{"id":2616,"date":"2011-04-04T01:23:36","date_gmt":"2011-04-04T05:23:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=2616"},"modified":"2011-04-04T01:23:36","modified_gmt":"2011-04-04T05:23:36","slug":"cd-david-raksin-conducts-his-great-film-scores-1976","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=2616","title":{"rendered":"CD: David Raksin Conducts His Great Film Scores (1976)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Soundtrack \u00a0Reviews<\/a> \/ <\/em>D<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>Rating: Excellent<\/p>\n

Label: RCA Red Seal\/ Released: March 1, 2011<\/p>\n

Tracks & Album Length: 10 tracks \/ (45:45)<\/p>\n

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Special Notes: n\/a.<\/p>\n

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Composer: David Raksin<\/p>\n

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Review:<\/p>\n

Produced by George Korngold and Charles Gerhardt (who also conducted each album in the series), the David Raksin entry offers the same polished, flawless orchestrations that dominate each album in RCA\u2019s Classic Film Score series, and this 1976 LP marked the first time that, as with many of the represented composers, a somewhat forgotten musical artisan was elevated back into the limelight.<\/p>\n

Raksin\u2019s all-time classic theme was and remains Laura<\/strong> (1944), so it\u2019s unsurprising it headlines the album, although more attention is given to The Bad and the Beautiful<\/strong> (1952) and Forever Amber<\/strong> (1947).<\/p>\n

Laura<\/strong>\u2019s been recorded a lot (it became an instant jazz standard because of its steeped sense of longing), but the bulk of Raksin\u2019s score \u2013 which is brief at around 27 mins. \u2013 tends to repeat the theme quite heavily, whereas the other scores offer additional material, in terms of secondary themes and more diverse variations.<\/p>\n

Raksin\u2019s writing is identifiable by its smoothness, melodic beauty, and sharp orchestrations. His style functioned well in historical epics and contemporary drama, and while this sampling focuses on more sweeping and lush theme arrangements, he was more than capable of writing gloomy, minimalist material for noir dramas and thrillers (such as 1948\u2019s Force of Evil<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

Forever Amber<\/strong> has Raksin switching to regal classic mode (such as \u201cThe King\u2019s Mistress\u201d), even though one catches small bits of Americana in the \u201cMain Title.\u201d \u201cThe Great Fire\u201d offers a darker shading of the film\u2019s main theme, staring with dark bass clouds, and the melody is broken down into its main anchor notes as played by low brass. A midsection offers a slight respite with warmer colours, but the full orchestra eventually steps back for a grim denouement. Although a relatively compact suite, it illustrates Raksin\u2019s knack for layering and intertwining lovely brass and plaintive strings.<\/p>\n

The album then moves from the brooding tragedy of Amber\u2019s finale to The Bad and the Beautiful<\/strong> which is all melodrama and gushing romance, but also hints at the inherent tragic characters that dwell in the film story, and the real-life dramas that sometimes affect the filmmaking process. The film\u2019s sweeping melody doesn\u2019t develop, but unfurls into segments that reflect the characters\u2019 troubled marriages, ego conflicts, and the sense of losing power and dominion of a work, a career, and a lover, as creative personalities waft between high arty excitement, ego, and financially crushing debacles.<\/p>\n

Running just over 45 mins., it\u2019s a perfectly conceived album that undeniably pricks further interest in Raksin\u2019s music. Each of the represented scores have subsequently appeared in near-complete form as originals score albums, but for neophytes this remains the most accessible and dynamic intro to Raksin\u2019s work (far exceeding the two commercially oriented suite & theme compilations the composer produced in the late sixties for Mercury Records, featuring re-recorded material from Sylvia<\/strong>, Will Penny<\/strong>, and Too Late Blues<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 2011 Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

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Related external links (MAIN SITE):<\/p>\n

DVD \/ Film: \u00a0Bad and the Beautiful, The<\/a><\/strong> (1952)\u00a0— Laura<\/a><\/strong> (1944)<\/p>\n

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External References:<\/p>\n

IMDB <\/a>— Soundtrack Album<\/a> — Composer Filmography<\/a> \u2014 RCA Classic Film Score Series Links:\u00a01<\/a> \/\u00a02<\/a> \/\u00a03<\/a><\/p>\n

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Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Soundtrack Reviews<\/a> <\/em>\/\u00a0D<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Return to:\u00a0Home \/\u00a0Soundtrack \u00a0Reviews \/ D . Rating: Excellent Label: RCA Red Seal\/ Released: March 1, 2011 Tracks & Album Length: 10 tracks \/ (45:45) . Special Notes: n\/a. . Composer: David Raksin . . Review: Produced by George Korngold and Charles Gerhardt (who also conducted each album in the series), the David Raksin entry […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[370,373,376,371,372],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-Gc","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2616"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2616"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2616\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2619,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2616\/revisions\/2619"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}