 2 separate pairs of large crash cymbals plus 1 large tam-tam and 1 medium tam-tam! For these instruments, Herrmann wrote music that explored the extreme compasses of the range of many of them, giving an impressive top-to-bottom, and wide dynamic range. He also organised the music so that it filled a wide and deep sonic stage. I have asked the question before, but I will pose it again; however did Herrmann imagine these effects and calculate the forces to interpret them?" - Ian Lace, Film Music On The Web
"Bernard Herrmann entered Kingsway Hall, London, on February 6, 1975, to record what was going to be the last of the four Decca/London albums of suites from his own film music. The series started in 1969 with music from five Hitchcock films, continued in 1971, and reached its peak in 1974 with The Fantasy Film World of Bernard Herrmann. The album starts off with two suites from Mysterious Island (1961) and Jason and the Argonauts (1963), 14 and 11 minutes respectively, and finishes off with a larger 25 minute suite from The Three Worlds of Gulliver (1959). The performances of the National Philharmonic Orchestra are first rate as always, following slower tempos than the original soundtracks." - John Norstad, The Bernard Herrmann Society
The sonic gains are enormous. This is music sounding at the extremes of the orchestral spectrum, with massive clusters of brass and woodwind, brash percussion, and also high strings. This is very demanding music to record well, but clearly it was, at the legendary Kingsway Hall, home to so many spectacular Decca and EMI sessions. The ORG reissue opens up the soundstage and adds air to the instruments, so instead of the brass and woodwind being crammed together you can now clearly hear all the instruments sounding in their own space. The bass rumbles along effortlessly, and those high wind, string and percussion passages are light as air, but also slice and dice when called for... It's a no-brainer purchase for all but those who are allergic to orchestral music. The suite from The Three Worlds of Gulliver in particular is worth the price of admission alone, and is one of those rare pieces of music whose sense of fun in playing with the period idiom and in juxtaposing completely different kinds of instruments just makes me smile every time I listen to it.Features:
• Only 2500 Numbered Limited Edition Copies Worldwide
• Audiophile 180g Vinyl
• 45rpm
• Double LP
• Recorded at Kingsway Hall, London, February 1975
• Mastered by Bernie Grundman from the Original Analog Master Tapes
• Pressed at RTI
• Numbered Deluxe Laminated Double Gatefold Jackets
Musicians:
National Philharmonic Orchestra
Selections:
Side A:
Music From The Columbia Picture "Mysterious Island"
1. Prelude
2. The Balloon
3. The Giant Crab
4. The Giant Bee
5. The Giant Bird
Side B:
Music From The Columbia Picture "Jason And The Argonauts"
1. Prelude
2. Talos
3. Talos' Death
4. Triton
Side C:
Music From The Columbia Picture "The Three Worlds Of Gulliver"
1. Overture
2. Minuetto-Wapping
3. Hornpipe
4. Lilliputians 1 & 2
5. Victory 1 & 2
6. Escape
Side D:
Music From The Columbia Picture "The Three Worlds Of Gulliver"
1. The King's March
2. Trees
3. The Tightrope
4. Lovers
5. The Chess Game
6. Pursuit
7. Finale
