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The Egyptian |
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Music Composed by Bernard Herrmann & Alfred Newman Conducted by William T. Stromberg Score Restoration and Reconstructions by John Morgan Performed by the Moscow Symphony Orchestra & Choir Release Date: 1999
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The Egyptian
marks a huge event in film music history. This picture managed to fuse the
talents of Bernard Herrmann and Alfred Newman together for the first, and
only, time. Though the movie suffered at the box officer for various
reasons, the score went on to live a life of its own. With the original
soundtrack recording being difficult to obtain, and the fact that the album
was in mono even though the score was recorded in four-channel stereo,
prompted this all-new digital recording.
I’ve not heard any of the original music for The Egyptian
(it was on TV during the night a couple of months back, but I wasn’t able
to tape it), so I can’t compare the two, but it does sound excellent. It
is difficult to distinguish between the Herrmann cues and the Newman cues
(this was the whole point, though), but the linear notes provide a ton of
information on the movie and its score, including “who-scored-what”
information.
The score doesn’t rely on Egyptian/Arabian style clichés as in
other scores of this genre. It is a tad disheartening to me, but even
without relying on the ethnic instrumentation and sound, the music still
puts out the correct feeling for its setting. The tone is generally dark,
although some lighter moments exist. Most notably, the Party’s End track
bears a resemblance to Herrmann’s music for the Alfred Hitchcock film, The
Trouble with Harry. As the film deals with the main character’s
spiritual quest, the score reflects this with quiet meditative pieces, but
the clever use of themes and composition keep the music from becoming
lifeless and boring. This especially comes into play in some of the longer
tracks. Choral moments are scattered around in the second half of the CD.
They are mostly associated with the ethereal Hymn to Aton piece.
This is a classic undertaking by two of the greatest composers and
film history, and the new recording does justice to this powerful score. I
especially recommend this CD for those Herrmann and Newman fans out there. ****1/2
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Track Listing 1 - Prelude (1:40) 2 - The Ruins (0:54) 3 - The Red Sea & Childhood (3:02) 4 - The Nile & Temple (1:24) 5 - Her Name Was Merit (1:19) 6 - The Chariot Ride (1:22) 7 - Pursuit (0:35) 8 - Akhnaton - One Deity (1:18) 9 - Taia (1:13) 10 - Party's End (1:58) 11 - Nefer-Nefer-Nefer (7:02) 12 - The Rebuke (3:16) 13 - The Deed (2:20) 14 - The Harp & Couch (1:29) 15 - The Perfection of Love (1:21) 16 - Violence (2:13) 17 - Valley of the Kings (7:49) 18 - The Homecoming (1:13) 19 - Hymn to Aton (4:51) 20 - Sights, Sounds & Smells (0:47) 21 - Live for Our Son (1:41) 22 - Am I Mad? (3:30) 23 - The True Pharaoh (1:28) 24 - The Tomb (2:44) 25 - The Holy War (0:36) 26 - Dance Macabre (1:35) 27 - Death of Merit (4:10) 28 - Death of Akhnaton (5:23) 29 - The New Pharaoh (1:04) 30 - Exile & Death (1:47) Total Running Time: 71:30 |
