Spectacular World of the Classic Film Scores

John Williams (Composer), Erich Wolfgang Korngold (Composer), Max Steiner (Composer), Bernard Herrmann (Composer), Miklos Rozsa (Composer), Dimitri Tiomkin (Composer), Daniel Amfitheatrof (Composer), Jimmy McHugh (Composer), Charles Gerhardt (Conductor), National Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: National Philharmonic Orchestra
• Conductor: Charles Gerhardt
• Composer: John Williams, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Max Steiner, Bernard Herrmann, Miklos Rozsa, et al.
• Audio CD (September 10, 1991)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: RCA
• ASIN: B000003EMQ
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #90,568 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Universal Pictures

2. Metro-Goldwyn Mayer

3. Selznick International Pictures

4. Warner Brothers

5. 20th Century Fox With Cinemascope Extension

6. Main Title

7. Overture

8. Love Scene and Finale

9. Polka

10. Elizabeth's Theme

11. March

12. Salammbo's Aria

13. Scherzo: Hawks in Flight

14. Parachute Drop

15. Prelude

16. Overture

17. Original Main Title

18. Suite

19. Attack on the Mountain Stronghold

20. Dance of the Seven Veils

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A nice mix, August 27, 2000

By 

celtic19 (Minnesota) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Spectacular World of the Classic Film Scores (Audio CD)

This CD has a nice mix of classic film scores. The sound quality is not as high as other compilations in this genre. However, many of the selections on the CD are hard to find, so it's well worth the low low price.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 5 fanfares, 5 intros, 9 encores and a "Thing", June 20, 2008

By 

Stuart Paine (Arlington, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Spectacular World of the Classic Film Scores (Audio CD)

SPECTACULAR WORLD OF CLASSIC FILM SCORES is made up mostly of snippets from earlier Gerhardt RCA releases devoted to the works of Korngold, Steiner, Williams et al so it lacks the sense of character and purpose inherent in those recordings, but it's saved from being merely a recap advertisement for them by the inclusion of some fabulous additions near the end of its playlist. Of these (tracks 16-20), my favorite is the generous (10:35) and genuinely chilling suite from Tiomkin's THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD which this orchestra plays with such finesse, sensitivity and ferocity that I actually prefer it to the 27 minute original score recording released in 2005 by Film Score Monthly. I also particularly like the (at-the-time recently reconfigured) Overture to Rozsa's JULIUS CAESAR. Other reviewers have already mentioned the final track, the unusual Amfitheatrof "Dance of the Seven Veils" from SALOME.

The first five tracks are studio fanfares (TT - 1:20).

Tracks 6-15 are the selections borrowed from ten earlier albums in the Gerhardt series:

6. Star Wars Main Title from CLOSE ENCOUNTERS & STAR WARS (Williams)
7. Captain Blood Overture from THE SEA HAWK (music of Korngold - 1st album)
8. Love Scene and Finale from NOW, VOYAGER (music of Steiner)
9. Polka from GONE WITH THE WIND (Steiner)
10. Elizabeth's Theme from ELIZABETH AND ESSEX (music of Korngold - 2nd album)
11. The Caine Mutiny March (Steiner) from CASABLANCA, Classic Film Scores for Humphrey Bogart
12. Salammbo's Aria from CITIZEN KANE (music of Herrmann)
13. Scherzo (Knights of the Round Table) from SPELLBOUND (music of Rozsa)
14. Parachute Drop (Objective, Burma! - Waxman) from CAPTAIN BLOOD, Classic Film Scores for Errol Flynn
15. Prelude (The Guns of Navarone) from LOST HORIZON (music of Tiomkin)

There are no selections from the Newman album, CAPTAIN FROM CASTILE, or the Raksin album and other than Newman's Fox Fanfare, there is no music by either of those composers on this disc. Track 17, the Original Main Title from Peyton Place, although left off the original CD release of the Waxman album, SUNSET BOULEVARD, has been included on a re-release.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Musical history of the American Cinema, August 11, 2002

By 

Reginald D. Garrard "the G-man" (Camilla, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Spectacular World of the Classic Film Scores (Audio CD)

As the earlier reviewer stated, the sound quality on this disc is not of highest caliber; however, for anyone that is interested in music from Hollywood's "Golden Age", then this is the one. Legendary film composers Waxman, Newman, Korngold, Rozsa, Tiomkin, and "Johnny-come-lately" John Williams are well represented here with some of their most memorable movie accompaniments.

Featuring the familiar opening fanfares of five of the major studios of the period, the disc offers music from most filmed genres, with the exception of the western and a comedy.

Two exceptional "finds" for movie fans come at the end of the album. They are the 10:33 suite from "The Thing (from Another World") and "The Dance of the Seven Veils"(5:02) from "Salome". Both are rarely heard, outside of the occasional television viewings and a treat for the ears.

Both illustrate the diversity of scoring from the fifties, the decade of the respective films' releases.