Search - Jerry Goldsmith :: The Illustrated Man [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]

Unique and amazing

Stuart M. Paine | Arlington, VA USA | 11/28/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For those familiar with Jerry Goldsmith's work, I would describe the sound of 1969's THE ILLUSTRATED MAN as somewhere between PLANET OF THE APES and THE REINCARNATION OF PETER PROUD. This score was a favorite of the composer. He claimed to be a serialist by nature - and this Ray Bradbury-inspired film allowed him a rare opportunity to indulge that part of himself.



The score is unusual in that the whole thing appears to be built off a single theme - a brief, mournful melody in dorian mode first introduced in female vocalise. That melody is obvious in 15 of the 17 tracks and I have to believe that it's lurking around under the surface (broken up or inverted or retrograde) in the other two as well. The entire work is minor - and depressing, disorienting or anxious.



There are some unusual instruments in here. Most obviously, Moog synthesizer, which is amazing considering when this recording was done - within a year after Walter Carlos's SWITCHED-ON BACH had taken the music world by storm. There just weren't many of these things in existence yet. No one in rock music was using one. Later this same year, The Beatles (ABBEY ROAD) would be the first instance. Keith Emerson, who in fact worked with Robert Moog, would not use one either on stage or in the studio until late 1970. Given this, I find the presence of the synthesizer here surprising and the manner of its use (as if it WERE Emerson) nothing short of astonishing. There's a bit of sitar, also. Very late '60s - early '70s.



Tracks 1-6, 10 and 16-17 accompany the main narrative of the illustrated man (Rod Steiger): his meeting the witch who illustrated him (Claire Bloom), her disappearance and his search for her for the purpose of revenge. The writing is for orchestral instruments and occasional guitar and/or sitar - generally in small groups. It feels chamber and sounds lonely. The finale, "Frightened Willie", is much more roused and agitated and is (IMO) almost as exciting as "The Hunt" from PLANET OF THE APES.



The rest of the music colors the different stories conjured by three of Steiger's "skin illustrations":



"The Veldt" (tracks 7-9) - set within a futuristic holographic room, it's all electronic. Notably, tracks 7 and 8 are the only two on the disc in which the vocalise melody is not obviously present.



"The Long Rain" (tracks 12-13) - These two orchestral/electronic cues bookend the story of a planet where rain never ceases. "The Rocket" (track 11), a more chamber cue without electronics, serves as preface.



"The Last Night of the World" (tracks 14-15) - no electronics. Track 14 ends with what feels almost like a Baroque passacaglia.



A great purchase. TT: 42:02"