Customer Reviews

Friendly Persuasion: Original Music From The Score Of The Motion Picture

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The musical score Dimitri Tiomkin composed for "Friendly Persuation" is wonderfully understated, well-suited to the theme of the a movie about Quakers. Taken from the classic novel by Jessamyn West,Tiomkin perfectly evokes the time around the Civil War in southern Indiana. There are beautiful evocations of a quiet. pastoral beauty of life on a Quaker farm and their lifestyle, brought to life with serious as well as funny musical themes. Tiomkin also captures musical moments of shy courtships and renewed romance, following the moving relationship between husband(Gary Cooper) and wife(Dorothy McGuire)and it is no mean feat to make their romance in musical terms moving, realistic and funny. Of course this idyll is broken by the Civil War and the battle music is short and brutal,eye-opening for a their young Quaker son(Anthony Perkins). And my favorite music on the CD is the horse-drawn buggy race to church, which runs as a motif through the happier sections of the movie. Here, the feeling of the race is beautifully captured, the speed, dust, and wry humor. Running through this entire score is a great sense of humanity. It may skirt on the edges of sentimentality but William Wyler(who directed the movie) and Dimitri Tiomkin(who wrote the film score) didn't let the reins go. They have painted a wonderful picture in images and music of the temtations not only Quakers risk but temtations we all risk. Every time I see a horse-drawn buggy clopping through a wooden-covered bridge, I think of this music, the rich emotional tone it shows.Even the title song, sung by Pat Boone, is pretty and appropriate. I still have my old LP of this score and was greatly excited to hear this extended version on CD. There is so much of this score to savor and listen to, over and over. This is one of Tiomkin's most beloved scores and like the movie, it finally persuades the listeners with its power, passion, humor and moral character that any Quaker would be proud to stand by in times of troiubles. Highly recommended. Request more of Dimitri Tiomkin Scores be re-issued, for he is a wonderful composer of film music, one of of our greatest, and "Friendly Persuation" demonstates how good this music sounds on CD and deserves a wide audience.A great soundtrack CD for the entire family.

This score is one of Dimitri Tiomkin's most poignant and a good example of his understanding of the 19th century American idiom. This is a classic recording all around. The original LP album on vinyl contained an annoying induction hum. This digitally re-mastered CD has miraculously eliminated it without compromising the original recording. It sounds magnificent. Highly recommended.

This is a beautiful soundtrack composed by Dimitri Tiomkin. It has great passages of love, Americana and the heartbreak of the Civil War. It is an early hifi reacording but it sounds wonderful and is a fantastic representation of Dimitri Tiomkin's unique style of his vision of American life.

The score is beautiful, but then, so is the film. Come to think of it, pleasant is more the word. That's more the word . . . pleasant. This is a soothing score that seems to match the spirit of the film. Tiomkin does a magnificent job of capturing the feel of the film, & was to be commended for his work on this film.

This film was destined to immortality ~ Jessamyn West (author), Willam Wyler (director), Gary Cooper (actor) and the never-to-be-forgotten score from composer ~ Dimitri Tiomkin. Filmed in 1956, Cooper, Anthony Perkins and Dorothy McGuire are convincing in their portrayal of quakers, taking place in Indiana during the Civil War ~ against violence of any kind, their faith is about to be tested.

Tiomkin who composed music for ~ "The Westener" (1940), "Duel in the Sun" (1946), "Red River" (1948), "High Noon" (1952), "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral" (1957), "Rio Bravo" (1959), "The Alamo" (1960), "The Unforgiven" (1960) and "The War Wagon" (1967)...and that "film-score-buffs", is just the WESTERNS! Recall them all ~ John Wayne, Gary Cooper, Gregory Peck, Burt Lancaster and Dean Martin...wonderful scores for each film, creating a certain sound as our story unfolds, is legendary composer ~ Dimitri Tiomkin...and the "Friendly Persuasion" score is right up there with them.

Want to thank ~ Bruce Kimmel (executive producer for Varese Sarabande), RKO Unique Records and Varese Sarabande for finally releasing this score on CD ~ a man who always gave us wonderful music, almost classical in texture...composer and conductor ~ DIMITRI TIOMKIN!

Total Time: 33:13 on 10 Tracks ~ Varese Sarabande VSD-5828 ~ (1997)

**Special Note: If you enjoyed this CD, why not try ~ "In Session:A Film Music Celebration" (Varese Sarabande 302-066-225-2) from producer Robert Towson ~ also look for my reviews on amazon.com/music.

This score is one of Dimitri Tiomkin's most poignant and a good example of his understanding of the 19th century American idiom. This is a classic recording all around. The original LP album on vinyl contained an annoying induction hum. This digitally re-mastered CD has miraculously eliminated it without compromising the original recording. It sounds magnificent. Tiomkin's music well represents the love and devotion and the internal struggle of Gary Cooper and his Quaker family to remain neutral during the Civil War as Confederates soldiers bring the struggle to their community. This highly emotional soundtrack is one of Tiomkin's better scores and is recommended.