Grieg Piano Concerto - making history

This album is a modern recording using the latest techniques, though the performances were laid down a century ago! The Grieg Piano Concerto was recorded by Percy Grainger in 1921 on piano rolls which have been used to play a steinway concert grand and recreate the historic performance. Also included on the album are similar recordings of a number of solo piano works made by Edvard Grieg himself in 1906, and his Violin Sonata No.3 in Cm. It is remarkable to hear historic recordings with such clarity and definition More...

"The Reel World" by Jeff Rona

Hal Leonard Books has just published a new and completely revised second edition of The Reel World by composer Jeff Rona. The book details the technical, business, and creative aspects of becoming a successful film scorer. Based upon his significant experience in the field, the author shows how to work with the many different professionals involved in filmmaking without diluting the essential element of creativity. This revised edition includes a wealth of new interviews with some of Hollywood’s top film scorers including John Williams, Carter Burwell, James Newton Howard, Hans Zimmer, Mark Isham, Wendy and Lisa and more. Check out an extract of the book, and receive a 20% discount on online purchases. More...

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

French composer Alexandre Desplat is a good choice for a quirky film like The Curious Case of Benjamin Button where the main character ages backwards. Desplat rightly treats this as a magical fairytale but with an element of involving realism. The music is light and delicate in texture with a number of recurring themes, but never repetitive as they are always evolving. Harp and strings are quite prominent throughout but many other instruments have a say, including a saxophone which blends well with the film's source music of jazz tracks which are included on CD2 of the double album. More...

Indiana Jones: The Soundtracks Collection by John Williams

The combination of director Steven Spielberg and composer John Williams have been entertaining us for years, and the Indiana Jones film series exemplifies the great story-telling collaboration. The most definitive versions of all the Indiana Jones Soundtracks have now been released in a fantastic box set called Indiana Jones: The Soundtracks Collection. The set consists of the four film soundtracks, with many of these containing previously unreleased tracks, a 5th bonus CD featuring yet more music from the films and an interview with the film makers, plus a substantial booklet with further information and behind-the-scenes photos. More...

Requiem for a Dream by Clint Mansell

Requiem for a Dream is composer Clint Mansell's Magnum Opus. It won the Online Film Critics Society Award in 2001 for Best Original Score and should have won a whole lot more. But perhaps this was a slow burner - it was only when the music was picked up and used elsewhere that people started to recognise it and respond to it. And it has been reused many times including the trailer for "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers". We now review the original soundtrack. When music is made to perfectly match a film as intense as Requiem for a Dream, you know you are in for quite a surreal experience. More...

Torchwood - Ben Foster & Murray Gold

Newly released, this album covers music from the first two seasons of Torchwood the post-watershed spin-off from the nation's favourite "Doctor Who". Most of the incidental music has come from Ben Foster who acted as orchestrator and conductor for "Doctor Who" with the parent series' resident composer Murray Gold providing the "Torchwood" main theme and one or two episodes. The style is similar in some ways, with some of the orchestral sections being recorded by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in Cardiff, but Torchwood veers off into the kind of dark adult territory that is out of bounds for "Doctor Who". More...

Javier Navarrete - Pan's Labyrinth

2006 was a very exiting year for film soundtracks, and gave the award committees a lot of excellent material to choose from. Javier Navarrete's score for Pan's Labyrinth stood out as a deserving entry among many notable scores from well-established hollywood composers. The music of "Pan's Labyrinth" has the focus and simplicity of traditional story-telling, and therefore stands very well on its own, even away from the outstanding film for which it was created. Although all the music is based upon a simple melody, a lullaby in waltz tempo, the complete soundtrack is surprising varied and transports the listener into a child's fantasy world inhabited by strange creatures. More...

Bernard Herrmann - Taxi Driver

This week we revisit a favourite film score when we find it in an unusual format. "The Vinyl Classics" series has re-released a number of classic soundtracks in a format which looks exactly like a small but perfectly formed LP. Although black in colour and unlike any other CD, it will play on your CD player, and Taxi Driver is a soundtrack which needs to be revisited from time to time. It was composer Bernard Herrmann's last soundtrack but, among a whole career of superlative scores, this is one of his best and fully matches the performances we see on screen. In central position there is a jazz feel with a wonderful sax solo, which sums up the view of New York as witnessed by the Taxi Driver. More...

Piano music - as heard by Brahms!

Brahms was an excellent pianist, and a number of the pianos he used are preserved in museums. This double album consists of a number of Brahms' piano pieces played on the same instruments which he used. So we can hear his music as Brahms himself would have heard it. Jeffrey Dane's review of these recordings highlights the historical context of the pianos featured and, with a number of photographs, brings to life the history and the personality of the composer More...

Planet Twist from The SG Sound

The Planet Twist album is well named since its has its roots in the swinging 60s when "The Twist" was the latest dance craze. This is a modern but nostalgic look back at some of the music of those days, and is a fusion of many influences from the period, with classic electric guitar sounds meeting period jazz bands. The SG Sound is the unique creation of composer Stephen Greaves, and if you remember hearing music from those days, these tracks will instantly transport you back to the 60s and those old vinyl discs turning at 45 rpm. This music is lively and evocative, but most of all it is fun, fun, fun. More...

The Doctor Who Prom Concert

Two British institutions come together for the first time this month, with a special Doctor Who Prom Concert in the Royal Albert Hall which features a mix of Classical and Doctor Who Music. The music of composer Murray Gold will feature alongside that of Copland, Holst, Wagner, Prokofiev and Turnage. The show will be presented by Freema Agyeman (who plays Martha Jones in the series) with Daleks and Cybermen, and a specially filmed scene written by departing producer Russell T Davies, starring David Tennant as the Doctor. For more about the music from the series, see our reviews of the two Doctor Who CDs covering music from Series 1 and 2 and from Series 3.

The Blob (and other Creepy Sounds)

Many people have a fondness for early Monster and Sci-Fi movies and soundtracks and "Monstrous Movie Music" caters directly for that market. Often they must resort to re-creating soundtracks when the music is no longer available. However original recordings of The Blob were carefully preserved, and have been remastered for this latest release. Written by Jazz and Film composer Ralph Carmichael, the score is full of suspense with suitably scary moments and a love theme for Steve McQueen and his girlfriend. When the film was released the Main Title was replaced with a light hearted but catchy theme song by Burt Bacharach. Both these tracks are presented on this superb album - it is great to rediscover gems like this. More...

Airwolf Themes

Do you remember "Airwolf" the TV series from the 80s with its super-sophisticated helicopter and exciting theme tune. The theme tune was written by Sylvester Levay who with Udi Harpaz wrote most of the series' incidental music. This music could have fallen into obscurity if it wasn't for fan Mark J Cairns who recreated their music in a double album. This was a limited edition release and its cult rarity value meant that at one time the album was trading on eBay for many times its original value. The music has now been presented as a special online release and all the tracks can be downloaded in mp3 format. Check out our review of this rather special release, and relive the infectious electronic sounds of the 1980s. More...

Zirkus - Cary Chow plays Schumann

The publicity photos of Cary Chow with his dark t-shirt and tatoos may deviate from the traditional image of a concert pianist's bow tie and tails, but there is no mistaking the technical and interpretative skills evident in his latest album called Zirkus. This is the German word for Circus and the album consists of two major works ("Carnaval" and "Kreisleriana") from the significant piano solo output of composer Robert Schumann, who poured intensely personal messages into his creative output. Chow effortlessly flits between the many sides of the composer's nature, from the playfulness of "Carnaval" to the more intense virtuoso facets of "Kreisleriana". If you want to delve into Schumann's fascinating world, this album is an excellent place to start. More...

Blade Runner 25th Anniversary

It is now 25 years since "Blade Runner" first hit our screens, and the movie and its music have had a remarkable impact on subsequent films and soundtracks. To mark the anniversary, director Ridley Scott has released his definitive version of the film called "The Final Cut", and composer Vangelis has released a 3 CD celebration of the music. CD1 of this Trilogy is the original soundtrack release, CD2 contains previously unreleased music from the film including some tracks which weren't used in the movie, and CD3 is all new material by Vangelis inspired by the music and mood of the Blade Runner score. Further details and a short interview with Vangelis can be found on our review page. More...

The Illusionist - by Philip Glass

Philip Glass has an unusual style which has had a significant influence on film composers, though the composer himself has not scored that many films. His involvement in traditional movies has grown in recent years firstly with "The Hours" and then in the past year with both "Notes on a Scandal" and The Illusionist. The latter film takes the composer away from dark, intense dramas and allows him to expand musically into new directions. The contrast is such that a number of tracks seem unlike the composer's normal style. Yet it quickly becomes apparent that his unique style and genius has merely been shaped and adapted for the subject matter, and the relevance of that style to film music is equally obvious. More...

The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes

This year celebrates the centenary of the birth of composer Miklós Rózsa and among other commemorative items there is a new release of a suberb collector's album of The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes. The film score also gives an insight into the private life of the composer, because at the request of director Billy Wilder it uses some of the haunting melodies from Rozsa's Violin Concerto. The album is a wonderful package with a comprehensive booklet about the film and music and their creation, and it also features a full 20 minutes of music written for the film but not used in the finished cut, which gives yet another insight into the creative process. More...