Customer Reviews

The Greatest Story Ever Told: Original MGM Motion Picture Soundtrack [Enhanced CD]

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was at first apprehensive to buy this set, as I own the original LP, which -as beautiful as it is- is a re-recording in mono. This set I feared would just be a polished digital version of that LP, augmented with some laserdisc/DVD-soundtrack derived cues (people who own a copy of the ALdebaran Productions 3+ hours soundtrack CD set of Ben-Hur will know what I'm talking about: it's very disconcerting to have a sudden stereo-to mono shift in mid-track...not to mention truly barbaric fade-outs, cut-ins and cut-offs...and I also paid a LOT of money for THAT one).

However, I was pursuaded by the review below to try this set anyway, and OH MY GOD! It's worth EVERY PENNY! It contains not only the originally released soundtrack (the afore-mentioned re-recording) in glorious stereophonic sound, but two (TWO!) discs containing the original movie soundtrack cuts never ever heard before (as far as I know). These were apparently saved by famous Hollywood choral director Ken Darby (a long-time associate and friend of Alfred Newman) and God bless him for it!.

The tracks have been lovingly rearranged in a symphonic segue in brilliant stereo sound.

This collection gives a great insight in the original intention of Newman as the tracks flow flawlessly one into another to create an amazing musical tapestry of introspection and quiet grandeur, far more a unity than in the original release. That this quiet power comes off so clearly is even more remarkable considering the movie itself (in my opinion) is gargantuan and patchy at best. Newman's score (by far the best part of it) is in complete and utter juxtaposition to it.

(Collector's note: compare this score to Miklos Rozsa's 'King Of Kings' -unfortunately not (yet?) available through Amazon- for a completely different, musical as well as spiritual, take on Jesus)

A lovely last surprise: this set is a multimedia project: it even contains the original movie trailer! If this isn't getting your money's worth, I don't know what is.

Highly, HIGHLY recommended.

Finally, we have Alfred Newman's beautiful score for GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD on CD. And not only do we have a reissue of the soundtrack as it appeared on a United Artists LP in 1965, but we also have on two extra CDs the score as Newman envisioned it, complete with his wonderful Hallelujahs. As most readers may know, George Stevens butchered Newman's score by cutting and recutting the film, asking for rewrites, and insisting on the inclusion of Verdi's "Requiem" and Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus." Poor Newman was in declining health and yet had to endure this kind of desecration of his artistic creation. The selections on Discs 2 and 3 have floated about for years on tape among collectors, and there was even a 2CD set released as a bootleg (horribly distorted but very valuable for collectors). Now, however, we may rejoice in these pristine recordings. Along with the Rhino edition of Miklós Rózsa's masterpiece, BEN-HUR, this is one of the finest items to come along in years. Get your copy now. Support Ryko's marvelous work so that maybe we'll get even more discs like this one!

Although Alfred Newman would go on to score other movies (and win a final Oscar for CAMELOT), THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD is perhaps his last great effort. This great RYKO set includes 3 CDs, One features the original LP soundtrack released by United Artists records, which was in itself a re-recording (about 40 min). Two other CDs contain Newman's actual movie soundtrack recordings (totaling some 95 min). Newman's recordings were often tampered with, and in some cases, replaced by Director George Stevens. This set presents Newman's music as he recorded it. It is a magnificant, moving work which no movie music lover should be without. One small complaint, as with other RYKO releases,the booklet is actually a large fold out, cumbersome to read. I prefer liner notes which are presented in "book" form. Regardless, this is one of the top soundtrack restorations of recent years. It should be supported by all movie music fans. A high water mark in movie soundtrack restorations, lets hope more quality releases like this are available in the future.

Recently I discovered a rare motion picture score of a long forgotten monumental film "THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD".
I don`t know if the movie is still "being show on tv circuits" nowadays. The film soundtrack however unfortunately is no longer available, only in certain antique shops perhaps. What fascinates me here is the breathtaking way the composer illustrates each scene so brilliantly. As if one could actually see what happens on the screen. Close your eyes, listen to the sound and you actually can "see" "THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD"
A masterpiece by Alfred Newman

One of the most lyrically soaring soundtracks a film composer has ever brought out, The Greatest Story Ever Told belongs in a class of its own.

After almost forty years, Alfred Newman's masterwork retains all of its beauty and majesty. I think it is possibly the finest music the movies have ever produced.

HIGHLY recommended.

SIMPLY PUT......IT IS THE BEST OF THE BEST!!..SIT BACK,TURN THE LIGHTS DOWN,PUT ON THE HEADPHONES AND I PROMISE YOU,...YOU WILL FIND A PEACE THAT YOU COULD NOT FIND ELSEWHERE!!...SIMPLY PUT...

First, let me say I respect and am delighted by the other reviews on this site, which laud this scoring achievement as a great success. I am pleased when music moves anyone.

However, I must offer another view and one that is not laudable. I am a great lover of Alfred Newman's film scores. I consider him the very best film composer, who ever lived. Indeed, I place three of his scores in the "ten best scores ever written" list - THE SONG OF BERNADETTE, THE ROBE, THE EGYPTIAN.

Oddly enough these films were highly dramatic and romantic explorations of the effect of faith on individual lives. The stories were dramatic, the scores were filled with heart-rending melodies and driving rhythmns. To a lesser degree, another score by Newman for a faith film - A MAN CALLED PETER, was also successful, both romantically and dramatically.

I contend that films about the life of Jesus are not inherently dramatic. Therefore scores to these films have no rocks to stand on. Almost everyone, Christian and non-Christian alike, knows all or most of the events of the life of Jesus- there are no surprises. If anything, we are OVER-familiar. Except for the violence of turning over the money changers' tables in the temple and the dramatic turns of his final hours from being captured, his life is a simple, quiet one of learning and teaching. There is nothing dramatic or romantic in this life.

Miklos Rozsa, whose score to BEN-HUR I consider another of the ten best ever written for film (again another film about the effect of faith on individuals) also failed when scored another film based on the life of Jesus - KING OF KINGS.

For me both Newman's THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD and Rozsa's KING OF KINGS are mediocre scores, both in the genre and in the filmographies of the composers.

Newman's score is highly derivative. As the main theme and leitmotiv for Jesus he borrows Barber's theme for his Adagio for Strings. For his one march theme he builds on a theme he used in THE ROBE. All else is quiet, simply scored andante writing- competent underscoring, but merely that. A number of his cues are lifted from prior cues he used in THE ROBE and THE EGYPTIAN.

The CD packaging, long out of print and now reissued for fans of Gibson's THE PASSION, is impressive - three discs - one the studio re-recording that served as the original lp release - two and three the respectiv first and second acts of all of Newman's original scoring for the film. The only flaw is that timings are not given for the individual cuts. I supply this below:

THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD
(Alfred Newman) 1965

TOTAL PLAYING TIME - 3 DISCS - 2: 25: 31
DISC ONE: 50:25

JESUS OF NAZARETH (3:32)
A PROPHECY (3:19)
VOICE IN THE WILDERNESS (4:59)
COME UNTO ME (2:08)
GREAT JOURNEY (2:21)
TIME OF WONDERS (2:08)
THERE SHALL COME (4:03)
A NEW COMMANDMENT (2:55)
THE HOUR HAS COME (3:16)
INTO THY HANDS (7:17)
TRIUMPH OF THE SPIRIT (3:21)

DISC TWO: 1:00:19

OVERTURE/MAIN TITLE (4:37)
AND THE WORD WAS GOD (3:10)
THE NATIVITY (5:58)
FLIGHT INTO EGYPT (1:34)
OPHEL QUARTERS (2:15)
HOSANNA (1:51)
FISHERS OF MEN (1:42)
LILLIES OF THE FIELD (2;25)
JERUSALEM (7:56)
RISE (5:19)
MISTY NIGHTS (6:44)
WHO DO MEN SAY I AM? (3:52)
JESUS AND HIS MOTHER (3:02)
JESUS LEAVES NAZARETHH (2:30)
PRAYER BY THE JORDAN (2:27)
LAZARUS, COME FORTH (4:50)

DISC THREE: 34:47

ENTR'ACTE (2:41)
JUDAS AND CAIAPHAS (2:30)
GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE (7:35)
SON OF GOD (3:45)
VIA DOLOROSA (11:13)
RESURRECTION/ASCENSION (4:24)
EXIT MUSIC (2:36)

It's not a bad score, just minor. Certainly many people love it, so I am probably in the minority.