{"id":4951,"date":"2012-05-24T00:42:06","date_gmt":"2012-05-24T04:42:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=4951"},"modified":"2012-05-24T00:42:06","modified_gmt":"2012-05-24T04:42:06","slug":"cd-bell-book-and-candle-1958-1001-arabian-nights-1959","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=4951","title":{"rendered":"CD: Bell Book and Candle (1958) \/ 1001 Arabian Nights (1959)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Soundtrack \u00a0Reviews<\/a> \/ <\/em>B<\/a><\/p>\n

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

Label: Film Score Monthly\/ Released: January, 2006<\/p>\n

Tracks & Album Length: 27 tracks \/ (73:05)<\/p>\n

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Special Notes: 16-page booklet featuring 2006 FSM, prior Citadel, and original Colpix liner notes..<\/p>\n

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Composer: George Duning<\/p>\n

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Review:<\/p>\n

FSM\u2019s double-bill of classic Colgems LPs offers up two vintage George Duning scores which fit very snugly and stylistically together.<\/p>\n

Bell Book and Candle <\/strong>(1958) shows off Duning\u2019s flair for light, jazz-flavoured writing, and his knack for airy themes. Some cues \u2013 \u201cPyewackety\/Queenie\/Gil\u201d \u2013 accent the onscreen nuances of the actors (namely the comedic moments of surprise) yet they always return to the main theme which ties together the supernatural element (basically a thriving coven of witches & warlocks in Manhattan), the initially forced romance, and a slight hint that the status quo between witches & humans might undergo a few bumps.<\/p>\n

Duning also wrote & adapted several source jazz cues for the coven\u2019s snazzy jazz club which happens to feature the Condoli brothers on trumpet, plus addition ace musicians on organ, electric guitar, and bongos, and among the zippy gems are \u201cWay Out Calypso\u201d; the snappy \u201cShep Shook,\u201d with a compact set of solos in the middle; the slow & easy \u201cZodiac Serenade\u201d and \u201cZodiac Blues\u201d; and \u201cStormy Weather Polka,\u201d which has the two headlining musicians blaring solos into the witch\u2019s rival \u2013 an unwanted fianc\u00e9e.<\/p>\n

The sleekness of the main theme makes it ideal for more eerie permutations, and probably the most haunting is \u201cThe Spell\/Shep Hooked\u201d which has poor Shep stopping in his tracks and slowly returning to witch Gil as she hums a haunting, breathy version of the theme. Duning replays it with gentle orchestral additions before the full theme is replayed, and he uses strings to emphasize the couple\u2019s forced bliss as they stand atop the flatiron building, observing the Manhattan sunrise.<\/p>\n

Duning\u2019s approach \u2013 ultra-sleek strings, gentle woodwinds, and light rippling percussion \u2013 is a perfect match for the idyllic depiction of a modern, glossy New York City, including its well-dressed inhabitants, artistes, chic rich, and beautiful pastel colours and geometrically broad furniture.<\/p>\n

Some instrumentation also suggest the film\u2019s Christmas setting, whereas a sense of mysticism is addressed with rippling piano and suspended chords \u2013 often tied to Gil\u2019s cat Pyewacket, her main ally in casting spells. As detailed in the CD booklet, this marks the first time the score has appeared on CD in stereo, as taken from the original 3-track masters, and the disc includes the bonus track from the 1980 stereo Citadel LP. FSM\u2019s also included the original liner notes to the Citadel LP pressings and the original mono Colpix LP, which is a nice bonus.<\/p>\n

The CD\u2019s B-score comes from UPA\u2019s first animated feature film, 1001 Arabian Nights<\/strong> (1959), starring Mr. Magoo. Duning\u2019s score is very melodic, and is performed by a large orchestral, including a heavy brass section and percussion. Duning also incorporates exotic harmonies with often jazzy finales, and the score\u2019s orchestrations seamlessly glide between ethnic, classical, and jazz \/ rock instrumentations.<\/p>\n

Most of the cues \u2013 some averaging between 2-4 minutes \u2013 are instrumental, but Magoo gets to croon a bluesy song of his own – \u201cMagoo\u2019s Blues\u201d \u2013 and the theme also reappears via honky-tonk piano in the brief \u201cBar Fly Magoo,\u201d and \u201cUnhappy Magoo\u201d with alto sax carrying the melody. The Clark Sisters croon \u201cThree Little Maids from Damascus\u201d with backing from electric guitar and rock-styled percussion, and alternating male \/ female chorus croon an ethereal version of the main theme in the very fifties (and very<\/em> mushy) \u201cDream Ballet.\u201d<\/p>\n

FSM\u2019s CD features superb mastering, and captures the excellent engineering of the original Colpix LPs which offered (in true stereo incarnations) crisp sonics, foreshadowing the audiophile qualities of the later Colgems LPs, particularly Casino Royale<\/strong> [M] (1967). Arabian Nights<\/strong> was previously available on a crisply mastered LP from Varese Sarabande.<\/p>\n

Note: Bell<\/strong> Book and Candle<\/strong> was previously released on CD in 2004 by Harkit Records, and Twilight Time\u2019s 2012\u00a0 Blu-ray features and isolated stereo score track with slightly different music content.<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 2012 Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

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External References:<\/p>\n

IMDB <\/a>— Blu-ray Review<\/a> – Soundtrack Albums: Bell <\/a>\/ 1001 <\/a>— Composer Filmography<\/a><\/p>\n

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Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Soundtrack Reviews<\/a> <\/em>\/\u00a0B<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Return to:\u00a0Home \/\u00a0Soundtrack \u00a0Reviews \/ B . Rating: Excellent Label: Film Score Monthly\/ Released: January, 2006 Tracks & Album Length: 27 tracks \/ (73:05) . Special Notes: 16-page booklet featuring 2006 FSM, prior Citadel, and original Colpix liner notes.. . Composer: George Duning . . Review: FSM\u2019s double-bill of classic Colgems LPs offers up two […]<\/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":[1330,1299,1331,951],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-1hR","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4951"}],"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=4951"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4951\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4958,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4951\/revisions\/4958"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}