Altered States [soundtrack]

John Corigliano - Altered States [soundtrack]

LP released in 1980; Altered States film also released in 1980

performed by a studio orchestra conducted by Christopher Keene; no information about the orchestra and performers provided

Watching this film during the later part of an evening when I was a teenager, I was freaked out by some of the scenes throughout the film. What made them really memorable for me was the music used with those scenes. The music enhanced those scenes as it sounded like it could only have been heard in those "altered states". Recently, I found and bought an LP copy of the Altered States soundtrack at an antique store. I have not thought about the film in many years until I acquired the soundtrack. The music is just as I remembered it although I sort of thought that I needed to watch the images when I played the record. Then I conceded that the music is powerful enough of course to stand on its own as it is intense, stark, and even hallucinatory. Just like the film, the soundtrack has moments when it is calm and (perhaps for lack of a better word) normal. I was stunned at the music back then, not even realizing that I was being exposed to the avant-garde maybe for the first time in my life. Now, of course, the music sounds like the stuff I usually listen to rather than music seemingly from another reality.

Note: There are a few segments of my LP copy that sound rough where there is an excessive amount of surface noise I could not get rid of.


Tracklisting:

Side A

1. Main Title and First Hallucination {4:38}
(Ritual Sacrifice and Religious Memories)

2. Love Theme {3:34}

3. Second Hallucination {5:06}
(Hinchi Mushroom Rite and Love Theme Trio)

4. First Transformation {3:32}
(Primordial Regression)

5. Primeval Landscape {2:12}
(In the Isolation Chamber)

Side B

1. Second Transformation/The Ape Man Sequence {7:53}
(Escape from the Laboratory, Stalking the Dogs and the Fight, The Zoo and Final Hunt)

2. Religious Memories and Father's Death {2:05}

3. The Laboratory Experiment: Jessup's Transformation, Collapse of the Laboratory, The Whirlpool and Journey to Another Dimension, Return to Reality {6:10}

4. The Final Transformation {4:05}

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Chariots of the Gods [soundtrack] REPOST

The Peter Thomas Sound Orchestra - Chariots of the Gods [soundtrack]

This was among the first posts when this blog was started over two years ago. Here it is again just in case you missed it. It also has been upgraded, so you may want to replace the file if you got it when it was first posted.

A soundtrack to the film version of Erich von Daniken's bestseller of the same name where von Daniken claims that extraterrestrials (or ancient astronauts) played a significant role in the development of ancient civilizations all around the world. The soundtrack is a blend of Western orchestral music (i.e. brass, strings & percussion), funk, ethnic music from various non-Western cultures and a bit of electronics. It's some cool accompanying music for an around-the-world adventure in visiting ancient monuments and trying to find signs of ETs. This is one of my all-time favorite film soundtracks.

Now for the hype and background about the film and soundtrack from the liner notes:

Ever since the publication of Erich Von Daniken's book "CHARIOTS OF THE GODS?" people everywhere have been arguing about the theories put forth - Were the first men on earth from outer space? Did our ancestors have visitors from other planets? Were those visitors gods?

In an attempt to find some of the answers, Dr. Harald Reinl set out on a twelve month round-the-world trip to make a motion picture that would turn theory into fact. He actually found living proof in such places as Istanbul, The Tassili Mountains, The Dead Sea, The Mexican Jungle, The Easter Islands, Sacsayhuaman, Tiahuanaca, Australia and Japan.

The film is magnificently complemented and dramatized by the music of The Peter Thomas Sound Orchestra. His compelling arrangements not only match the visual moods of the film but make this soundtrack album an outstanding recording in its own right.

Tracklisting:

Side 1

1. Reminiscences of the Future/Nazca: Imaginary Landing in Peru {2:07}

2. Valley of the Gods {3:33}

3. Popular Myth and Destruction of Sodom {1:18}

4. Chichen Itza: Temple of the Virgins {2:22}

5. The Bible: Book of Ezekiel {1:51}

6. The Red Sea {1:03}

7. The Obelisk of Karnak {1:16}

8. Stars and Rockets {1:31}

9. Gods from Strange Planets {2:02}

Side 2

1. Returning to the Stars {2:30}

2. Rocket Science {0:51}

3. Tula: Monumental Sculptures {1:14}

4. Cult Music and Mussel Horn {0:55}

5. The Pyramid of Cholula {1:34}

6. Lake Titicaca {2:18}

7. Wondina Came from Heaven to the Mortals {1:14}

8. Easter Island {3:44}

9. Angel of Promise {1:04}

10. The Flying God from Palenque {1:13}

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THE TWILIGHT ZONE

This post may come a little late, but better late than never. After my first post of Original Twilight Zone scores, Closet visitor DMA (name abbreviated to protect the not-so-innocent) stepped up and offered to rip the available scores from CD for us, as a kind of "Dankeschoen" for our work here at the Closet of Curiosities. Since I've only got the slightly scratchy vinyls, DMA's offer was more than welcome.

Well, and here you have it, along with "Bernard Herrmann - Twilight Zone Complete Scores" (2 CDs), recorded by conductor Joel McNeely in 1999 from the restored scores.

Most of these scores are really awesome, with innovative orchestrations, lush use of electronic instruments and groundbreaking thematic work, so please go on and get 'em ASAP.

TWILIGHT ZONE 40TH ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION (4 CDS)
CD 1 features music from Bernard Herrmann:- The Outer Space Suiteand the scores from the episodes- Where is Everybody?- Walking Distance- The Hitch-Hiker- The Lonelyalong with various main and end titles by Herrmann.

CD 2 contains main and end titles by swiss composer Marius Constant and the Jerry Goldsmith scores- Back There
- The Big Tall Wish- The Invaders- Dust- Jazz Theme #1- Jazz Theme #2- Nervous Man in a Four Dollar Room

CD 3: More main and end titles by Marius Constant, plus the following scores:- Perchance to Dream (Nathan Van Cleave)- Elegy (Nathan Van Cleave)- Two (Nathan Van Cleave)- I Sing the Body Electric (Nathan Van Cleave)- A World of Difference (Nathan Van Cleave)- A Stop at Willoughby (Nathan Scott)- Jazz Theme #3 (Street Moods in Jazz) (Rene Garriguenc)

CD 4 offers still more main and end titles by Marius Constant and the scores from the episodes- A Hundred Yards Over the Rim (Fred Steiner)- King Nine Will Not Return (Fred Steiner)- The Passersby (Fred Steiner)- And When the Sky Was Opened (Leonard Rosenman)- The Trouble with Templeton (Jeff Alexander)- The Sixteen Millimeter Shrine (Franz Waxman)

320 kB: (1) (2) (3) (4)

Bernard Herrmann at the pianoforte

BERNARD HERRMANN: TWILIGHT ZONE COMPLETE SCORES:2 CDs with various main titles/end themes and the scores for the episodes
- Where Is Everybody?
- Walking Distance
- The Lonely
- Eye Of The Beholder
- Little Girl Lost
- Living Doll
- Ninety Years Without Slumbering
(320 kB): (1) (2)

There's no artwork or liner notes, though, but the interested reader may help himself with a little search on the web.

The Twilight Zone, Volume 1 (of 5)

This LP series was originally released by Varese Sarabande in the US, starting with Volume One in 1983. It was also published in Europe, with identical contents and covers, by Milan.
It features a wide-ranged selection of complete original scores from Rod Serling's groundbreaking Mystery and Science Fiction TV series, produced in the late 50s and early 60s. Besides works from lesser known composers like Nathan Van Cleave and Leonard Rosenman, we get to hear music from such heavyweight maestros as Jerry Goldsmith, who was just getting his career started, and Swiss genius Bernard Herrmann, who had already developed a very strong and unique personal style, writing music for Orson Welles and Alfred Hitchcock, among many others.

Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling

Bound by tight deadlines and even tighter financial limitations, the Twilight Zone composers were nonetheless highly motivated to create characteristic and effective scores with a striking atmosphere of otherwordly eeriness. Utilizing small ensembles of musicians instead of big orchestras, the composers often experimented with unusual instrumentation and electroacoustic/electronic instruments like the Novachord, electronic organs and the Theremin.

Composer Jerry Goldsmith

The first Volume features four scores ranging from hard driving, contrasted suspense and action music to strange arrangements of well-known musical idioms. Be it dramatic, sentimental, romantic - it's all in there. Even the cheap waltz from the 20s.
Remarkable are the Goldsmith (as there is no dialogue in this episode, except for the end, the music is of rare intensity) and the Van Cleave, with its generous use of the Novachord and Theremin.
Liner notes included as image files. Sound quality is so-so, but listenable. It's a rather old transfer from the original records.

1 Marius Constant: Main Title Theme
2 Jerry Goldsmith: The Invaders (1961)
3 Nathan Van Cleave: Perchance To Dream (1959)
4 Bernard Herrmann: Walking Distance (1959)
5 Franz Waxman: The Sixteen-Millimeter Shrine (1959)
6 Marius Constant End Title Theme

[may or may not be reposted]

Justine [soundtrack]

Jerry Goldsmith - Justine [soundtrack]

Following Goldsmith's Freud soundtrack posted earlier this week, here's another one of Goldsmith's soundtracks which goes in a different direction musically.

From the liner notes:

Relax - ready for exotic dreams? "Justine" is ready to take you on a personal tour of Arabian - Egyptian, if you will - nights. Tour director is Jerry Goldsmith, the super-talented young tunesmith who composed, arranged and conducted the score for this fabulous movie, and who brings this album to you. He has provided one of the most spellbinding musical scores and albums to come out of Hollywood or any international film studio in a long time. Jerry has not provided simply mood music for a movie, but he has created music making a mood - many moods. These new, rich combinations of sounds are guaranteed to dispel any worldly worries as the listener is wafted to ports of sensual call. Here, for a change is music you can enjoy effortlessly without having to work at it; without having to wonder what it is or what it should say.

The youth of Jerry Goldsmith is not to be confused with his ability. He already has four Oscar nominations for his film scores on "Sand Pebbles," "Patch of Blue," "Freud" and "Planet of the Apes." And he has Emmy nominations for "Thriller" and "Man From UNCLE." There is no phase of music with which he is not familiar. And he proves it in this tale of Egypt, 1938 by an amazing mixture of instruments ranging from the richness of 16 violins, six violas, as many celli, recorder, auto harp to the most interesting combination of old and new - an electric sitar.

"Justine" combines the romantic, Biblical background of Egypt, cast in a semi-modern continental story. The film combines the top talents of movie-making, from a book which required a decade from the purchase of the Lawrence Durrell classic novel to the eventual filming. It remained for writers Lawrence Marcus and Ivan Moffatt working separately to come up with the screenplay true to the mood of author Durrell. For "Justine" is described by the author as "An investigation of modern love." Such love forms as incest, homosexuality, adultery, marital, patriotic and platonic are part of the story. They are also represented in the treatment given the music by Jerry Goldsmith.

Side One

1. Justine {2:29}

2. The School {3:31}

3. The Farm {3:08}

4. Melissa {1:50}

5. Alexandria {1:32}

6. Carnival Happening {2:30}

Side Two

1. Melissa & Darley {1:59}

2. Samba Chica {1:40}

3. The Beach {2:50}

4. The Telescope {1:46}

5. Ambush {1:11}

6. End Titles {2:32}

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Freud [soundtrack]

Jerry Goldsmith - Freud [soundtrack]

Early in his prolific and renowned career, film music composer Jerry Goldsmith scored a soundtrack to the 1962 film, "Freud". It is a biographical film of Sigmund Freud directed by John Huston.

From the liner notes:

From the very first moment of the film's main title, one is absorbed not only by the strange and effective art work, but even more importantly by the brilliant music. It is music of high energy and tension, at times disturbing. Other portions of the score contain passages of an eerie nostalgia and delicate lyricism. The style of composition is substantially atonal, similar to that of the experimental atonality of Freud's later contemporaries in Vienna: Berg, Webern, and Schoenberg (circa 1910-25). This type of stark agitated music was necessary; for had the central focus of the music been linked precisely chronologically to Vienna in the 1880's i.e., Mahler, Brahms, Johann Strauss Jr. and Richard Strauss, etc. (There are brief allusions to Johann Strauss Jr. in certain parts of the film, but in a style appropriate to the score's fundamental intentions), the effect would have been different and off-target.

The score sustains a cerebral character throughout. It seems to scan the psyche and direct the emotions in a severe and bizarre fashion perfectly descriptive of this important period in Freud's life. Goldsmith's musical expression seems to have a dual nature. At times it has the detached objective quality of Freud the scientist. At other times it takes on the aberrational identity of the various characters of the drama, including Freud himself, whose important psychological discoveries included revelations about the effects of a traumatic episode in his childhood on his own psyche. These two contrasting subjective and objective elements are skillfully manipulated by Goldsmith, who superimposes, when the film calls for it, his unique communication of a curious quasi-Viennese nostalgia.


Tracklisting:

Side 1

1. Main Title {3:17}

2. Charcot's Show {5:08}

3. Thirsty Girl {1:18}

4. Case Histories {2:12}

5. Desperate Case {3:30}

6. The Funeral {0:45}

Side 2

1. Cecilie and the Dreamer {3:02}

2. Cecilie's Dream {1:07}

3. The First Step {2:10}

4. Red Tower Street {1:26}

5. Trauma {3:20}

6. Freud's Awakening {1:51}

7. End Title {2:30}

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The Guru [soundtrack]

Ustad Vilayat Khan - The Guru [soundtrack]

From the liner notes by James Ivory, director of The Guru:

"The Guru" is about an Indian ustad, or master musician - in this case, a performer on the sitar. Like all important Indian musicians, he is not without a number of disciples. Most of these have approached him in the proper spirit of submission, but one, an English pop singer (played by Michael York), has to discover for himself that before learning music he must learn to submit to his guru. Though this is the story of the film in a nutshell. "The Guru" is also an affectionate portrait of an imperfect man, the ustad (played by Utpal Dutt); a tribute by a foreigner, myself, to Indian classical music; and a study - like "Shakespeare Wallah," my previous film - of relationships between Indians and Europeans in India today.
Ustad Vilayat Khan, who composed the background music for "The Guru" and recorded the sitar pieces that Utpal Dutt "plays," is exactly the kind of Indian ustad that the film is about. He has a rich musical heritage, being the sixth in an unbroken family succession of celebrated musicians. Like the guru of the title, he is surrounded by faithful disciples. although untroubled by distracting pop musicians and intense young girls from abroad (in the film, Rita Tushingham). Like the guru, he is a man of tremendous reputation - a star. When he plays in India, it is an event, and even when he plays in European cities, the hall is sold out long in advance.
This last is hardly news to anyone who knows and appreciates Indian classical music. Vilayat Khan is one of India's greatest musicians, and if he has never performed in America, his records have been obtainable here for years. Now there is this recording to add to the others. It contains a superb piece of virtuoso playing (Rag Yamani), but otherwise it is highly unusual, in that it is a soundtrack album, made up primarily of bits of incidental music. "The Guru" is not the first film that Vilayat Khan has composed for. He collaborated with Satyajit Ray on the score of "The Music Room" - a film that, interestingly, is like "The Guru" in being, in a way, about Indian classical music, Indian musicians, and the appreciation of music.
Vilayat Khan is so very much the heir and exponent of a chaste and classically refined style that he seems particularly well suited to compose music for films in which tradition, rather than innovation, is important. However, the music he composed for "The Guru" is at times so unchaste - using massed strings, electric organ, electric guitar, and the like - that one realizes immediately that the classicism of his sitar improvisation is no bar to innovation in his film scores. The innovation here actually derives in large part from popular Indian film music, but the taste and sensibility of the classical musician prevent Vilayat Khan from turning out the turgid sort of thing so often heard in Hindi films.

Credits:

Music composed and sitar played by Ustad Vilayat Khan

Music conducted by V. Balsara

Tom's Boat Song sung by Michael York, words and music by Ustad Imrat Khan and R. Prawer Jhabvala

The Pupil and His Master: Rag Bilawal instrumental by Ustad Vilayat Khan and Ustad Imrat Khan

The Begum's Lament instrumental by Ustad Shakoor Khan and Ustad Imrat Khan

Concert in the Haunted Palace: Rag Malkauns sung by Ustad Zinda Hasan Khan and Ustad Fayez Ahmed Khan

Concert in the Haunted Palace: Rag Yamani instrumental by Ustad Vilayat Khan and Pandit Shanta Prasad

Instrumentalists:

Ustad Vilayat Khan - sitar

Ustad Imrat Khan - surbahar and sitar

Ustad Shakoor Khan - sarangi

Pandit Shanta Prasad - tabla

Singers:

Ustad Zinda hasan Khan

Ustad Fayez Ahmed Khan

Tracklisting:

SIDE 1


1. Title Music {2:57}

2. Jenny's Theme {1:27}

3. The Haunted Palace {6:08}

4. Tom's Boat Song {1:26}

5. Jenny's Theme (2) {1:00}

6. The Pupil and His Master: Rag Bilawal {3:55}

SIDE 2

7. Arrival in Benaras {1:40}

8. The Begum's Lament {1:01}

9. Train Journey {0:26}

10. Jenny's Theme (3) {0:56}

11. Tom's Boat Song (reprise) {1:22}

12. Concert in the Haunted Palace: Rag Malkauns {2:23}

13. Concert in the Haunted Palace: Rag Yamani {12:36}

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Birdy

Peter Gabriel - Birdy [soundtrack]

Peter Gabriel's first foray into soundtracks was for Alan Parker's contemplative film Birdy and is a successful companion piece, providing a backdrop that is moody and evocative. Nearly half of the album's dozen tracks incorporate threads from material found on Gabriel's 1982 Security set, including 'Close Up,' which makes use of keyboard passages from 'Family Snapshot,' and 'The Heat,' which is a reworking of 'The Rhythm of the Heat' and builds to a frenzied percussive crescendo. Material specially written for this project includes the murky opening track, 'At Night,' the tribal 'Floating Dogs,' and 'Slow Marimbas,' a track which would become part of future live performances. The fact that Birdy is comprised of all instrumentals means that listeners whose familiarity with Gabriel is limited to 'Sledgehammer' and 'In Your Eyes' will be largely disappointed. However, its meditative nature makes it fine, reflective listening for the more adventurous. (AMG)

Tracklisting:

Side One

1. At Night {2:31}

2. Floating Dogs {2:47}

3. Quiet and Alone {2:21}

4. Close Up {0:50}

5. Slow Water {2:40}

6. Dressing the Wound {3:57}

Side Two

1. Birdy's Flight {2:50}

2. Slow Marimbas {3:12}

3. The Heat {4:33}

4. Sketchpad with Trumpet and Voice {2:57}

5. Under Lock and Key {2:08}

6. Powerhouse at the Foot of the Mountain {2:09}

(1) or (1) [maybe reposted soon]

Forbidden Planet

Louis and Bebe Barron - Forbidden Planet [soundtrack]

Originally posted on June 3, 2006

Text by muse1453:
This soundtrack is notable for not only being the first electronic music soundtrack to a film, but even to this day it is unique, brilliant, and innovative. The music and sounds were created with devices called cybernetic circuits that were built by the Barrons. No synthesizers or other conventional sound generating devices were used. While lacking melody and conventional musical structures, the soundtrack conveys a remarkable sense of atmosphere and adds that special element to a good science-fiction film. There's some good information about the Barrons and further details on the creation of the soundtrack here. Also for anyone interested in the plot and other details of the film can visit this site.

(1) [maybe reposted soon]

Tracklisting:

1. Main Titles (overture) {2:21}

2. Deceleration {0:55}

3. Once Around Altair {1:10}

4. The Landing {0:50}

5. Flurry of Dust-A Robot Approaches {1:10}

6. A Shangri-La In the Desert-Garden With Cuddly Tiger {1:33}

7. Graveyard-A Night With Two Moons {1:16}

8. "Robby, Make Me a Gown." {1:18}

9. An Invisible Monster Approaches {0:48}

10. Robby Arranges Flowers, Zaps Monkey {1:18}

11. Love at the Swimming Hole {3:12}

12. Morbius' Study {0:38}

13. Ancient Krell Music {1:48}

14. The Mind Booster-Creation of Matter {0:58}

15. Krell Shuttle Ride and Power Station {2:34}

16. Giant Footprints in the Sand {0:45}

17. "Nothing Like This Claw Found in Nature!" {1:26}

18. Robby, the Cook, and 60 Gallons of Booze {1:07}

19. Battle With the Invisible Monster {2:55}

20. Come Back to Earth With Me {1:19}

21. The Monster Pursues-Morbius is Overcome {5:49}

22. The Homecoming {1:59}

23. Overture (Reprise) {2:15}