Customer Reviews

The Sea Hawk (1987 Studio Recording)

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Erich Wolfgang Korngold was one of the great composers of 20th century film music, and his score to the 1940 adventure film "The Sea Hawk" was one of Korngold's best compositions. Filled with excitement and romance, this is orchestral music in a grand tradition. This disc is a beautiful 1987 re-recording of the score. Conductor Varujan Kojian and concert master Ralph Matson lead the Utah Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in a passionate performance. The disc is also graced by the presence of soloist Carol Wetzel, who delivers a beautiful performance on track 12, "Condemned to the Galley / Dona Maria's Song."

Korngold's thrilling music captures the grandeur of the Elizabethan era and the thrill of adventure at sea. Furthermore, when I listen to "The Sea Hawk" I get the sense that I am listening to one of the venerable musical "ancestors" of the great science fiction, fantasy, and adventure film scores of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. If you love big, bold, emotionally rich film music, you will love this superb revisitation of Korngold's masterpiece.

This soundtrack is a real historical one. Korngold is one of the greatest names in my opinion, buy this cd - you won't regret! OUTSTANDING!

Sadly, ALL of Erich Wolfgang Korngold's film symphonies are
incomplete, some more than others. None of these symphonies is
completely presented on any disc released to date (with the
possible exception of Tsunami TSU 0141) for many reasons
including: post-scoring film re-editing (and, often, re-
scoring); loss, deterioration, and destruction of original
nitrate-production masters; partial publishing of orchestral
sheet music; ownership conflicts and disputes; and disc producer
and recording label choice/number of selections recorded or
released. All discs, therefore, really only contain symphonic
excerpts. But some are much more extensive than others; a few
are one of a kind. Finally, there is the naming "process" used
for selections/tracks (also known as "cues"). Often the
surviving sheet music of original cues is nameless! Naming of
selections then becomes pretty much arbitrary, since titles are
usually derived from what occurs on screen (in the eye of the
beholder like the disc producer or music historian). Of course,
different folks see things differently, and name them
accordingly. But enough expository, already. Buy this CD for
what it is--a film-score thrill of a life time!

The music composed by Erich Wolfgang Korngold is excellent and superb. It follows the movies perfectly. It is riviting and exciting. When ever I here he swordfight scenes in the Sea Hawk I want to pick up a sword and fence.

Please see my review of the new Stromberg version. There I make a comparison of this CD with Stromberg's and also with Gamba's. While the aforementioned are more complete in terms of content, they are no match for this, the production of the composer's own son which is the creme de la creme of Korngold's score. Also in that review, I quote letters to me from George Korngold and Charles Gerhardt about all this. This 44 minute version is more comprehensible and more enjoyable. There CAN be too much of a good thing. While the Stromberg is interesting for HISTORICAL purposes, this "plays" better and the vocals are clearer without a Russian accent (yes). It is no longer being made by Varese Sarabande, so get it while you still can find it. I won't part with mine.

Before buying this CD I only had, from "The Sea Hawk", the very good recordings of Charles Gerhard, produced by George Korngold, who also produced this CD. But they were two extracts in two separate records. This suite is the work of the composer's son, and it is easy to notice, in the booklet, his intention to leave for posterity a new, good and complete recording of the incidental music his father composed for "The Sea Hawk". And he succeeded. The recording is very good, the cues are well chosen, forming a real "Symphonic Poem", and sound quality is also, at least for me, very good.
A good companion for a collector, together with the already mentioned Gerhardt's recordings in the early seventies, is the original sountrack released by TSUNAMI, with extremely good sound quality, considering the age of the recordings.

See the film again and then glory in this contemporary redo of the thrilling score....