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The Bride Of Frankenstein (1993 Rerecording Of 1935 Film Score)
Franz Waxman
The Bride Of Frankenstein (1993 Rerecording Of 1935 Film Score)
Genres: Pop, Soundtracks
 
  •  Track Listings (13) - Disc #1

The sound era was barely seven years old (and the art of orchestral film scoring still evolving) when German-born composer Franz Waxman conjured up one of its first unlikely film-music masterpieces, this 1935 score for dir...  more »

     
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CD Details

All Artists: Franz Waxman
Title: The Bride Of Frankenstein (1993 Rerecording Of 1935 Film Score)
Members Wishing: 1
Total Copies: 0
Label: Silva America
Original Release Date: 9/24/1993
Re-Release Date: 9/21/1993
Album Type: Soundtrack
Genres: Pop, Soundtracks
Style:
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPCs: 738572102821, 738572072629, 738572102845

Synopsis

Amazon.com
The sound era was barely seven years old (and the art of orchestral film scoring still evolving) when German-born composer Franz Waxman conjured up one of its first unlikely film-music masterpieces, this 1935 score for director James Whale's sequel to his hit Frankenstein. Indeed, Waxman created many of what have become the musical clichés of the horror genre, captured here in a spectacular new digital recording by Kenneth Alwyn and the Westminster Philharmonic; the exotic, lilting motif to "Female Monster Music" will even evoke Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Bali Ha'i," though it was written nearly 15 years earlier! Also included is a short suite from Waxman's score for another, less-heralded, '30s Universal horror film, the Karloff-starring The Invisible Ray; both are thoroughly annotated in a fashion that will please fans, musicians, and scholars alike. --Jerry McCulley
 

CD Reviews

Waxman's magnum opus?
11/01/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)

"Considered by many to be Waxman's magnum opus, the music for "The Bride of Frankenstein," its entourage of melodic variety, orchestral pomp, and exemplary wit, clearly evidence its appropriateness for such a claim! As an aural chef d'oeuvre, one that stands alone, it belongs in the collections of every lover of classic filmusic. The album also includes a five-minute suite (too short!) of splendor from Waxman's "The Invisible Ray.""
At long last the music for Flash Gordon
Richard T. Monahan | Sudbury, MA USA | 04/24/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)

"I grew up a great fan of Flash Gordon, seeing him on evening television shows, a serial chapter a week. I have long searched for the music from the serials. A number of years ago I heard someone perform part of the Bride of Frankenstein and bought a Waxman collection that contained it. I was happy that it contained some of the music but longed for the rest. I did an 'Amazon dot com', i.e. searched and discovered there was a CD of the entire movie score. The listing had a review by another customer who noted it contained Flash Gordon music. My quest of nearly forty years is now completed. Thank you Amazon. I must say that I was disappointed that the enclosed notes on the CD did not mention Flash Gordon. I now realize Waxman wrote the music first for the Bride and later used it for Flash Gordon, but, if I am not mistaken, this is the music that inspired John Williams many years later for his score of Star Wars."
The "GODFATHER" of classical film scores. Terrific!
04/07/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)

"I first heard segments of "BRIDE" at the age of 7 in 1953. Much of this score was used in the serial; "Flash Gordons Trip to Mars". I did not find out the origin of this film score some years later. Now exists a recording of this score in excellent digital sound closely resembling the 1935 film score with the nuances and artistry that one could only hear on a cd. "BRIDE" features what I consider to be the single best segment of music ever written. On track 7, it is "chase"; on band 8, it is repeated in "monster breaks out". My only criticism is track 7,"chase" whose segment from 2:51 through 2:58 is not repeated and thus is incorrect. Fortuately it is correct on track 8;"monster breaks out. A superb disc of a original classical film score that virtually has no equal."