Customer Reviews

Vol. 2-50 Years of the Music of Laurie Johnson

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

 

 

I direct the reader to my review of Volume 1, though I will also here emphasize that before my purchase I had heard very little of the contents of Volume 2. On balance the latter is the more satisfying collection.

The Discs 1 and 2 television show themes and background music are for those who know the shows (which I don't). Funky, in a word. The Disc 2 Early Singles are listenable.

The revelations begin with the Disc 2 Film Scores. The suite derived from Nathan Juran's First Men In The Moon instantly invoke pictorial memories of that film, with the peerless Lionel Jeffries and Ray Harryhausen's craftsmanship. That suite and the next, for Trevor Nunn's Hedda (which I've yet to view), reflect and underscore the composer's friendship with Bernard Herrmann.

Of the Concert Hall Works on Discs 2 and 3, the Concerto is a pleasurable surprise and complements Volume 1's "Synthesis" symphony. For the Royal Military Spectacular the Disc 3 Lautrec Suite is infectious, and Colours invites at least a repeat listen.

The genuine treat lies at the end of Disc 3. It might be better to categorize the nearly 25 minutes of The Battle of Waterloo (a "musical diorama") among the Royal Military Spectacular, but its pairing with The Wind In The Willows (Tone Poem) is brilliant counterpoint. Stateside listeners may recognize the voice of Waterloo's narrator from Alfred Hitchcock's remake of The Man Who Knew Too Much. Willows is a remarkable work that I listen to again and again...

This joins Volume 1 as the most surprising introduction I've had to a composer in a good long while, and very much worth the combined purchase.

It's a shame that you have to spend extra money on a 3 CD set when you're only interested in the first CD. This is like the others in the series (Avengers, New Avengers). Combining all these sets and releasing a 3 CD Set of just the TV work would be a better way to go.

Laurie Johnson performed marvelously all those years; this is music you don't want to forget.